is brigade, to punish
the Zakka-Khels for the continued night firing which, our commander
had learned from prisoners, was kept up by that tribe. The brigade
did its work thoroughly and, by evening, the whole of the eastern
valley was in flames. That same evening, however, Captain Watson, a
commissariat officer, was shot dead, as he stood at his own door. A
curious fatality seemed to accompany this night firing. Out of the
many thousands in camp, four officers only had been hit. Captain
Sullivan, of the 36th Sikhs, was shot ten minutes after he had
arrived in camp, having travelled post haste from England.

On the 9th a reconnaissance was ordered to Saransur, a lofty peak
to the east of the Maidan valley. Across this is a pass, on one of
the roads to Peshawar. General Westmacott, who was in command, took
with him four regiments--two British and two Sikhs--two batteries,
and a company of Madras Sappers. The foot of the hill to be scaled
was less than three miles from camp, but the intervening ground was
extraordinarily broken. It was, in fact, a series of hummocks from
seventy to a hundred feet high; which were covered with boulders,
and intersected by a river. This main nullah was also broken, on
both sides, by smaller nullahs almost every hundred yards. Beyond
this rugged ground there was a severe ascent. The hill had two
spurs; one wooded, especially towards the summit, the other bare.
The path wound up the latter, then crossed a ridge beyond, and yet
another ridge behind that, with a sheer summit very like the Dargai
cliff.

The force left camp at half-past seven. When they had gone about a
mile, desultory shots were fired at them, from a series of
well-built sangars facing the termination of the nullah. On
reaching the foot of the hillside, General Westmacott was much
concerned about the Dorsets on the left; who were engaged in
desultory firing, and were making little progress up the nullah.
Staff officer after staff officer was despatched, to direct the
Dorsets to the intended line.

A little before ten the Northamptons, and Sikhs covering them in
the rear, began the ascent. It was a stiff climb of a thousand
feet. When the first brow was reached General Westmacott called a
halt, in order that the men might get their breath and fix
bayonets. Then they climbed to the next top cover, and rushed
forward. The enemy evidently knew its range, and advance companies
found themselves under magazine fire. Nevertheless th