places is 17 miles, and the road lies over a stony, sandy plain, without a village or a living being to be seen. I pushed on as fast as I could, as I wanted, if possible, to get to Gatai and see all the necessary arrangements for the defence of the post made before dark. On arriving, I found that all had been done by the officer in command which was possible, but the means at his disposal were very limited, and so had been his time. He had, however, closed up the greater portion of the entrance with bags of grain, and had raised the walls in a temporary fashion by laying along them rows of grain bags and making temporary loop holes. The necessary sentries and picquets were posted, but the night passed quietly, all of us, however, sleeping in our clothes. I had no luggage, clothes, or bedding, except the breeches, and boots, and Norfolk jacket I stood in, but the officers made a subscription of blankets for me; and one young fellow insisted on my sleeping on his camp bed, which unwillingly I had to do, he was so kindly urgent about it.
SUNDAY, APRIL 18th.--Before continuing my story it will be as well to explain that between the Khojak Pass and Kandahar, the road is divided into 6 stages, as follows:--
1st. Chaman, at foot of the Pass. 2nd. Gatai, 17 miles from Chaman. 3rd. Dubbrai, 10 miles from Gatai. 4th. Mel Kharez, 12 miles from Dubbrai. 5th. Abdool Rahmon, 12-1/2 miles from Mel Kharez. 6th. Mandi Hissar, 14 miles from Abdool Rahmon. 7th. Kandahar, 11 miles from Mandi Hissar.
At each of these places there is a small enclosure, it cannot be called a fort, in which the commissariat stores are placed. General Stewart refused to garrison the smaller of these with our troops, but left them in charge of native levies who the civil authorities assured him were perfectly trustworthy. The value of this opinion has been very conclusively shown by the events of the past week. Each enclosure or fort is like the other, except in size, some being larger than others. They are of the following shape:--
General Phayre (leaving me, however, full powers to act as I thought best) suggested to me that it would be better to wait at Gatai till the guns and the European troops reached me, but on reflection I came to the conclusion that to leave Dubbrai unoccupied, and the dead unburied a moment longer than could be avoided, would have the worst effect, and that it was quite worth risking something to obviate this, so, as soon as it was light, I issued orders (I may mention for my soldier and sailor brothers' information that I have throughout given each person distinct and plain _written_ orders, so that everyone knew exactly what to do, and once I issued an order I never changed it) for reconnoitering parties of cavalry to proceed to Dubbrai and the hills to our right front, while I pushed on a detachment of native infantry, with a few cavalry, to re-occupy Dubbrai. I, of course, left a sufficient force at Gatai to hold it, instructing the officer in command to strengthen the defences and keep a good look out. I did not, I confess, expect opposition, and was not therefore surprised to find, when I followed the main body with a small cavalry escort, that they had found Dubbrai empty, except of dead bodies, and seen none of the enemy on the road. We found in and around the Fort 30 dead bodies and 1 wounded man, who told us he was a Ghazi (fanatic), from Khelat-i-Ghilzi, and that there were plenty more of them coming. The men were most anxious to shoot the wretched creature, and I think the officers generally thought it would have been right to do so, but of course I forbid anything of the kind, and ordered him medical aid, and such food and drink as we had at our disposal. I am bound to say he was not a bit grateful, but regularly spit at us and defied us. He died the next day, which was quite the best thing he could