As we shall soon be moving into our winter quarters, I send you a complete list of the guns captured up to date:—
───────────────────────────────────┬───────┬───────┬───────────────────┬───── Nature of Ordnance. │ A │ B C │ D E F G H │Total ───────────────────────────────────┼───────┼───────┼───────────────────┼───── ⎛ ⎛ ⎛│12 pr.│ - 4│ - 4 - - -│ 4 ⎜ ⎜ Guns ⎜│ 9 pr.│ - 2│ 2 - - - -│ 2 ⎜ ⎜ ⎜│ 6 pr.│ 1 16│ - - - 17 -│ 17 ⎜ Bronze ⎜ ⎝│ 3 pr.│ - 51│ - 42 - 3 6│ 51 ⎜ ⎜ Howitzers ⎛│ 8 pr.│ - 2│ - 2 - - -│ 2 Smooth ⎜ ⎜ ⎝│12 pr.│ - 5│ - - - 5 -│ 5 Bore ⎜ ⎜ Mortars ⎛│ 8 pr.│ - 6│ - - - 6 -│ 6 ⎜ ⎝ ⎝│ 5½ in.│ 1 6│ - - - 7 -│ 7 ⎜ ⎛ Guns ⎛│24 pr.│ - 2│ - - - 2 -│ 2 ⎜ Iron. ⎜ ⎝│18 pr.│ 4 -│ - 4 - - -│ 4 ⎝ ⎝ Howitzers │ 8 in.│ 2 -│ 1 1 - - -│ 2 ⎛ ⎛ ⎛│20 pr.│ - 6│ - 6 - - -│ 6 ⎜ ⎜ ⎜│12 pr.│ - 6│ - 6 - - -│ 6 ⎜ ⎜ ⎜│ 9 pr.│ - 14│ 1 - - 7 6│ 14 Rifled ⎜ Iron ⎜ Breech- ⎜│ 8 pr.│ - 6│ - - 6 - -│ 6 Guns ⎜ ⎜ -loading ⎜│ 6 pr.│ - 22│ 10 6 - 6 -│ 22 ⎜ ⎜ ⎝│ 4 pr.│ - 11│ - - 5 6 -│ 11 ⎜ ⎝ Muzzle-loading │ 7 pr.│ - 26│ - - - 26 -│ 26 ⎝ Steel Muzzle-loading │8 pr.│ - 21│ 6 5 10 - -│ 21 ───────────────────────────────────┼───────┼───────┼───────────────────┼───── Grand Total │ —│8 206│ 20 76 21 85 12│ 214 ───────────────────────────────────┴───────┴───────┴───────────────────┴───── A: Calibre B: English C: Afghan D: Charasia, 6 October E: Charasia, 8th October. F: Heights above Cabul, G: Bala Hissar, 12th October. H: Ghazni Road, 14th October.
Execution of Five Prisoners—The Kotwal of Cabul—His Proclamation to the People—Nek Mahomed and the Amir—Aghir Khan’s Crime—The Moollah Khwaja Nazir and his Attempt to raise a _Jehad_—Effect of the Executions upon the People—Preparing Winter Quarters—Dispersion of the Tribes at the Shutargardan—Execution of Afghan Officers—The Course of Justice—Stern Reprisals necessary—Afghan Fanaticism—Hostility of the Mass of the People—The Position of the Amir—Political Problems.
To-day we have had the satisfaction of seeing marched out to execution in the Bala Hissar five prisoners, more or less directly concerned in the events of the last few weeks, whose guilt was very clearly established in our eyes. As might have been expected, it has been no easy matter to collect evidence in Cabul, many witnesses being afraid of after-consequences if they bore testimony to the conduct of men under suspicion. We have not notified in any way what is to be the duration of our stay here, and once our protection over our well-wishers is removed, their fate may be readily imagined. There is no one who cherishes revenge more fervently than an Afghan, and every witness would be marked down by the kinsmen of those against whom he had appeared. By a little judicious management, however, in which Hyat Khan, Assistant Political Officer, has been chief agent, pretty full evidence has been obtained without publicity, and after being carefully sifted, it has been submitted to the Military Commission,[19] of which General Massy is President, as the various prisoners implicated have been brought up. Yesterday this Commission had before it five prisoners, all of whom it sentenced to death by hanging, and to-day this sentence was carried out. The terms of the proclamation issued by General Roberts from Zerghun Shahr left no outlet of escape for all such persons as were concerned in the massacre of Sir Louis Cavagnari and his companions, or who offered armed resistance to the British troops advancing with the Amir under their protection. Death was the penalty incurred in either case; assassination being the one offence, and treason against their lawful sovereign the second. This dual mode of dealing with offenders was no doubt due to the inference that those who chose to fight against us must have so far committed themselves in prior events as to make them in technical term “accomplices after the act.” To aid and defend a murderer is to participate in his crime; and the leaders at Charasia and on the Deh-i-Afghan Heights, though nominally only accused of high treason against Yakub Khan, were really guilty of abetting the men who had fired the Residency and slaughtered its inmates in the early days of September.