rifles and one field battery, and very recently (1885) it was
announced that a present of Martini-Henry rifles and improved field
guns had been sent to Abdurrahman by the Indian authorities.

Besides the regular army there is a paid irregular mounted force of
about 20,000 men, active and formidable in "hill operations," and
known as Jezailchis.

The late General Colin Mackenzie, in an account of his experiences
in the Elphinstone disaster of 1842, says:

"The Jezailchis are so called from their jezails or long rifles. The
Afghans are said to be among the best marksmen in the world. They
are accustomed to arms from early boyhood, live in a chronic state
of warfare with their neighbors, and are most skilful in taking
advantage of cover. An Afghan will throw himself flat, behind a
stone barely big enough to cover his head, and scoop a hollow in the
ground with his left elbow as he loads. Men like these only require
training to make first-rate irregular troops.

"As a trait of Afghan character, I must mention that whenever the
Jezailchis could snatch five minutes to refresh themselves with a
pipe, one of them would twang a sort of a rude guitar as an
accompaniment to some martial song, which, mingling with the notes
of war, sounded very strangely."

The Russian General Staff have also estimated the Ameer's force,
exclusive of the irregulars, at 66,400 men with 30 guns.

The efficiency of this body, by reason of their peculiar