, 1879-03-17

THE HORRORS OF WAR.


THE HORRORS OF WAR.
-
ru.,,.,,. -, ..u,. ou,.
~ tho British:
co'rtf"o"dt"es ondon Stanford.
On the following dny 1.-THE st'i) reconnoltering
PARTIES secured tho country 10 every direction,
and came back with the aovs that s)thoupl1
,t....,it,,,. ,,o.,,,, ~ ,,,t,,,o, ,x, an, ~, a.,
t sGasE'''t3 NV @s0 ~ 't"o a. w. t4'e
hillsdes, yat not singso Mongol or Wazirl was
Visible OH the plain. This was plenannt inf0rma-
| tIon, anl the day passed au!otly. At about
o,c1nrl ho,vnver .chon wo wore In t,c n,tla, of
,,,.. s,.. asa 49,, ~ ~. 49,. .t1s ~
u'unc', w" s!o.s "eie Ateu w Wv i.1"s s.uo "
tllo camp, aud this was Immediately followed by
rile-Grng by cur scntrss all around. Every
| body iumpcl IN In aston!shmept, To Judge
~ .,,o nont,nn,roo ort ro,td,,v ~ ~
=! "e so"t.nuaos" nv ap'sS ~ Nv
the hills across The plains md were now
| surrounding ua. Tic General buckled on
his revolver md went out TO sec what the
nnttcr was, at tho saino time sending several Of
| banr, baug, wont tue rifles IN every side. II
1 surely must be serious business. THE troops
were ordered out. The hussars were atrcaly In
their saddlrs nnd ralloptng to the front to dis
crnt aud reported that on tie other side OF tho
| nMllah, near the camp, SIX Afghan llorsemcn
had been seen and several men on foot: I'm
srs :ss nssH psns sy a a P a ss GG i
enemy was nowhere visible, IND that the whole
nlrair was falsc alarnl. One sentry bad tm-
aElncl he suw somebody and fired. The con-
blazing away wildly, either at nothing or at our
| own Sheep Further Inquiries were nude, md
4 became appnrcnt tint Col. Qillicrs' rxp!ana-
tton uf the matter was corrcet,-our Rentincla
were having little sllam-tlght on their own ac-
count. So, reassured, We returned to iiniah our
dinner.
We had scarcely reached our tents, however,
hetorc news reached US that terrible tragedy
where tlle prisoners tnkcn OIL the PREVIOUS lay
bud been sent to hu taken cure Of by the 1weli-
ty-tirst Regiment. They werc arranged in three
| lines, and made to sit upon the ground. EacIl
lino was fastened by one rope, which was passed
round each man, and then fixed II, the ground
by wooden pegs. A guard was p!uccd over thu
prisoners, with strict orders to prevent any Of
siranle tlMt eacll man should bc identified, 10
that wc might sec Who among them wcso Mon
gols, who Wazlris, md who KhostwaIs. II aI,-
pcars that tic first two shots which We heard
into the camp OF the Twcnty-flrst from tile op-
poslto siio Of Tho raYine. The priscrcrs I'M
ag1ned the shots to b. the signals tor them to
uttcmpt to escape. They accordingly jumped
up from the ground at 0ne md the same mo-
! mcnt, und commenced swaying from side to
side, evidently with tho oNjGct either Of breaIs-
i,lg the ropes or tearing them fran their fastcn-
| tnEs In tilt ground. They were nli in state OF
terrible excitement. iii. alarm was given a,.l
II humber OF Sopoys rushed out to Shcl1 tiu
guard. The guard enacayorcd to keep thc pris-
0nurs quiet ailu to pruvent them from cscaplnE.
Several Of the prisoners, however, snatclled at
the rAos Of tue Sepuys Alll1 tricd tu got uosses-
sion Of them. Hetice ensucl u series Of dcspcr-
rate hani.to-hand struggles, In which two or
three rifles were broken. Que powerful fellow
who was utter him. As lic was running away
one OF the guard bnYonctcd him in tho leg. but
this did not stop hin, fur he reached tho other
side Of the ravinc In safetY, He had onIY, how
ever. run Into tho arms ol the outlying Dleke,s,
who 1Eyd 1t mud killed him. Another fellow
got frc5 Of Ills Jonds, but DO l,au only run fow
yards wllrn he was met by nutlYe officer, who
The sItuatton was now becoming desperate
measures Hcro taken At onee tlle wl!ols Of the
remaining pr!soucrs would get loose, and prob;a,
men, tlcayitis, groanil!g, ntll wrcnchng nt the
ropes, was swaying perhaps for the Inst timu
before getting Tree, TIC guards loaded their
rifles, al.d eitller shot or bayonctcd every man
who persisted tn strugglIng.t This terrible decd
lad tle effect desired. sobcrcd by tho fact OF
mcn falling dead at their sides, und by thu
groans OF comrades who were sinking severely
stat,tly BECAME quiet, md crouchcd upon the
ground in terror. T,.e scene of .ills trugedy
Was appalling. The dead, the living, tho dying,
mud ll,e wounded weru still lied togctlcr. AL
bultca. Ihc living could not bu told frum tho
dead, except when some suffering wretch sitting
| in q popl OF his owl. blood, md looking Elnstly
" / stall neser forgct HS' lie appearance Of the
swort fucc Of one Of theae wounded men, He
wore n bjue turbpn, a long blue shirt, u,N dirty
white pY}atnas. lie was young. uo was lca,i,
,ur back on dead body. IA passuu hu turned
his fAce full uto tie Hight Of tho moon; his 1et
hair ind fnllcu from Ills turban, nntl formed q
: weird frou,c around Ills features, which were
hareard With aRony. in Ills own language he
\ 4u4n Ian, t,{$f fFstI