rom
the heart of the town.

[20] "I am sorry to say that this document has not reached me
with the rest of the manuscript. I have not struck out the
reference, because there is hope that it still exists, and may
yet be appended to this narrative. The loss of any thing else
from Captain Mackenzie's pen will be regretted by all who read
his other communication, the account of the Envoy's
murder.--EDITOR."

The fortified cantonment occupied by the British troops was a quadrangle
of 1000 yards long by 600 broad, with round flanking bastions at each
corner, every one of which was commanded by some fort or hill. To one
end of this work was attached the Mission compound and enclosure, about
half as large as the cantonment, surrounded by a simple wall. This space
required to be defended in time of war, and it rendered the whole of one
face of the cantonment nugatory for purposes of defence. The profile of
the works themselves was weak, being in fact an ordinary field-work. But
the most strange and unaccountable circumstance recorded by Lieutenant
Eyre respecting these military arrangements, is certainly the fact, that
the commissariat stores, containing whatever the army possessed of food
or clothing, was not within the circuit of these fortified cantonments,
but in a detached and weak fort, the gate of which was commanded by
another building at a short distance. Our author thus sums up his
observations on these cantonments:--

"In fact, we were so hemmed in on all sides, that, when the
rebellion became general, the troops could not move out a dozen
paces from either gate without being exposed to the fire of
some neighbouring hostile fort, garrisoned, too, by marksmen
who seldom missed their aim. The country around us was likewise
full of impediments to the movements of artillery and cavalry,
being in many places flooded, and every where closely
intersected by deep water-cuts.

"I cannot help adding, in conclusion, that almost all the
calamities that befell our ill-starred force may be traced more
or less to the defects of our position; and that our cantonment
at Cabul, whether we look to its situation or its construction,
must ever be spoken of as a disgrace to our military skill and
judgment."

_Nov_. 3.--The 37th native infantry arrived in cantonments, as
previously stated.

"Early in the afternoon, a d