MILITARY AD VENTURES. 141 



To my great joy I heard that our army 

 was safe. And I also learned something 

 of what had happened after I had received 

 the fearful blow on my head which had 

 been the unhappy cause of my long sepa- 

 ration from my regiment. It appeared 

 that although the party I commanded had 

 met with a reverse at that moment, owing 

 to the tremendous and overwhelming force 

 of the enemy pouring down upon them, 

 yet, that lower down they were met by 

 troops more prepared for them : and, 

 though our troops suffered most severely, 

 they were able to stem the torrent and 

 eventually drive them off; and at last 

 succeeded in taking their stronghold, which 

 however, was not a very difficult matter, 

 as it was quite denuded of troops, for, as I 

 said in the previous chapter, the Nepaulese 

 could not stand the shells bursting in among 



