een that place and the
Shaturgurdan the natives were in a restless and excited state. Two
attacks by 3000 men had been made on the garrison holding the crest of
the Shaturgurdan, 300 in number. These bravely sallied out, attacked
the enemy in the open, and killed large numbers of them. General Gough,
with the 5th Punjaub Cavalry and 5th Punjaub Infantry and four guns, was
therefore sent from Cabul to bring down from the Shaturgurdan all the
stores accumulated there and the garrison, and then to desert the place,
which would shortly be closed by snow.

Several executions now took place at Cabul, of men who had shared in the
attack on the Embassy. Many of the villagers were also hung for
shooting at bodies of our troops; and the position of the British force
at Cabul was that of a body holding only the ground they occupied in the
midst of a bitterly hostile country. The Ameer was powerless, and,
indeed, his goodwill was more than doubtful. He was regarded as a
prisoner, although treated with all courtesy; and feeling his own
impotence, and being viewed with hostility by both parties, he resigned
his position as Ameer, and asked to be sent into India, which was done.
The abdication of the Ameer really took place on October the 12th, but
it was not publicly known until the 28th.

On the 4th of November, Brigadier-General Gough returned with the
garrison of Shaturgurdan, which he had safely brought off just as their
position was becoming almost untenable, so large was the body of men
assembling round them. The roads were now carefully examined upon the
way down to Jellalabad, and communication was opened with the force
occupying that valley. Some of the cavalry were sent down to the
valley, as it was clear that with all the efforts the commissariat could
make, sufficient quantities of forage could not be collected for their
support during the winter. Up the Khyber Pass troops were slowly
coming, destined in the spring to join the force at Cabul, should it be
necessary to carry on further operations.

The Sherpur cantonments were now occupied, and were made the
headquarters of the force. These cantonments consisted of barracks
surrounded on three sides by a lofty wall, steep hills rising at the
back. They had been built by the Ameer for his own troops, but had
never been used for the purpose. The winter was now setting in. Snow
began to fall on the hills around, and ice formed in the pools every
night. Severa