additional delay, therefore, and prolongation of their sufferings in the snow, of which one more march would have carried them clear, made a very unfavourable impression on the minds of the native soldiers, who now, for the first time, began very generally to entertain the idea of deserting."[1]
"Mrs. Trevor,"[2] says Lady Sale, "kindly rode a pony, and gave up her place in the kujava to Sturt, who must otherwise have been left to die on the ground. The rough motion increased his suffering, and accelerated his death; but he was still conscious that his wife and I were with him; and we had the sorrowful satisfaction of giving him Christian burial."
This was the fourth day that the cattle had had, no food, and the men were perishing with cold and hunger. More than one-half of them were wounded or frost-bitten, and most of them could scarcely put a foot to the ground. Akbar Kkan, therefore, saw that the completion of his vengeance was nigh at hand, and he now exerted himself to get as many hostages into his power as would insure him a large ransom from the Indian Government. With this view, he proposed that the ladies who accompanied the British force, with their husbands and children, should, in order to preserve them from further hardship and danger, be placed under his protection, he pledging himself to escort them safely, keeping them one day's march in the rear of the army. This was a startling proposal, but time and circumstances pressed, and the General gave an unhesitating consent. It does not appear that any resistance was offered by the individuals concerned, who were doubtless influenced in their acquiescence by the sufferings and dangers that surrounded those who were dear to them, and the belief that no change could be for the worse. They accordingly joined the party of Akbar Khan at the Khoord Cabul forts, and we record with pleasure that Mrs. Boyd's little boy was there restored to
