are beginning, and leave the’ letters with whatever faithful aide-de-camp may have followed our fortunes that far.
The accounts from Cabul are more distressing and incomprehensible every day. One of Lady ——’s simple good letters have come to hand. She talks with bitter disgust of the cowardice of the whole proceeding, and says the retreat was to begin the next day, and her son-in-law, Lieutenant ——, the other day, adds a note to the same purpose and says,‘God may help us, for we are not allowed to help ourselves.’
There is a Colonel ——, who has been through all the Peninsular War, and he dined alone with us yesterday; he is a regular old soldier, and has been wounded till he is out of all shape. He talked over this business with George, and says that it is totally inexplicable; the troops are nearer 6,000 than 5,000, with artillery, ammunition, &c.; in difficulties certainly about provisions, but still they own to — having eight days’ provisions left. He says that _ force would have considered themselves equal to fighting their own way, if they had been obliged to retreat, against any civilised army;
