66 ALARUMS AND EXCURSIONS."

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and by stratagem and treachery most of the hill forts about there were seized and the garrisons massacred.

This untoward news of course made Raja Gulab Singh anxious to return and regain his sovereignty, and the Yusufzai region being now settled and peaceful, the Raja with his contingent crossed in the autumn to the left bank of the Indus at Bazarki-Patan, some miles above Attock, and marched thence direct to Kahati, near the Jhelum, northwest of Rawul Pindi. Leaving his artillery here, Raja Gulab Singh with the remainder of the contingent entered the hills, while another body of troops moved up quickly from Jammu. After some desultory warfare the rebellion was crushed and subdued in about three months, when the whole contingent again returned to Lahore. I had not been long there when news arrived that the Sikh force in Bannu had been obliged to retire across the Indus, and had suffered great loss. On this Raja Suchet Singh with Prince Nao Nihal Singh, son of Shahzada Kharak Singh, with a large Sikh force and the Jammu contingent, were ordered to proceed to Bannu without delay.

Our contingent, under Raja Suchet Singh, reached

Kalabagh by forced marches, and thence went on to Bannu carefully,-the Sikh force under their prince joining us a day or two after. For two months or more we had severe fighting with some thousands of Waziris and Bannuites united. However, we levelled and burnt all the refractory Bannu fort - villages, and beat the Waziris back into their hills, and even well punished and dispersed them. This done, we marched by the Paizu2 Pass to Tank, to punish the Nawab of that principality-he being the cause and instigator of all the late troubles in this quarter; but previous to our arrival he had fled to one of his strongholds some twenty or twenty-five miles within the Waziri hills. Thither our contingent, with Suchet Singh at its head, quickly followed him. Our way led through ravines, and up along the bed of the Tank river, until we reached a considerable plain, in the centre of which stood the fort of Sarwarghur. However, we found that the Nawab had fled on to Ghuzni or Kabul the day before our arrival. We therefore quickly retraced our steps to Tank, and there annexed the whole of the principality; but we certainly had

1 Nao Nihal Singh.

2 Now called "Shaikh Budin."

considerable hard work and some severe fighting, both going to and returning from Sarwarghur. The Waziris crowned the heights on each side of us, and disputed every inch of the road.

The object for which we had been sent being, as far as practicable, effected, the whole force marched back to Lahore.

EARLY DAYS OF THE SIKH ARMY-RANJIT SINGH'S GURKHAS-THE MAHARAJA AND HIS PADDLE-BOAT GULAB SINGH AND THE TREACHEROUS MERCHANT-THE JOCOSE CHAUDRI-A CAMEL-LOAD OF FLATTERY-CHARACTER OF GULAB SINGH.

In addition to the foregoing record of his campaigns in the service of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, which was written by Colonel Gardner himself, and has been left, as far as possible, unaltered, I have found various disconnected anecdotes concerning the great Maharaja and Gardner's later master, Maharaja Gulab Singh of Jammu and Kashmir, which may amuse and possibly instruct the reader. They also are given in Gardner's own words.

The following description of the early days of the Khalsa army is of undoubted interest, and presents a vivid picture of the homely and simple dealings of Ranjit Singh with his soldiers :

EARLY DAYS OF THE SIKH ARMY.

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In the early part of Ranjit Singh's career there was no such thing as money payments. The soldiers received patches of land, and were called puttidars. It was considered It was considered ignoble to take money payments: a ready - money soldier was held in contempt. It was in 1809, when Lord Metcalfe, then a young political young political officer from Delhi, was deputed to Amritsar, that Ranjit Singh first set his keen eye upon disciplined and regular soldiery. It so happened that a dash at Metcalfe's encampment was made by some of the redoubted Akalis.1 The small escort of red-coated Purbias rallied round Metcalfe, and so astonished the Akalis by their unwonted appearance and bold front that they turned and fled. Ranjit Singh was not slow to learn the lesson taught, and he looked about to find any one who could teach drill. One Drounkal Singh appeared, who proved to the Maharaja that he knew the bayonet exercise, &c., and was immediately employed by the Maharaja to make a commencement with some twenty or thirty men. The old troops took umbrage, and resented the innovation: the idea of money payments, too, was abhorrent. Ranjit

1 The Akalis were a fanatical band of Sikhs who corresponded to the Ghazis of Muhammadan nations.