_The Siege of Chitral Fort._—This commenced, as has been said, on the 3rd March, after the action of that date wherein the British troops had suffered many casualties; and when, in consequence of Captain Campbell having been severely wounded, the command of the troops devolved upon Captain Townsend. The garrison of the fort consisted of six British officers, of whom five only were fit for duty, ninety-nine men of the 14th Sikhs, and 301 of all ranks of the 4th Kashmir Rifles. There were in addition fifty-two Chitralis—men whose loyalty was at best dubious—and eighty-five followers. The supplies, on half-rations, could be made to last two and a half months, while of ammunition there were 300 rounds per Martini-Henri rifle of the Sikhs and 280 rounds per Snider of the Kashmir troops. The fort was about seventy yards square with a tower at each corner, and a fifth guarded the path to the river; the walls of the fort were some twenty-five feet in height and from eight to ten feet thick; it was practically commanded on all sides, and surrounded on three by houses, walls, and all kinds of cover. The number of British officers was so small and the Kashmir troops, who composed three-fourths of the fort-garrison, were so shaken by their losses on the 3rd, that Captain Townsend resolved to remain as far as possible on the defensive. He confined his energies, therefore, to devising measures of defence, to the provision of cover within and the demolition of cover without the walls, to arranging a system for quickly extinguishing fires, and to providing as far as possible for proper sanitation. The garrison was therefore engaged in real fighting on two occasions only during the forty-eight days that the siege lasted, and the losses incurred in the passive defence of the fort were not heavy; there was, however, much sickness, and at the end of the first week only eighty Sikhs and 240 of the Kashmir Rifles remained fit for duty. From the 16th to the 23rd there was a truce, during which Sher Afzul did his best to persuade the British Agent to agree to withdraw the garrison to Mastuj, or to India by way of Jandol. During the suspension of hostilities Captain Townsend effected many improvements in the defences. The guard duties were very heavy, half the effectives being on duty at a time, and the defenders were harassed day and night by a desultory rifle fire.