The Sun.
London, England, 1849-12-31 00:00:00

AN ADVEN TUBE BY MAJOR

Ai{DES.

We (Shrewsbury Journal) have been favoured with
a copy of the foliosAing private and interesting letter,
received from the hero of the east :
" The heat is already terrible in tents, under these
hil!s, yet I am glad of the hip, as I know nothing of
tribes who hold the hills from Tank to Dora

!Khan. Now lam filling my head and note-books
with the Nuiv.huh of their passes. I shall remem-
ber the Tukhti Solitnan as long as I live, for,
underneath its snowy peaks, 1 mare :narrowly
escaped death than ever I can remember before—even
during the last two years. Among the Caubul mer-
chant tribes, who frequent the Dannum, is a large
one called the Nassurs; and among them is a
Zagee rascal, named Shahzad Khan, who at one
time or another has tussled with Dost Mahotned,
the Newab of Deva, and all the Seikh authorities in
these parts. I sent for him to answer some complaints.
Ile did not come (I was then in 13unnoo) ; I sent
again—same result, but talkt.d of sending his brother
when quite convenient. lie was encamped then
Glebe to Kolachee, and I told the Khan to send him
by force, if he would not come : f his own accord.
hearing this, he bolted to the bids; but when all
was quiet came back again. The Kardar wrote in
vain to him to pay his trinnee. lie would not ;
when therefore I came myself to Kolachee, I made
inquiries as to Shalizad Khan's wt ereabouts; and
finding he was encamped close under Soliman's
throne, about nine knuss off, I determined to make a
rapid dour on him, and try and seize him.
" One night, therefore, I quietly got together 200
Dooranee Sowans, 60 Seikh Regulars, and about 30
or 40 others of different sorts, forded the Loonnee,
which was much swollen, and nearly did for us all, and
made for the encampment, telling 200 infantry sol-
diers and 12 Zoombooruks to follow in the rear as a
reserve, in case of any serious business. We reached
the camp at daylight, and I drew up my men in a
nullah, to give the horses breath before going at it.
Judge of my surprise to find that of 60 regular
Seikhs only 20 were forthcoming, and about 40 of the
200 Doorannees. The rest had lost their way in the
dark, it was said; but I learnt afterwards the cow-
ards turned back in the middle of the Loonnee, so
that I had 60 men out of 300. For all the world I
could not go back without trying at all events, and,
taking no notice of the defections, pushed on. The
Doorannees at first, when some hundreds of yards off,
could not be kept back, but yelled 6' Nab !" and
shook their junils and shumshers in the air, as if
they were coming to eat up the Nassurs without salt;
hut as we neared the camp they became quite ma-
nageable, and fell into line. The Nassurs turned out
like roused wasps with junils, swords, sticks, stones,
and all sorts of combustibles. I called on them all to
surrender. A barefaced proposition, which was
received with a handsome volley. Seeing nothing
left, I drew my sword, and calling on my " heroes'
to follow, rode into the ruck. Of sixty men, on my
honour I do not slander them, when I say ten may
have charged along with me, including a son of
Sirdar Synd Mahommed Khan, Barrukzee, and a
young cousin of the Kolachee Uallah ; so you may
fancy we had to give and take pretty thick. One
ruffian that I got involved with actually proposed to
blow me up like Ghunzee Gate, crammed the muzzle
of his juzail into my stomach, and fired I Nothing,
on earth could have saved me but what hap-
pened. The priming flashed in the pan. I cut him
over the head, and we parted even. How we ever
got through alive is a mystery; but emerging safely
with two men at the opposite side of the camp, I
looked round for the rest ef my friends. They were
circling and caracolling round the edges at prudent
distances, and were, I believe, sincerely glad to see
me come out as an excuse to get away. But my eye
fell on the Nassur herd of camels, tied in a circle, and
the soul of a cattle-lifter took possession of me. I
thought if we carried away a good bey of camels, it
would turn defeat into victory; so made rush No. 2
at the herd, which probably saved me by springing
up between me and their masters, and leaping about
in the most ridiculous manner, half fettered and half
loose. Assisted by a thief whom I had pardoned and
taken into sevice a few weeks before, and who quite
entered into the business professionally, I succeeded
in driving off 75 of these camels ; and though the
Nassurs followed up like madmen, and one fellow
felled me with a stone as big as my head (we were
on horseback, and they on foot), and, putting the
oonths before us, we pricked them on in the true
Arab style, nor drew bridle till we made a koss.
" Haltirg to count heads, I was much disgusted to
find the young Khan of Kolachee missing. " Who
saw him ?" A Sowen had seen him knocked off his
horse with a stick, and never helped him. What was
to be done ? Go back my men would not had I asked
them; and, if I brought u? the reserve of infantry, the
first hot would be the signal for Kalvo Khm's murder
by the Nassurs. The only thing was to make
reprisals; so:I sent word to the reserve to get posses-,
sion, if possible, of a Mullock or two of another Nas-
sur camp in the rear, which being pitche I close to a
large village, was nut likely to resist. They executed

the=ir orders, and brought off the Mullock who divides
the Nassur tribe with Shazad, and also upwards of
200 more camels. Unfortunately this Mullock
proved to be on bad terms wia) Shazad, and the
latter would not swap Kalvo Khan inr him, but
walked off into the Tukci Suliman, where he
knew I could not follow. Indeed I have
been unable to walk ever since, having got a
severe contusion from a stone on my right knee,
which has given me great pain. (I forgot to say that
only four of our party, besides myself, were
wounded.) At last I gave Kalvo Khan's father
the 75 camels I had carried off, and told him to
make his own bargain. A Tukeer was found, and
the young Khan recovered. No sooner did he
arrive than he said, Have you not got some
more camels besides the 75 you gave my father ?'
Yes,' I said, upwards: of 200 of Sir Must
Khan's." All right! They are not Sir Must
Khan's, but Shazad's own, he having sent them for
safety to graze with Sher Must's herd. He thinks
you dan't know it, and will let them go, of course,
now lam returned.' Sir Must corroborated this
statement, only claiming 10 out of 245 ; 96 were
afterwards proved not Shazad's, and released ; but
we confiscated 139. A tolerably good set-off to Mr.
Shazad's trinnee. Ile has since fled to Khorassan.

"As long as I am in this district I shall go on
the same principle, and never let any fellow
rest that does not knuckle down to the
authorities. They must either pay trinnes, and
come to the Adawlut when summoned, or clear out of
the Daanum. But I certainly will not rely on cold
steel at the head of a Dooranee and Seikh Sowans any
more. Once to try is very well, but the result dis-
couraging. I expect another wig from - for this
business, and think I see the sentences already ' de-
rogatory to the judicial dignity of an assistant
resident, and suited only to the character of a
Northumbrian cattle lifter ! '"

UNIVERSITY INTELLIGENCE
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE.
OXFORD, DEC. 29.—Uoldwin Smith, M.A., Stowell
Civil Law Fellow, has been appointed Classical Exsaniner
to the Royal College of Surgeons.
MERTON COLLEGE.
The Worshipful M. Argles, M.A., Chancellor o:f the
diocese of Peterborough, has been collated to a canonry
in thftt Cathedral.
The Rev. P. Lousada, S.C.L., has been licentsed to
the curacy of St. Augustine, Bristol.
EXETER COLLEGE.
The Rev. W. Bruton, M.A., has been presented to the
vicarage of Sidlesham, Sussex.
The Rev. W. C. Le Breton, M.A., formerly Fel.low
of this college, has been appointed to the deanory of
Jersey and the rectory of St. Helier's.
The Rev. Percy Munro, 8.A., has been licensed to the
curacy of Et. Anne, Westtniester.
The Rev. N. Oxenham, M.A., vicar of Modbur
Devon, has been collated to a canonry in Exetor
Cathedral.