The cantonments were quitted by the British troops on the 6th of January, 1842. The troops not unnaturally murmured at having to give up the guns and ammunition; but there was no help for it, and the doomed regiments filed out towards the desert in a condition little capable of successful defence against attack. The number of fighting men was not more than 4,500 (chiefly Asiatics); but they were accompanied by 12,000 camp-followers, including the wives and children of the officers. An inclement winter, with deep snow encumbering all the roads, added to the horrors of the time, and the Ghiljies began to attack the rear-guard immediately it had got clear of the cantonments. The fugitives entered the Khoord-Cabul Pass on the 8th of January, 1842, and attacks now became frequent and unsparing. The Afghans were posted on the surrounding crags, and the English officers and troops began to fall rapidly. Many of the women were carried away; many of the children were killed. Fatigue, cold, and deprivation slew as many as the bullets of the lurking foe. Some of our men became mutinous, and intoxicated themselves with the stores of brandy which they had violently seized. Ere long, all military discipline was lost. The men thought only of themselves, and, disregarding the commands of their officers, hurried on towards Jelalabad as fast as horses, camels, or their own legs, could carry them. Several were frozen every night by the intense cold; and those who woke in the morning, woke simply to a prospect of despair. One gloomy and rugged pass succeeded another; but the relentless Afghans were stationed at every point, and their matchlocks brought down the scattered fugitives with unresting activity. More than once, Akbar Khan entered into communication with the English officers, and, upon receiving further hostages, made promises of assistance which were not fulfilled. Occasionally the British troops and the Sepoys made a desperate stand, and for a moment drove back their assailants; but, as day succeeded day, their numbers became fewer, and the spirit of resistance died within them. On the 12th and 13th of January, the force was reduced to a mere fragment; but, in proportion to the smallness of their numbers, the men seemed to recover the habits of discipline they had lost, and, standing close together, entered into hand-to-hand conflicts with the Afghans, in which the latter suffered severely. The position, however, was absolutely hopeless, and, in the course of January 13th, thirty soldiers--all who were now left, though the camp-followers still numbered two or three hundred--took up their station on the slopes of a hill, and fought with wonderful resolution until overpowered and slain. Setting aside the hostages, all were now exterminated--English, Sepoys, and camp-followers; all, with the exception of one man, who, wounded, and in a state approaching exhaustion, rode up to the walls of Jelalabad on that fatal 13th of