Of the horse it is only possible to say that in all respects they were a bad imitation of the Indian light cavalry, reproducing even their Hussar saddles and steel scabbards. Their appointments, equally with the infantry, were almost hopeless and their drill quite unsuited to their order. Foot drill was the conventional exercise; and, since all horses were sent out to graze during the summer months, mounted drill was practised only during the cold weather, when through lack of food the animals were too poor in condition to be put through their facings. The horses were undersized and generally procured from the Turcoman steppes, but man and beast were equally valueless. No less unsatisfactory were the Afghan artillery, although, from the numerical strength of the Amir’s ordnance, a very false idea might be formed of the actual value of his artillery. Many of the guns were useless; for others there was no ammunition; while the equipment and carriages of the field guns were of the most obsolete pattern. Besides these so-called troops, the Amir had always available the _jezailchis_, who were formerly the only infantry in the country. They were light troops, armed with matchlock and jezail, accustomed to hill warfare and perhaps as good skirmishers as were to be found at this time in Asia. Experience had taught them to be judges of ground and distance, while instinct made them chary of ambush. These were of two classes. The one class was in the service of the Amir, on a nominal salary of five rupees per mensem, which was paid in grain. These men were armed by the State and mustered some 3500 men, employed in holding forts and posts throughout the country. They were commanded by Sadbashis and Dahbashis, captains of hundreds and heads over tens, who received a proportionately higher rate of pay. The other class, the immediate following of the different chiefs, may be considered as a local militia. They were assigned rent-free a piece of land in lieu of pay; and, as a rule, these several bodies of militia numbered in each instance between 1000 and 1500 men. The Irregular Afghan Horse, as they existed at this time, are even more difficult than the _jezailchis_ to compute. They were not particularly numerous, although Kandahar and its dependencies could furnish 8000; Ghazni, 5000; Kabul, including Jelalabad, Logar and the Koh-i-Daman, 15,000; while Balkh, with its Uzbeg population, returned 10,000. These men were the equal of any undisciplined horsemen in Asia; mounted upon small but wiry horses, carrying a perfect arsenal of weapons, among which shield, spear, matchlock, sword, pistol and knife were prominent, they were always rough and invariably ready for the field. Capable of undergoing great fatigue and exceedingly harassing to a flying foe, they were, when led by a determined chief, anything but contemptible in a _mêlée_. [Illustration: MEN OF THE AMIR’S BODYGUARD]