_21st December._ The three 18-pounders and the howitzer opened fire about ten o’clock this morning upon Kila Mahomed Sharif, and fired round-shot and shell at its walls and the village in rear, where the enemy mustered in strength. The bombardment was so far successful that the fire from the fort at our walls ceased; but the thick walls were too strong to be battered down by anything under a 40-pounder; unless, indeed, our guns had been kept playing upon it for two or three days. After three or four hours’ incessant firing, a party of the 5th Punjabees went out, accompanied by Major Hanna, of the Quartermaster-General’s Department, to examine the place, and see if the enemy had really withdrawn. It was soon found that they were only hiding themselves from the shot and shell; and when the Punjabees got in the open, the Afghans rushed back to their positions and re-opened fire. They used the holes made in the walls by the round-shot as loop-holes, and it must be confessed they were admirably adapted for the purpose. All day long bullets have been dropping over the walls, and five soldiers and several camp-followers have been wounded. The tactics of the enemy are annoying, as they withdraw at the first sign of our men moving out, and return again as soon as we retire. Two or three of their marksmen are daily posted to the same points, and blaze away steadily at any one incautiously peeping over the parapet. Our men quietly sit down inside, smoke their pipes, and laugh at the bullets. A few watch the movements of the sharp-shooters; and as soon as they show in the open, a volley from four or five Martinis is fired, generally killing one or two men. One of the Afghan modes of skirmishing is for a few men to get in rear of a wall, cut holes through the bottom a few inches above the ground, dig another grave-like hole in which to lie down flat, and then to fire their pieces from their loop-hole. The effect is very singular: the flashes seem to leap out of the ground itself, and when a score of men are firing, the bottom of the wall bristles with flame. This manner of firing gives greater steadiness of aim, and is far safer than resting the rifle on the wall-top, or thrusting it through a slit cut half-way up. This afternoon the enemy showed in large numbers in the orchards about Deh-i-Afghan, and were plainly trying to skirmish round towards the north-west gap between the walls and the Bemaru Heights. General Hills commanding at that corner sent out a party of the 5th Punjab Infantry and 3rd Sikhs to occupy some low hills half a mile from the north-west bastion; and these were enough to intimidate the enemy, although we never fired a shot from our rifles. The guns shelled the orchards, and, at dusk, the usual retirement of the Afghans to the city followed. The Sikhs and the Punjabees were then withdrawn to their lines, and all made snug for the night. We have