sudden and, to me, quite unexpected turn was given to affairs by an event the nature of which it was some seconds before I thoroughly understood. The first thing I heard was a loud and heart-thrilling shout, which seemed to be taken up by hundreds of throats close in rear of the village, and in another second the men about me also took up the shout, explaining to me the cause of the uproar by saying, "The cavalry have charged." We immediately made a rush on our own account, and our enemies, a moment before so bold, now took to their scrapers at no allowance.

'Lawrence had heard at first that Colonel Holmes was surrounded in the village, upon which he immediately countermarched the infantry and came up himself at the rate of a hunt. On his way he met with a large party of the scoundrels near the village, charged them, cut up seven or eight of them, and completely relieved me. I should mention that on his way up he had met Holmes, and learnt from him that I was the gentleman in the scrape.

The panic created by this bold charge was very extraordinary; not a fellow dared show his face again in the place. We formed up in proper retiring order and moved off, receiving no further molestation. The enemy lost nine men killed and thirteen wounded, so I fancy the Najeebs must have shot a few of the more forward gentlemen. We only had four men wounded and few horses slivered.'

On October 20, an arrangement having been come to with the villages of the district, George Lawrence, Lumsden, and Reynell Taylor, with their escort of four

guns, a regiment of cavalry, and another of infantry, commenced their march to Peshawur, which was duly reached five days later.

They were met at the entrance to the town by the Sirdar Golab Sing, 'one of Runjeet's old generals,' the whole of the troops in garrison, numbering 10,000 men, being drawn up in line for their inspection.

Reynell Taylor was not impressed with the appearance of Peshawur at this date, for he says of it :- Peshawur is a miserable-looking town, and I was certainly much disappointed with it; it is scarcely more imposing than Wuzeerabad or Gujerat, and the whole circuit of the city is not much more than three miles and a half.'

The time was now approaching when Reynell Taylor was to be thrown entirely on his own resources. A few days after his arrival at Peshawur, Lawrence started for Lahore, and Lumsden was ordered into Eusufzye, and on November 4 he writes in his diary: Lawrence went off before daylight, leaving me in the rather responsible position of Hakim-i-wukt (Ruler) of Peshawur, in charge of some 10,000 Sikh troops, and with the responsibility of the management of the district. He has brought everything into good train, and I do not expect much difficulty in keeping the mill at work. If there is a row, my trust is in God; in Him, and in the common sense and common spirit with which He has gifted me, I may safely trust, and hope that, whatever turns up, I shall not disgrace myself as an Englishman or as the son of my father.'

There was plenty of work to be done, and from morning till night Taylor was engaged transacting business with the Sirdar, hearing endless reports, settling numerous cases

regarding payment of revenue, visiting the villages of the district, and attending the parades of the troops.

He writes cheerily to George Lawrence the week after he left, thus :—' Everything has been jogging on well here. I have my hands full of work as I expected, and the only time I get to work at Cashmere is before daylight and after dinner.

'I have steadily refused leave since you left. An adjutant, Mehr Singh by name, is at present tearing his hair on the subject of leave. He wants to marry his grandmother. The rest of the officers interceded for him. I feel much for a man in such a case, as the necessity is very possibly a true one, but I know from experience that, if you once yield to a pitiable tale, there is no end to it.'

In his early morning rides he appears to have had his eyes about him, as will be seen from the following:

'Rode to the fort of Jumrood, about ten or eleven miles from the Agency. I found no guards at two of the chokees (guardhouses) on the road, and only seven men at a third. This was in going out on returning, a few men had been thrown out hurriedly from one post to another. I found out it was Zeereen Khan's tour of duty, so on my return I sent for him, and handed him over to the Sirdar, with directions to fine him 500 rupees.'

This, again, shows that he was determined that discipline should not grow lax while he was in charge of the troops: The jemadar's guard turned out to-day exactly three men. The orders are that till one watch of the day every man is to remain present. The jemadar did not even know where his men were. I have caused him to be reduced to the rank of havildar. This may appear harsh,

but if a man cannot perform so paltry a duty as that, according to his orders, what promotion is he worthy of?'

The most disagreeable part of Reynell Taylor's duty was deciding criminal cases. Robbing was, of course, common enough in a place like Peshawur, but the crime of murder was almost as common as that of theft, and it became necessary to act promptly and severely with culprits when caught. I will refer here to one murder which occurred, not only because it happened to be the only one with which Taylor had to deal, but because his decision was afterwards commented on by the Resident at Lahore.

The circumstances were these: A certain young girl was missed from her home, and her father, accompanied by her uncle, went in search of her, finding her at last late one night in company with a servant. As soon as they were discovered the servant jumped up and ran away, and the uncle then and there set to work to strangle the wretched girl in the presence of her father. After perpetrating this infamous act they both endeavoured to leave Peshawur. The father of the girl made good his escape and was never afterwards heard of, but the uncle was caught. On being accused of the crime, he at once allowed that he was the murderer, stating first of all that the father had nothing to do with it, but afterwards contradicting this, and saying that he not only stood by and witnessed the murder but also lent his assistance.

It fell to Reynell Taylor to pass sentence in this case, and two days after the murder this entry occurs in his diary: With reference to the murder of the woman, I asked the Sirdar whether the man would have been hung

had Major Lawrence been here, and he said he undoubtedly would, so I directed him to be hung. Dire necessity, but

I think he deserves little pity. Had he killed the girl in anger with a sword it would have been less cruel, but coolly and savagely to strangle her with a cloth makes the crime a heavy one; and, moreover, Lawrence having proclaimed that blood must atone for blood, it would be weak in me to hesitate, and my doing so might cause the death of future victims. God knows I am not a happy man in being obliged to give sentence in such weighty matters.'

Murder, indeed, was so rife, and was so lightly regarded by the people, that in certain cases a native could not maintain his position among his fellows unless he took the law into his own hands and killed those who had wronged him. Taylor worked hard to put a stop to this practice, 'for,' he writes, 'the way in which they butcher each other is something awful.'

It seems curious, in the face of such a state of affairs, that Henry Lawrence should have found fault with Reynell Taylor for passing sentence of death in this case, but that he did so is obvious from the following entry in the diary. About three weeks after the murder had occurred, Reynell Taylor writes:-' Received a reprimand from Lawrence for executing the man for murder at Peshawur. This has made me very unhappy, but as the murder was confessed, and as George Lawrence has always done the same for the same crime, I think myself that prompt punishment was necessary: I therefore do not feel the reproof as deeply as I otherwise should. In any other place but Peshawur, I should seek any possible means of avoiding the necessity of ordering a man's execution, or having anything to do

H