With Kelly to Chitral | Page 3

in command of
the two guns of No. 1 Kashmir Mountain Battery. Stewart is an
Irishman and the most bloodthirsty individual I have come across. He
used to complain bitterly because the Chitralis wouldn't give us a fight
every day. Then there was Luard, the Agency Surgeon; we used to
chaff him considerably during the march to Gupis, as he turned up in a
Norfolk jacket and a celluloid collar. I think he had sent his kit on to
Gupis; at any rate, after that place he dressed in Khaki uniform like the
rest of us. These were all who started from Gilgit, so I'll introduce the
others as we pick them up.

CHAPTER II
THE MARCH BEGINS
Colonel Kelly assumed command on the 22nd March, and the next
morning the first detachment of two hundred Pioneers, under
Borradaile, marched off. The local Bible, commonly known as the
Gazetteer, states that it never rains in Gilgit; this being so, it naturally
started to rain on the morning of the 23rd, and kept it up for two days.
We were marching without tents, so the first night the men had to run
up their waterproof sheets into shelters.
Colonel Kelly, Luard, and myself started about 2 P.M. to catch up the
troops, who had started about 9 A.M. Luard had a beast of a pulling
pony, and as his double bridle hadn't got a curb chain, it was about as
much use as a headache, so I suggested he should let the pony rip, and
promised to bury his remains if he came a cropper. He took my advice
and ripped; you couldn't see his pony's heels for dust as he disappeared
across the plain. We found him all right in camp when we got there.
The men were already in camp, and pretty comfortable, in spite of the

rain. Colonel Kelly had a small tent, and the rest of us turned into
convenient cow-sheds. We were not troubled with much baggage,
bedding, greatcoats, and a change of clothing; the men had poshteens
(sheepskin coats), and everybody pleased themselves in the matter of
boots, most of us preferring chuplies--a native kind of sandal with a
leather sock, a very good article in snow, as you can put on any number
of socks without stopping the circulation of blood in your feet. Officers
and men were all provided with goggles, and very necessary they were.
We had a very jolly mess. The force being so small, the 32nd Pioneers
kindly asked the remaining officers to mess with them, every man of
course providing his own plate, knife, fork, and spoon, the cooking pots
being collected for the general good. We had breakfast before starting,
the hour for marching being 7 A.M. as a rule. The Pioneers had some
most excellent bacon; good eggs and bacon will carry a man through a
long day most successfully. I remember that when that bacon gave out,
there was more mourning than over all the first-born of Egypt. Mutton
we never ran out of; like the poor, it was always with us.
We got into camp as a rule some time in the afternoon, and then
indulged in tea and chupatties; whisky was precious, and kept for
dinner, which took place at dusk. Sometimes, when we got into camp
late, dinner and tea were merged into one; however, it made no odds,
we were always ready to eat when anything eatable came along. The
mess provided some camp tables, and most of us managed to bring a
camp stool, so we were in the height of luxury. After dinner a pipe or
two, and then we turned in; we generally managed to get some grass to
put under our blankets, but if we didn't, I don't think it made much
difference; we were all young, and used to sleeping out on the hillside
after game, frequently above the snow line, so it was no new
experience. If it rained or was cold, we generally managed to get into a
hut; these are remarkably strongly built, good stone walls, and thick,
flat, wooden roofs with a mud covering, a hole in the middle of the
floor for the fire, and a hole in the roof for the smoke--at least that was
what we supposed was the idea, but the smoke generally preferred to
remain inside.

There were also other discomforts of a minor nature. For instance, the
cows and goats used to take it as a personal matter if you objected to
their sharing the room with you; they were big enough, however, to
catch and turn out, but there were other occupants of a more agile
nature, armies of them, whom it was hopeless to try and eject; we
suffered so much from their pleasing attentions that