the occasion, and made first advances. Taking his snuff-box from his belt, he offered it to the soldier, who, astonished, even in his drunkenness, by the politeness of his companion, half held out his hand, saying, in his maudlin humour,—“It’s little we ever take from you niggers, and it’s —— little you niggers ever give us.” Having thus satisfied his conscience, he allowed the snuff-box to be nearly emptied into his hand; and still grumbling out complaints at our policy, proceeded to “take in snuff” most ferociously. The sirdar stared in silent awe at the madman who could take snuff by the _tolah_; but presently such an explosion of sneezing followed, that he withdrew to a safe distance. His politeness had imperilled the safety of the tent. The soldier sneezed himself into such an exhausted state, that he fell asleep where he lay, and the sirdar watched over him with unfeigned interest, this new experience of Kafir life having apparently reconciled him to his fate. I am afraid this letter is a strange jumble of trivialities and more serious affairs; but such is our life at present. On one side Ghoorkas making mud-pies and laughing good-humouredly at their own architecture; on the other, a gleam of bayonets showing where an Afghan prisoner is on his way to the gallows. In one tent, the chaff and anecdote of the mess-table; in the next, Yakub Khan at his prayers. It is to be hoped we shall not remain long under canvas here, for the cold at night is already intense. Nine degrees of frost were registered last night, and in the morning the watercourses were all frozen over. It is these watercourses which make Sherpur so uncomfortable just now. The soil is light and porous, and has all been under irrigation for vine and wheat culture; and as the channels are raised a foot or so higher than the fields, and steady little streams are coursing along from the higher level of the Cabul river, the whole place is damp and excessively cold. The water lies in places only a foot from the surface, and, near the eastern end of the cantonments, bursts forth in a spring, proving how saturated the subsoil must be. No cold is so trying to men living in tents, without fires of any kind, as that which strikes upward, and a water-proof sheet is but a poor protection from it, however much it may neutralize the actual damp. At Siah Sung water was in request, every drop used having to be carried up the steep hillsides; but here we have too much of it. The channels are carried under the walls by low culverts, and some of these will have to be filled up if we are to counteract the effects of past irrigation. This can be done without much trouble; and the existing wells, aided by a few more that can be sunk in a week, would meet all our drinking requirements, while the channels outside could also be used by the _bhistees_ and followers.