In the years 1813, 1814, and 1815, strong detachments of the regiment were employed in active service in the field, under the command of General Sir George Holmes, and Colonels Barclay and East. In December, 1815, the regiment formed part of the force which penetrated the barren and mountainous province of _Cutch_, a country abounding in lofty hills, extensive woods, and uncultivated plains, where the natives breed very fine horses. Into this country British troops had never before penetrated; and the army had to traverse a sandy tract of land, separating Cutch from Guzerat, called the Runn. This tract presented a wild and singular aspect; it appeared as an arm of the sea from which the ocean had receded, or the dry bed of an immense river, ten miles broad, and devoid of verdure or vegetation. The SEVENTEENTH, being at the head of the army, entered this sandy waste between six and seven o'clock in the morning; in some places the ground was hard and safe; in others, insulated quicksands offered some obstruction, which would have proved serious impediments in the night; and broad streaks of saline incrustations giving to the ground the appearance of being covered with snow, were met with; also prawns and mullet dried in the sun; the tracts of large birds were also seen, and on approaching the opposite bank the traces of wild apes were perceptible. In three hours the SEVENTEENTH reached the boundary of this sandy waste, without having met with hostile opposition, which had been expected. The European infantry crossed the Runn in three hours and a half, and the main body, with the cannon, which had to be dragged by ropes in some places, in four hours. Having entered the territory of Cutch, the army marched towards Booge-booge, the capital, and besieged the town and fort of _Anjar_, which surrendered at discretion. In this service Lieutenant Oliver de Lancey, of the SEVENTEENTH, was severely wounded in the arm. The capture of Anjar was followed by the surrender of the hill-fort and fortified city of _Booge-booge_, and a treaty of alliance was afterwards concluded with the State of Cutch. [Sidenote: 1816] The troops re-crossed the Runn at the Mattra-pass,--a headland between the gulfs of Cutch and Cambay, where the tide of the Indian ocean rushes in with a deafening noise, and a detachment from the army was employed in destroying the fastnesses of the banditti, whose depredations had been destructive to the neighbouring territories; also in reducing the power of a piratical tribe which infested the neighbouring seas. After the capture of the strong fort of _Dwarka_, and the capture and dispersion of a fleet of pirates, the field force broke up, and the SEVENTEENTH Light Dragoons returned to their beautiful cantonments at Ruttapore in May, 1816. [Sidenote: 1817]