1843.] relating to the great Inundation of the Indus. 187 



fied village, having a high mud wall, and at the four angles bastions. 

 Nearly all the villages that I saw beyond the Indus were fortified in a 

 similar manner ; from the town of Cohat it is distant about a quarter of 

 a mile. The town of Cohat consists of several divisions or villages apart 

 from each other, and in the centre there is a large mud fort garrisoned by 

 three hundred of the Lahore troops. Formerly the guard was relieved 

 every six months, but the present party had been there upwards of a 

 year, and without any prospect of relief or pay. 



Next day (1st December) I was visited by Sirdar Kader Khan, who 

 apologised for not visiting me on my first arrival. He was particularly 

 inquisitive regarding the objects of my journey, the cause of my coming 

 to Cohat, &c. 



7. When at Kalabagh, and prior to ascending the river, I wrote to 

 Captain Mackeson, mentioning the extraordinary rumours in regard to 

 our troops being in a precarious position not only at Cabul and Jella- 

 labad, but also in many other parts of Afghanistan. Three days after 

 reaching Cohat the answer to this letter reached me, which confirmed 

 the melancholy intelligence received from the natives at Mukud on the 

 Indus, and elsewhere. This was the first authentic information that I 

 had received of the state of affairs to the North West since I left 

 Lahore ; none of the letters which you did me the honor to address to me 

 having come to hand. 



On the 4th, no answer to the letter addressed to Captain Mackeson 

 having arrived, I told the chief that it would be absolutely necessary 

 for me to march via Attock, as the season was rapidly advancing ; that 

 I had waited two days longer than the time specified as necessary for 

 the receipt of an answer, and as I had stated to Captain Mackeson 

 that I would proceed by either the Attock or the direct route, I should no 

 doubt find that the chiefs through whose territories I would pass, had been 

 informed by General Avitabile of my intentions. Why the answer had 

 not reached, they could assign no reason, further than the cossid had 

 been seized by the Afreedies, and detained ; and they remarked, that if 

 I would remain a day longer, they would send off forthwith another ; 

 they further stated, that the route via, Attock was almost impracticable 

 for camels. This I afterwards ascertained to be incorrect. Early next 

 morning Sirdar Kadar Khan came to my tent, and stated that the carrier 

 which he had dispatched would certainly arrive in the course of the day. 



