We stood on the edge of a sort of plateau. At our feet was a small ravine or valley, dividing us from another plateau, which extended to the foot of Fahla and Salamgi. This plateau was a hundred feet or so below the spot upon which we stood, and would have been completely commanded by our guns. This plateau was bounded both to the right and left by ravines, the one to the left being the head of the valley in which was our baggage. The little valley which divided us from the plateau widened out to the left, the spot where it fell into the main valley being half a mile distant; and here we could see the spot where our baggage would arrive when it had climbed up from the valley beneath. Sir Charles Staveley at once despatched the Punjaub Pioneers to this point; that done, there was nothing for it but to wait the event; and this waiting was painful in the extreme. It was now half-past three. Everyone was devoured with a burning thirst, which the scanty draught of mud seemed to excite rather than allay. Any money would have been cheerfully given for a drink of pure water. A storm was seen coming up, but it unfortunately did not pass over us; we got, however, the tail of the shower, and by spreading out my waterproof-sheet, I caught nearly half a pint, which I shall long remember as one of the most refreshing draughts I ever tasted. In the mean time Sir Robert Napier had arrived with his staff, and it was evident, by the anxious care with which he reconnoitred the hill before us, and the head of the valley, that he considered our position to be a critical one. We could see with our glasses half-a-dozen guns in line on the flat top of Fahla, and as many more upon Salamgi, and presently we saw two artillerymen go from gun to gun, and load them in succession. Still all was quiet; but it was a time of most anxious suspense, for we knew that from the fortress they could see our long line of animals winding up the valley, and that the head of the train must be fast approaching. Presently the Naval Rocket Brigade, which was in front of the baggage, emerged upon the flat below us and joined the Punjaubees; and almost at the same moment a dozen voices proclaimed, “A large force is coming down the road on the brow of the fortress.” Every glass was turned there, and a large body of horse and foot-men were seen hurrying down pell-mell, and without any order or regularity. At first there was a divided opinion as to whether this was a peaceful embassy or an attack; but all doubt was put an end to in another minute by the booming of a gun from Fahla, and by a thirty-two pound shot striking the ground at a few yards from the body of Punjaubees. It was war, then, and a general burst of cheering broke from the officers who were clustered round the General. Theodore actually meant to fight, and not only that, but to fight in the open.