occasion of the intended British invasion of Afghanistan was at an
end. No matter. A large and brilliant army was already assembled on
the banks of the Indus, and the war must go on! Many persons from the
first considered the result doubtful; and Shah Soojah himself had his
misgivings, when he found that he was to be forced by Christian
bayonets upon a nation of bigoted Mohammedans!

But although the change in the state of affairs in Central Asia made
no change in the belligerent resolves of the Indian government, it
determined them to reduce the size of the army, and so make a little
war instead of a great one. Scarcely had the Army of the Indus, as it
was called, begun its march through Scinde, when it was beset with
difficulties. 'Between Sukkur and Shikarpoor the camels had dropped
down dead by scores. But there was a worse tract of country in
advance. The officers looked at their maps, and traced with dismay the
vast expanse of sandy desert, where no green pasture met the eye, and
no sound of water spoke to the ear. But the season was favourable.
Escaping the arid and pestilential blasts of April and May, and the
noxious exhalations of the four succeeding months, the column advanced
into Cutch. The hard, salt-mixed sand crackled under their horses'
feet, as the general and his staff crossed the desert, on a fine
bright night of early March--so cool, that only when in a full gallop
the riders ceased to long for the warmth of their cloaks. The distance
from Shikarpoor to Dadur is a hundred and forty-six miles. It was
accomplished by the Bengal column in sixteen painful marches. Water
and forage were so scarce, that the cattle suffered terribly on the
way. The camels fell dead by scores on the desert; and further on, the
Beloochee robbers carried them off with appalling dexterity. When the
column reached a cultivated tract of country, the green crops were
used as forage for the horses. The _ryots_ were liberally paid on the