his chief was certain in the long run not to follow. Even when Elphinstone's better judgement prompted him to do the right thing, a word from some one else would lead him astray. On this 3rd of November, he proposed to ensure the safety of the commissariat stores by placing a garrison in Muhammad Sheríf's Fort. But Macnaghten objected to the 'policy' of such a move, and that night the fort was occupied by Afghán matchlock-men, who thus commanded both the south-west corner of cantonments and the road thence of 400 yards to the Commissariat Fort[1].
By this time also it should have been obvious to the dullest intellect that nothing could be gained by keeping Elphinstone's force in a position utterly unsuited for a prolonged defence. The oblong intrenchment, with its low wall and narrow ditch, commanded on all sides by hills, forts, and villages, and with its food-supplies a quarter of a mile off, was little better than a death-trap in the face of a national uprising. 'It must always remain a wonder' — wrote Sir Vincent Eyre, who did good service during this period — 'that any Government, or any officer or set of officers, who had either science or experience, should, in a half-conquered country, fix their forces in so extraordinary and injudicious a military position.' The Chief Engineer with Pollock's Avenging Army, Sir Frederic Abbot, might well deem it 'a matter of surprise that our military authorities did not throw themselves into the Bálá Hissár; a movement that
- ↑ Eyre; Kaye.
