In remarking upon the defence, the British officers say they had frequently considered the question of destroying a portion of the ammunition in their charge. This ammunition had now fallen into the hands of the enemy, and was a great advantage to them. It would have been well, therefore, if the British officers could have managed to have destroyed it; but they say that in the hurry of improvising the defence on the first night of the siege, they had been compelled to build the ammunition boxes up into a rude parapet, to afford a cover to their men. Subsequently these boxes had been covered up with beams, bricks, kits, and _débris_, and it was consequently very difficult to get them out without pulling down the cover so much needed. The moonlight nights, too, had rendered the removal of them very risky, as the long beams necessitated making large gaps, and any noise inside the post immediately drew the fire from the enemy, which was very effective in the moonlight. Moreover, the ammunition was intended for the use of local levies who were expected from Gilgit, and these levies without the ammunition would have been perfectly useless. The British officers determined therefore to keep it till they could hold out no longer, and to then destroy it. Lieutenant Edwardes had also to consider the advisability of making sorties; but though he could have doubtless driven off the enemy for a time by such sorties, yet he recognised that he would have lost men in doing so, and with the small number at his disposal he could not afford to lose a single man.