But though the usurper, Dost Mahommed, had disappeared, and everything was apparently settled to the entire satisfaction of Shah Sujah, it very soon became manifest that he was very unpopular in Affghanistan, and that nothing but British bayonets kept him on the throne he had just ascended. The hostility of the people to their new sovereign was also evinced towards his supporters; and while all was triumph and rejoicing in Cabul, British officers and soldiers were frequently not only insulted, but murdered by the Affghans outside their cantonments.
Notwithstanding this general prevalence of hostile feelings, it was deemed safe to withdraw from Affghanistan the larger part of the force which had seated Shah Sujah on its throne. A part of the Bengal force was to remain under the command of General Nott and Colonel Sale; the remainder, with the Commander-in-Chief, were to march homeward, and the whole of the Bombay column were to take the same course. The latter quitted Cabul on the 18th of September; the Bengal troops remained for nearly a month longer; but, by the 20th of October, all the forces returning for the present to India, had left Shah Sujah's capital. The cold was severe in the mountain passes, thick ice was found upon the roads, the bodies of dead camels and horses lay frozen all around, and the difficulties encountered by our retiring columns, from the loss of camels and similar disasters, were scarcely inferior to those which had attended their advance. The march of the Bombay column was distinguished by an important achievement undertaken to avenge a series of injuries committed several months, before.
Mehrab Khan, the ruler of Kelat, a Beloochee state which lay on the left flank of the British in their advance, though professing friendly feelings, had employed all the means and influence at his disposal in impeding their progress, even actively directing against them his predatory bands, to harass their flanks and rear. It was
