Infantry, on baggage guard in rear, came up and cleared the heights. To-day there was no large gathering, as I have said, but the narrow escape of our General made us extra vigilant. ----- Footnote 5: Received a commission for this and other acts of bravery. ----- CAMP KUSHI, _1st October_. The whole of the Cabul Field Force has passed beyond the Shutargardan, and to-morrow morning at eight o’clock the real advance upon Cabul begins. General Massy is now at Zerghun Shahr, eight miles from here, with the 12th and 14th Bengal Cavalry, two guns R.H.A., two companies of the 72nd Highlanders, and the 5th P.N.I. General Baker’s and General Macpherson’s brigades will join him, and General Sir F. Roberts and head-quarters, accompanied by the Amir and his retinue, will also start for this advanced camp to-morrow. The force will then be concentrated, and the three marches which remain to be made before Cabul comes in sight will take place without delay. Sunday, the 5th,[6] will see us before the walls of the city, but whether serious opposition will be encountered is quite a matter of conjecture. The latest news here is, that the four regiments sent by the Amir to quell the rebellion in Badakshan are returning in hot haste to Cabul, but their feelings are not known. It is only reasonable, however, to suppose that they are anxious to share in the display of hearty enmity against the British, and if this be so, there will be about eleven regiments to be met, excluding artillery and cavalry, which do not count for much. At the outside there would be 5,000 regular infantry; and as our force consists of over 6,000 men of all arms, any opposition the mutineers may make cannot he of long duration. If they obstinately cling to Cabul and defend it according to the best of their ability, the city may perhaps take us some days to capture; but it would be fearful weakness on their part to allow themselves to be caged within walls from which there can be no escape. The Amir, who is still in camp here, had an interview with Sir F. Roberts this evening, and pleaded that nothing should be done hastily, evidently fearing that his capital stood a very fair chance of being destroyed. But the present temper of our policy runs directly contrary to all delay, and it was useless to urge that there were many waverers in Cabul who had not yet joined the mutineers, but who were deterred by fear from attempting to favour the cause of others—which in this case is the cause of an Amir who has thrown himself into the arms of a late enemy. Sir F. Roberts told the Amir distinctly that not even a day’s delay would take place, and that to-morrow would see the whole army on the way to Cabul. In deference, however, to the Amir’s wishes, a proclamation would be issued and circulated in advance, in which all liege subjects of the Amir would be asked to declare themselves, and due notice of punishment be given to such as continued rebellious.