marched to Ferozepore, there to join that of Runjeet Singh. While, however, the English commander and the Maharajah were occupied in an exchange of brilliant compliments, the threatened danger was averted; for the Russians, thwarted in their designs upon the Persian coast, had retired, and were retreating upon Siberia. There was now, therefore, sufficient excuse for Lord Auckland to retrace his steps; and had he been left to his own counsels, the step might have been taken. But the present policy had been advocated by some of the highest military authorities of the kingdom; and the nation in general, at least such as gave their mind to the contemplation of Indian affairs, approved it; and the expedition went forward.

After meeting with considerable opposition from the Ameers of Scinde, for which they were visited with a terrible retribution, the united armies of Bengal and Bombay, under the command of Sir John Keane, crossed the Indus; and, after marching through some miles of waste land, reached the formidable mountain system of the country. The territory was entered by way of the Bolan and Kojuk Passes, and Shah Suja, pressing forward unopposed, took possession of Kandahar. The English army had halted for awhile; and, when in a position to do so, the troops resumed their march, and the entire force pressed onward for Cabul. In its way lay Ghuznee, the capital of Mahmoud's ancient kingdom, with its formidable lines of fortifications; and this there was no means of avoiding. No serious opposition had been anticipated, and, in consideration of the nature of the country to be traversed, the army was unprovided with the necessary materials for a siege. The experiment of blasting was therefore tried; and with such success that considerable breaches were effected in the walls, and the place was gallantly carried at the point of the bayonet.

Meanwhile, the troops of the Maharajah and other contingents were making a triumphal forward march; and Dost Mahomed, scared by the formidable array of his enemies, expressed his willingness to come to terms. The

conditions of his adversaries were too hard for his acceptance, and he chose flight to submission. A column was sent in pursuit of the fugitive; and, in the meantime, Shah Suja made a triumphant entry into Cabul.

To gain for their protége a throne was one thing; to answer for the loyalty of his subjects was, however, quite another. It was thought that, as the power of Dost Mahomed had been broken by the capture of his fortresses, and the dispersion of his troops, no material resistance would be offered to the sway of Shah Suja; and, impressed with this notion, the greater portion of the troops were ordered back to India. It is indeed difficult to conceive what might have been the result had the entire force been withdrawn, and Shah Suja left to his own resources.

The Afghans, far from being a homogeneous nation, were composed of a number of clans, each owning a chief whose allegiance to the Ameer of Cabul was a very nominal one indeed. In such a condition of society, it usually matters but little who may fill the office of lord paramount, provided only the position be obtained by means which the crude understandings of the people would interpret as legitimate; and had Shah Suja regained his lost inheritance by the argument of his own good sword, it is more than probable that the various chieftains would have recognised accomplished facts, and given him their fealty. This, however, was not the case. Their recognised sovereign had been first spurned, then dethroned, and driven into exile by a foreigner's hand who had espoused the newly-created monarch's cause, not for the purpose of delivering the land from the trammels of a despot, but for political considerations of their own; and the country, occupied by an alien army, presented the unwelcome aspect of a conquered land.

The contemplation of the first was galling enough, the thought of the second unbearable; and the country, in consequence, became a scene of turmoil from end to end. Of these expressions of ill-will, Dost Mahomed was not slow to take advantage. Prompt action, however, checked rebellion; and the deposed Ameer, utterly

unsuccessful, was induced to tender his submission. There was, however, one who was not so disposed to submithis son Akbar. This prince, taking up a position amid the mountain fastnesses of his country, gathered to his standard all who, like himself, chafed under the domination of the foreigners, and vowed their extermination.

In the year 1841, or two years after the establishment of Shah Suja upon the throne, it was known to all who carefully watched the progress of events in this quarter, that the country was upon the eve of a serious rebellion. Cabul was fast filling with armed men; and expressions of impatience and discontent were everywhere loud and general. It is painful to contemplate the blindness with which the official mind at this time seems to have been smitten. Warnings were spurned; information disregarded; a high-handed and parsimonious policy pursued with regard to those whose adherence was necessary to the maintenance of their position, and even the very safety of their own persons; and a thorough lack of those preparations for emergencies that should, in view of their equivocal position, have occupied a first place in their consideration. They imprudently surrendered the Bala Hissar which had given them command of the city; offended the Kyberies, through whose difficult and dangerous country they would have to pass in the event of retreat; offered unpardonable indignities to the native chieftains; dismissed the bulk of their forces; and gave command of the residue to General Elphinstone, a man entirely unfitted through age and infirmity to act in any case which might require decision and energy.

The crisis came. Sir Alexander Burnes, the great advocate of the undertaking, and a most unpopular man with the Afghans, was the earliest victim; and his murder was the signal for a general rising in the city. The king's troops, which were sent against the insurgents, had to retire with loss; and so formidable a front did the rebels by-and-bye present, that it was found necessary to recall the troops that had been despatched homewards. Few came; for the incessant assaults of the Afghan foes, and

the snows of winter, had combined to interpose an impassable barrier to their movements; and the British troops who had encamped in the plain country around the city, suffering fearfully from cold and hunger, were thus abandoned to their own resources.

An attempt was made by Mr. Macnaughton, the envoy, to negotiate; but the terms offered by the chieftains were too preposterous for his acceptance; and it was therefore plain that a death-struggle was imminent. Nevertheless, the governor was minded to make one more effort in the direction of peace. Akbar was by this time the acknowledged head of the Afghan confederacy; and to him Mr. Macnaughton now turned with the view to a settlement. The crafty Afghan, while expressing his willingness to treat with the British envoy, intended to pursue a course of double-dealing; and the upshot was the treacherous assassination of Mr. Macnaughton by Akbar's own hand.

No attempt was made to avenge this injury; and the rebels, gaining greater confidence from the quiescent policy of their enemy, increased their demands. Nevertheless their conditions were agreed upon, indeed there was no help for it; and the British army, which numbered some 5000 fighting men, and twice that number of camp followers, set forth on its way back to India. Its fate is well known. Overcome by cold, hunger, and fatigue, and perpetually harassed by the merciless attacks of the mountain tribes, the entire army perished amid the defiles of the Khyber Pass. The columns which had previously been despatched homewards, and which, as has been remarked, were past recall, met, on the whole, with better success. General Holt maintained his position at Kandahar, and General Sale, having thrown himself into the ruined fortress of Jellalabad, maintained for many months a gallant defence against the assaults of Akbar Khan, till relief was brought him by General Pollock. This defence of Jellalabad forms the most brilliant and glorious episode connected with this unfortunate undertaking.

CHAPTER XXIII.

ADMINISTRATION OF LORD ELLENBOROUGH,

Continuation of the Afghan War-Advance of General PollockApprehensions regarding the Safety of the Captives—Opposition offered by Akbar-Recovery of the Captives-Withdrawal of the British Forces from Cabul-Close of the War -Quarrel with the Rajah of Gwalior-With the Ameers of Scinde-Defeat of Beloochees at Meanee-Victory of Dubba -Close of the Struggle.

LORD AUCKLAND had, meanwhile, been superseded by Lord Ellenborough. A man of great decision, he resolved to make an energetic movement for the relief of our countrymen from the perilous position in which they were placed. A feeble attempt of the kind had been made by his predecessor; but, inasmuch as it was feeble, it failed. A considerable force was now placed under the cominand of General Pollock, who, carrying the fortifications of the terrible Khyber Pass, brought relief to General Sale; while another column under General English, proceeding by way of the Bolan Pass, performed a similar service in behalf of General Nott.

Successful thus far, nothing stood in the way of an immediate advance upon Cabul. But, at this point, it appeared as if the decision of the new governor were about to desert him; for a retrograde movement was in contemplation; and it seemed highly probable that the hostages which had been left with Akbar would be abandoned to their fate. Fortunately for the welfare of these poor creatures, and for the honour of England, wiser counsels prevailed; and Generals Pollock and Nott, on whom the command devolved, were permitted to go forward upon their errand of mercy.