and the sepoy troops, benumbed with cold, and unable to make any defence,
were cut down without mercy. Of the whole army, to the number of 4500
fighting men and 12,000 camp followers, which had left Cabul, only one man
(Dr Brydon) reached Jellalabad in safety. All the rest had perished or
been taken captive. As soon as the news of this disaster reached India,
prompt steps were taken to punish the Afghans and rescue the prisoners who
had been left in their hands. General Pollock fought his way through the
Khyber Pass, and reached Jellalabad. He then pushed forward to Cabul, and
on the way the soldiers were maddened by the sight of the skeletons of
their late comrades, which lay bleaching on the hill-sides along the
route. They exacted a terrible vengeance wherever they met the foe, and
the Afghans fled into their almost inaccessible mountains. General Nott,
with the force from Candahar, united with Pollock at Cabul. The English
prisoners were safely restored to their anxious friends. After levelling
the fortifications of Cabul, the entire force left the country.

Shortly afterwards, war broke out with the Ameers of Scinde, a large
province occupying the basin of the lower Indus. The British commander,
Sir Charles Napier, speedily proved to the enemy that the spirit of the
British army had not failed since the days of Plassey. With a force of
only 3000 men, he attacked and completely defeated two armies much
superior in numbers (1843). The result of these two victories--Meanee and
Dubba--was the annexation of Scinde to the British dominions.

The main stream of the Indus is formed by the junction of five smaller
branches. The large and fertile tract of country watered by these
tributary streams is named the Punjab, or the land of the 'five waters.'
It was inhabited by a people called the Sikhs, who, at first a religious
sect, have gradually become the bravest and fiercest warriors in India.
They had a numerous army, which was rendered more formidable by a large