A Chief, named Walla Mahommed, who had persisted in firing on the troops several hours after the taking of the fort, and in spite of repeated summonses to surrender, was brought to a court martial by order of the Commander-in-Chief, and sentenced to be shot within the walls of the fortress. He had killed three or four of our men, and wounded one of the Native officers by his obstinate folly. He met his fate with the most perfect indifference, for the fear of death cannot be said to be one of the weaknesses of the Affghan character.
I one day paid a visit, with some of my comrades, to the hospital where the wounded Affghans had been carried by their friends. It was situated in the old town, and consisted of a mud hut, whose thatched roof was broken in several places, and afforded little or no shelter against the heat of the sun. The interior was as filthy and disgusting as it is possible to conceive. Into a space of about thirty feet by twelve, were crowded from seventy to a hundred patients, who were disabled by wounds of every description, their sufferings being aggravated tenfold, by the intolerable heat and stench of the place. They were attended by two elderly men and a youth about fifteen years of age, who were busily engaged dressing their wounds, whilst a Faquir was performing certain charms, by which he pretended he could restore them to health. Pitiable and disgusting as the scene was I could not help laughing at the mummeries of the fellow. He first placed some cow dung in the hand of the sufferer, and holding it in his, saturated it with water and compelled the patient to smell it. He then wound up the ceremony by repeating some prayers over the fumes of a charcoal pan, the patient repeating after him certain responses which he directed him to make. This done, he covered him up with an old blanket, and ordered him to lay quiet for several hours, when the cure would be complete. Having of course received a consideration for all this trouble, he left his patients to the progress of the charm, and the discovery, when too late, that they had been grossly duped.
Happening to have a quantity of apples with me which I had just plucked from one of the orchards in the vicinity, I offered them to the sufferers in the hope that they would in some degree refresh them. They accepted them with eagerness which induced some sepoys who were with me to follow my example. The Affghans indignantly refused to receive anything at their hands, and so great was their hatred of the native troops, that they actually spat upon the men who showed them this kindness.