n it as a post of such importance must have been of the manifold
weakness of the place; from the surrounding heights it has the
appearance of being situated in a deep dyke; it is completely hemmed
in, and juzzaelmen occupying the adjacent hills could easily find
cover from whence they might pour in so destructive a fire as to
render the place untenable. In addition to these defects, the fort of
Badjgh[=a]r is unprovided with a well within its defences; this,
as has before been remarked, is a common case, but still it would
materially affect the integrity of a force within, as they would be
reduced to the necessity of frequent sallies to the neighbouring
stream to obtain water.

We found Capt. Hay in no enviable position; he had but one European to
assist him in his various important duties; the three or four officers
who were nominally attached to the corps being either on detachment or
other military employ, so that with such slender aid as one European
sergeant, it was very hard work for him to keep up discipline amongst
a brave but half savage band, to provide for their subsistence, keep a
sharp look-out on his front and flanks, and remain on good terms
with the neighbouring chiefs, whose conflicting interests, lawless
propensities, and savage nature were continually requiring his
mediation or interference.

"_Quem deus vult perdere prius dementat_" is an old saw most
applicable to the conduct, or rather want of conduct of the "powers
that were" during the spring of 1841, and the state of the important
outpost of Badjgh[=a]r is a type of the condition of most of the
detached posts throughout the kingdom of Cabul; the dreadful
catastrophe which ushered in the year 1842 is but too unanswerable a
proof of the opinion I here express; and though innumerable instances
of individual gallantry as well amongst the unlettered privates as the
superior officers have thrown a halo round their bloody graves, the
stern truth still forces itself upon us, that the temporary eclipse of
British glory was not the consequences of events beyond the power of
human wisdom to foresee or ward off, but the natural results of an
overweening confidence in our power, and of an infatuated blindness to
the sure indications of the coming storm which for many months before
it burst darkened our political horizon.

It will easily be believed that the various duties entailed upon Capt.
Hay left him but little time for scientific researches, yet this