we had sufficient local coolies to carry all our baggage, supplies, ammunition, and, most important of all, the two guns.  About noon on this day, Raja Akbar Khan of Punyal, whom I have before mentioned as meeting us on the march from Shoroh to Suigal, came into camp with fifty Levies, bringing in a convoy of ninety Balti coolies with supplies.  We were getting along famously now, so Colonel Kelly decided to advance the next day without waiting for Peterson’s detachment, as our first object was to open communication with Mastuj.

We had a political tea that afternoon:  all the leaders of the Levies, old Raja Akbar Khan, Humayun, Taifu, the Nagar Wazir, Shah Mirza, and one or two princelings who had come up to see some fighting, all squatted round our little room on the straw, swigging sweet tea and munching biscuits, quite a friendly gathering; in fact, so much tea was consumed that the mess president swore he would send in a bill.

We always got our earliest and most reliable information from the Levies, as most of them had blood relations among the Chitralis.  They also knew just where to look for hidden grain and supplies of all sorts.  As a rule there was generally a cache under or near the fireplace in the main room, but I have also seen the Levies find them in the most unlikely places, and very queer odds and ends they sometimes pulled out of these under-ground storerooms.

On the morning of April 8th the column was formed up and ready to start by 9 A.M.  Poor Gough was being left behind at Laspur in command of the garrison, which consisted of some twenty-five Kashmir troops, and the Nagar and Punyal Levies, in all about a hundred.  The Levies were to come on as soon as the second party arrived.  Our force, therefore, consisted of two hundred Pioneers, two guns, forty Kashmir Sappers, and fifty Hunza Levies.  Our order of march was as follows:  first of all went the Levies; then, with an interval of some five hundred yards, came the advance guard of a half company of Pioneers; the main body consisted of Kashmir Sappers, guns, one company of Pioneers, ammunition, hospital baggage, and rearguard of half company Pioneers.  Both advance and rear-guards were commanded by British officers.  It was a lovely, fine morning, and we were all in the best of spirits, and looking forward to leaving behind the detestable snow, and therewith our chief source of discomfort.

Poor old Gough looked awfully dismal at being left behind, but it was the fortune of war.  At Gurkuch, at Gupis, at Ghizr, there was only one cry from officers and men—­British and Native—­“For Heaven’s sake take us on with you!” The natives always added that they would never be able to face their womenfolk again if there had been fighting and they not in it.  The Britisher expressed his disgust at what he called “his bally luck” in more forcible terms, but it meant the same thing, and we are all the same colour under the skin.