Reporting History

Forcing the Khyber Pass

Illustration of British infantry in close fighting with Afghan cavalry.

This defile, one of the most formidable and impenetrable in Asia, as a line of military defence, extends from Jumrood upwards in the direction of Jellalabad, without interval, for the space of twenty-eight miles, throughout twenty-two of which it has hitherto been reckoned impassable for an army, when the inhabitants had determined to oppose them. From Jumrood, where the pass opens on the Peshawar side, to Ali Musjid, the dell is deep and uninterrupted; and the celebrated fort, just named, which stands on an isolated hill, in the narrow, near the middle of the defile, completely commands it. Here it is so sickly that the troops we have endeavoured to keep in the fort have from time to time been nearly all swept away. For about seven miles beyond All Musjid, the ascent is somewhat uniform till it arrives near Lundee Khana, where for a couple of miles it stretches out to the face of a frightful precipice, like the galleries by which the Simplon is traversed.

Colonization & Indigenous Relations Local Histories

A Portrait of Cabul and Ghuznee

INDIA.—A letter was received in town on the 9th inst., from Captain J. Hoppe, of the 16th Bengal Native Infantry, and Adjutant of the 2nd regiment of Infantry of Shah Soojah. Captain Hoppe led the storming party, and was wounded in the attack of Kelali Ghilzie. His letter is dated Candahar, February 14: the gallant officer writes to his father thus :—” We are, thank God, all safe at this place, although in the daily expectation of the people in the town rising against us, and the enemy, only twenty-five miles off, are threatening to attack us. Our communication with Cabul and the provinces is cut off, and report says that Sir W. M’Naghten, the envoy and minister, is murdered, with several other officers. It is to be hoped, in the spring, troops will be pushed up from India—for we can do nothing at this season—when, please God, we will give them a lesson they little think of. General Nott, with a large force, went against the rebels, collected only eight miles from Candahar, and killed and wounded 700 or 800 of them, but they are increasing in numbers every day, and one of Shah Soojah’s sons (Satter Jung) at their head. It is said they dined in their shrouds the other day, and swore upon the Koran that they would either murder us all, or be killed in the attempt. At present we are all safe and well.”

Archaeology

Lost City in the Seistan

The Second Afghan Expedition of the American Museum of Natural History has reported the discovery of a lost city in the Seistan Basin on the Afghan-Iraq border. Walter A. Fairservis, jr., leader of the exploring group, explains that the site seems to have been unoccupied for 5,000 years. The area yielded examples of pottery bearing designs never used today. Yet these markings are sophisticated and give evidence of an advanced stage of culture. The abandoned town unquestionably had been a settlement of considerable importance in its prime. It was a permanent, not a transient community. This was demonstrated by the durable character of the tombs which it had raised.