The
advanced files rode cautiously forward. Suddenly they cantered up to the
wall and we knew some at least were alive. Captain Cole, turning to his
squadron, lifted his hand. The sowars, actuated by a common impulse,
rose in their stirrups and began to cheer. But there was no response.
Nor was this strange. The village was a shambles. In an angle of the
outside wall, protected on the third side by a shallow trench, were the
survivors of the fight. All around lay the corpses of men and mules. The
bodies of five or six native soldiers were being buried in a hurriedly
dug grave. It was thought that, as they were Mahommedans, their resting-
place would be respected by the tribesmen. [These bodies were afterwards
dug up and mutilated by the natives: a foul act which excited the fury
and indignation of soldiers of every creed in the force. I draw the
reader's attention to this unpleasant subject, only to justify what I
have said in an earlier chapter of the degradation of mind in which the
savages of the mountains are sunk.
Pages:
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301