near the town. On the 27th of August the cavalry established
heliographic communication, this being the nineteenth day of their march
from Cabul. On the 31st the entry was made into Candahar. There was
little delay here. Ayoub's army had taken up its position on the Baba
Wali Hills. On the south-west his right was protected by the Pir-Paimal
Hill. This, however, was liable to be turned. A reconnaissance was at
once made by the cavalry, and the enemy unmasked five guns and opened
upon them. The Afghans poured out to the attack of the 15th Sikhs. But
these retired steadily, as there was no wish to bring on an engagement.
General Macpherson's brigade, with those of Generals Baker and
Macgregor, were to take part in the fray, the latter being in reserve.

The men breakfasted at eight o'clock, and at nine were ready for the
advance. The attack commenced by General Macpherson's brigade carrying
a village which the Afghans had occupied in advance of the range.
Without maps, it is difficult in the extreme to describe battles; but it
may be briefly said that Generals Macpherson and Baker advanced round
the end of the Pir-Paimal, carried village after village, in some of
which a desperate defence was made by the enemy, and so at last, winning
every foot of the ground by hard fighting, they swept round the hill,
and turned the enemy's left. Many of the men were killed by Ghazees,
who shut themselves up in the houses of the villages and sold their
lives dearly, firing upon our troops until house after house was carried
by storm. The whole ground was orchard and enclosed fields, and each of
these was the scene of a conflict. Behind the northern hill, where the
country is cut up by water-courses and canals between the river and the
slopes, the Afghans made their last stand. A deep water-cut, twelve
feet broad, with banks two or three feet high, and with cultivated
fields in front, served them as an excellent defence. The banks had
been ingeniously loopholed for rifle fire, and two camps lay in rear of
it. The Highlanders, however, carried the place with a rush, losing
upwards of 40 men as they did so. The rest of the enemy, numbering from
8000 to 10,000, who had been gathered in the orchards, were driven round
the rear of the line of hills. Wherever they tried to rally, the
British were upon them, and at last the fugitives reaching their camp,
the whole body of Ayoub's army took to flight, although his regular
regime