General Massy’s withdrawal of his patrols was severely criticized, and capital was afterwards made out of it by the military authorities in India. As showing how utterly helpless the troopers would have been in the darkness to check an enemy, I may quote my own experience. On the morning of the 9th I rode from General Massy’s force to join General Baker, taking an Afghan guide and two sowars as escort. Innumerable watercourses had to be jumped, and both sowars were left behind in the ditches. My horse had nearly to swim one stream, and the strain and toil of climbing up the banks were such that I lost even the felt _numdah_ from under my saddle. The willow-trees lining the stream were also great obstacles to horses and men, even in daylight.
Visit to the Residency—Description of the Bala Hissar—The Ruins of the Residency—Probable Plan of the Attack and Defence—The Amir’s Palace—Formal Occupation of the Bala Hissar, and Proclamation to the People of Cabul—The Punishment of the City—Arrest of the Amir’s Ministers—Text of the Proclamation.
To-day Sir Frederick Roberts and his Staff visited the ruins of the Residency within the walls of the Bala Hissar. The visit was made quietly and unostentatiously, only a sufficient escort being taken to guard against such accidents as a ghazi running amuck, or a handful of quondam rebels making an attack upon the leader of the army that has punished them. There is so much of historical interest attaching to the fortress which guards Cabul, and this interest has been so intensified by late events, that all of us who rode from Camp yesterday were full of expectation as to what we were likely to see. Following for half a mile the Jellalabad Road, lined on both sides with closely-planted trees, we turned sharply to the left when nearing the city, and were soon underneath the walls of the Bala Hissar itself. The shallow bed of the moat supposed to surround the city is nearly dry, and the road runs only a few yards from the foot of the rock against which the walls are reared. The masonry is crumbling to decay, but there are still signs of great stability in it, and the natural features of the ground have been so utilized that a precipitous face of 30 or 40 feet is presented to any enemy. This is on the eastern side to the right of the entrance-gate, just where Shere Ali’s palace, with its zenana, tops the wall. The road rises some 10 or 12 feet to the gate itself, which must once have been of enormous strength, as solid masonry 20 feet thick still remains. Here, again, there is evidence of ruin, the inner supports having crumbled away and the defensive position overhead lost its protecting parapets. The lower Bala Hissar once entered, one comes upon the usual narrow winding lanes and commonplace mud buildings of all eastern cities. The place looks filthy and uncared for, and the doorways leading to the courts of the tumble-down houses give a view of squalor and dilapidation suggestive of worse to follow. The few shops are miserable specimens of their kind, and their owners are in keeping with the general associations of the place. There is nothing better to describe than dust, dirt, and dreariness, on every hand; and even the small square, where a few guns were standing in front of a dozen dirty tents used by the gunners, gave as little idea of the interior of a fortress as a few grains of sand would of a desert. Six field-pieces and as many mountain guns were parked in the square. This was part of the artillery-quarters, and a few gunners with a trumpeter were standing near the guns. The men wore no uniform and looked like unwashed coolies. They saluted as Sir Frederick Roberts rode up, and the trumpeter welcomed us by blowing monotonously for several minutes upon his instrument.