“A general advance was then made down precipitous banks to the bed of the river, covered by the fire of the reserves, the river forded, and sangars ‘A’ and ‘B’ occupied.  The guns were then carried across, and, the whole line of sangars having been vacated, the column was re-formed on the fan; the line taken in crossing enabled the enemy to get well on their way to Mastuj; the advance was then continued to a village a mile and a half farther along the river, where a halt was made.  The casualties consisted of one man of the 32nd Pioneers severely wounded, and three Kashmir Sappers slightly.  The action commenced at 10.30 A.M. and lasted one hour.  The position was of unusual natural strength, and the disposition of the sangars showed considerable tactical ability, being placed on the edge of high cliffs on the left bank of the river.  The enemy were computed at four to five hundred, and were armed with Martini-Henry and Snider rifles.  Several dead were found in the sangars, and the losses I estimate to have been from fifty to sixty.”

By the time I had joined Colonel Kelly, the Pioneers had re-formed and were advancing, so I had very little time to take a look at the sangars.  I saw one or two bodies lying around, and the shells seemed to have knocked sparks pretty successfully out of the stone breastworks.  I also noticed the neat little cooking places the enemy had made behind their sangars, showing that they had been there for some time.

The advance was carried on without a check for about one and a half miles, when we came to a cluster of huts near the termination of the plain, the river here making a slight sweep towards the left side of the valley.  An advance guard was thrown out well to the front, and under their protection the column halted and the men fell out.  I had a first-class thirst by this time, and Gammer Sing made several trips to the river before it was quenched.  Gammer Sing and I always share the same tin mug on the march.  It is his mug, but he always gives me first go.  In return I supply Gammer Sing with tobacco, so it is a fair division of labour.  Here I finished my chupatties, and some kind man—­I think it was Borradaile—­gave me a stick of chocolate, my own store having run out, but I managed to get it replenished at Mastuj.

Good old Stewart came up as pleased as Punch at having had his first fight.  Said he, “And d’ye think now that me shells killed many of the beggars? sure and their corpses ought to be just thick.”  He was pained to hear that in all probability we should not catch up the enemy again that day, I really think nothing less than twelve hours’ hard fighting every day, with short intervals for refreshments, would satisfy him.

One of the guns, when being brought up the cliff, had slipped off the coolies and fallen down to the bottom again, breaking off the foresight, but Stewart mended it during the halt.

At the same time, the Sappers were hard at work pulling down a house for materials to build a bridge, but before it was actually begun, we heard that the river could be forded again lower down, so the bridge was not built.  By this time the men were sufficiently rested, the whole column had closed up, and orders sent back for the baggage to come on.