bitants, as well as many of the
native chiefs, resisting the exactions of Akhbar Khan; who, at last,
irritated by the opposition to his measures, imprisoned the titular
shah, Futteh-Jung, in the Bala-Hissar; whence he succeeded after a time
in escaping, and made his appearance, in miserable plight, (Sept. 1,) at
the British headquarters at Futtehabad, between Jellalabad and
Gundamuck. The advance of the army was constantly opposed by detached
bodies of the enemy, and several spirited skirmishes took place:--till,
on the 13th of September, the main Affghan force, to the number of
16,000 men, under Akhbar Khan and other leaders, was descried on the
heights near Tazeen, (where the slaughter of our troops had taken place
in January,) at the entrance of the formidable defiles called the
Huft-Kothul, or Seven Passes. It is admitted on all hands that in this
last struggle, (as they believed, for independence,) the Affghans fought
with most distinguished gallantry, frequently charging sword in hand
upon the bayonets; but their irregular valour eventually gave way before
the discipline of their opponents, and a total rout took place. The
chiefs fled in various directions, "abandoning Cabul to the _avengers of
British wrongs_," who entered the city in triumph on the 15th, and
hoisted the British colours on the Bala-Hissar. The principal point now
remaining to be effected was the rescue of the prisoners whom Akhbar
Khan had carried off with him in his flight, with the intention (as was
rumoured) of transporting them into Turkestan; but from this peril they
were fortunately delivered by the venality of the chief to whose care
they had been temporarily intrusted; and on the 21st they all reached
the camp in safety, with the exception of Captain Bygrave, who was also
liberated, a few days later, by the voluntary act of Akhbar himself.[31]

[30] It was this chief whose betrayal or destruction Sir
William McNaghten is accused, on the authority of General
Elphinstone's correspondence, of having meditated, on the
occasion when he met with his own fate. We hope, for the honour
of the English name, that the memory of the late Resident at
Cabul may be cleared from this heavy imputation; but he
certainly cannot be acquitted of having, by his wilful
blindness and self-sufficiency, contributed to precipitate the
catastrophe to which he himself fell a victim. In proof of this
assertion, it is su