General Gatacre Part 15

"Well, we are getting on all right. I have been halted here for seven days owing to want of supplies; one of our bridges broke and stopped them. But we are moving on to-day; this refers to the troops only--of course I move up and down the line every day.

"One of my officers was shot at yesterday, but up to date I have been unable to discover the man. I always have a duffedar (Native Cavalry N.C.O.) with a carbine behind me whenever I ride, and two Goorkhas whenever I walk; but I am out all day and most of the night, and I wonder they have not had a shot at me yet, for it is a wild country, full of trees, stones, and jungle.

"Yesterday I caught thirty drivers stealing stores from their loads.

There has been a great deal of this all along the road, causing us much {141} loss; so I had them all thrashed. There was much howling, but I do not think there will be any more thieving; we have to be summary here."

[Sidenote: The fort]

On May 15 the Third Brigade marched into Chitral. Sir Robert Low and the Headquarter Staff followed a few days later; their arrival was made the occasion for a political durbar, and a grand review of all the troops, including the garrison of the fort, and Colonel Kelly's triumphant little band. Sir Robert Low made a speech in which he complimented all ranks on the good work that each contingent had performed, and more particularly thanked the Third Brigade and their Brigadier for their share in the success of his expedition.

At the first opportunity Gatacre himself read the Funeral Service over the grave where Captain Baird, who fell in the sortie of March 3, had been hastily buried during the siege. He gave orders for the erection of a wooden cross, and had photographs taken of this and the country round, which he sent with a sympathetic letter to the young officer's mother. On his arrival in England in the autumn he regarded it as one of his first duties to fulfil his promise to call on Mrs. Baird, a widow lamenting her only son.

On the approach of the hot weather, the troops were withdrawn from the fort, and disposed in suitable camps along the road, pending the decision of Government on the question of {142} occupation. The long line of communications was divided into sections, the most advanced, from Dir northwards to Chitral, being held by the Third Brigade, the section from Dir southwards to Janbatai by the Second, and the Swat Valley by the First. Road-making and mending was still the princ.i.p.al occupation, for the General was never satisfied with his roads; and all through the summer months the men were kept, happy, and well by improving the roadway which is still used by the column of troops which every two years relieves the garrison of Chitral.

It was probably at this time that the following incident took place.

The General one day pa.s.sed a supply convoy on the road, in charge of a transport officer with whose appearance he was dissatisfied, though he said nothing at the time. Next day he sent for the senior officer, and after a short talk with him told him to smarten up his subaltern.

"Certainly, sir, certainly," said the officer, and a look of pride and relief stole over his face that he had himself escaped unfriendly criticism. The General, reading the man's expression, added, "And smarten yourself up, too."

The officer who supplies this tale concludes: "I can see and hear the General's chuckle after administering this little pill."

[Sidenote: Snipers]

Colonel Ronald Brooke,[3] who proved himself an orderly officer after his General's own heart, tells us how the Ashreth Valley became infested by a band of hillmen who cut up stragglers from {143} the convoys, and finally one night attacked a band of Chitrali traders (under the impression that they were our transport followers) who had incautiously spent the night at the foot of the pa.s.s. Twelve out of thirteen were killed; one only escaped, badly wounded, to carry the news to the nearest military post. The story goes on:

[3] Brevet-Lieutenant-Colonel R. G. Brooke, D.S.O.

"The General and I at once hurried to the spot, which looked just like a shambles, and he immediately ordered a beat on a huge scale. Troops silently surrounded the Ashreth Valley from every side; and on August 12, instead of a grouse drive, we indulged in the far more exciting experience of a Kafristan robber drive. A band of fifteen were flushed on the hillside, of whom five were captured, the others escaping, never to return to so dangerous a spot. Of the five prisoners, three were sentenced to death, and the other two were set free on account of their youth."

[Ill.u.s.tration: General Gatacre and his favourite pony.]

Having thus cleared his own valley of snipers, Gatacre longed to do the same on the Dir-Janbatai section, where the troops on escort-duty had been constantly fired on, several soldiers having been mortally wounded. At last he secured from the Major-General Commanding permission to take over this dangerous section as well as his own. A picked lot of Pathan Sepoys were sent down under an excellent native non-commissioned officer, with instructions to patrol the hillsides far above the position that snipers might take up, just when convoys {144} were on the move, and thus literally to stalk the stalkers. This idea was crowned with success. In a few days' time the Pathans spotted a party of three hillmen lying up for the convoy. With extraordinary skill they succeeded in capturing two of the party; the third man escaped, although so severely wounded that he was tracked by his blood-marks for nine miles. The two prisoners turned out to be Afghans who had come over the frontier bent on doing as much harm as possible.

Both were hanged, and thenceforward there was no more sniping on that section.

The General's interest in the scenery and flowers was very genuine.

During the three months that the troops were scattered in various camps in these beautiful valleys, he found time to make a large collection of flowers and ferns, and himself attended to the drying and packing of the specimens. When these were eventually handed over to the Forest Department at Calcutta, the botanists found one fern which was p.r.o.nounced a new variety, and named it after the General in the records of the Department.

In due course orders arrived for the withdrawal of the Relief Force.

Early in September Gatacre conducted his Brigade over the frontier, and bade them farewell amidst the heartiest expressions of affection and goodwill on the part of all ranks, British and Native.

{145}

CHAPTER X

1896

QUETTA

On November 10, 1895, a few familiar words were read once more in a village church in Suss.e.x, the old-world troth was given and plighted, and the face of the earth was changed thereby for the two persons most concerned.

The General had been unable to take more than ninety days' privilege leave, and therefore had to be back in Bombay early in January. The drill season was already far advanced, the programme for the inspection of the various regiments in the outlying stations included in the Bombay Command was already laid out, and trips to Baroda, Ahmedabad, Surat, and Cutch-Bhuj followed one another in close succession.

These trips, which made a welcome respite from the heavy office-work and town-life at Headquarters, sometimes included a day's sport and recreation.

On Friday, February 21, the General, his staff officer, and the writer disembarked from the S.S. _Kola_ at Mandvi, in the Gulf of Cutch. This coast is so shallow that the steamers have to lie a long way out, and the process of {146} disembarkation includes transfer from the mail-boat to a steam-launch, thence to a rowing-boat, which runs aground alongside some bullock-drawn waggons. Across the highest timbers of these carts nets are stretched, on which the pa.s.sengers seat themselves, while the final stage is a chair borne by four natives who are waist-deep in water as they cross the pools in the interminable stretch of sea and sand. A forty-mile drive in a carriage provided by the Rao Saheb of Cutch brought us to the capital where the 17th Bombay Infantry were then quartered. The Resident, whose guests we were, the Commandant of the regiment, four other officers, the doctor, and four ladies made up the whole British contingent.

The inspection went off without memorable incident. The real interest of the trip lay in the native races and the pig-sticking camp, which the Rao Saheb had arranged to fill in the blank days while waiting for the weekly mail-boat.

The Rao Saheb was a man of about thirty, who, together with his younger brother, Karloba, had taken kindly to English ways; they played lawn-tennis on even terms with the officers and their wives, and when on horseback their costume was entirely English except for the brilliant puggri. The camp and all its accessories were furnished by the hospitality of the Rao Saheb; he was our companion throughout the day, dinner alone excepted, and nothing was omitted for the comfort of his guests.

[Sidenote: Pig-sticking]

We reached Wanoti Camp early in the {147} morning, and the seven men who were carrying spears were soon on horseback. The country was flat and sandy, and bare except where patches of low scrub provided excellent cover. A few beaters were sent forward to drive out the game, and before long you could see some very solid-looking bodies, very low on the ground, moving amongst the bushes at a surprising pace: these were a "sounder" of pigs. The Rao Saheb selected one, the General another, and, being mounted on a capital white pony, I was close at his heels. This boar, which was scored to the General's spear, turned out to be the biggest of the seven which was the total for the day. But he was no sooner dispatched than we were off after another. Again the same spear was the first to touch him; then we lost sight of him as he crashed through a thick hedge. When we emerged through the nearest gap we found that the Resident had picked up his line, but while taking a thrust at him the pig jinked and tripped up the horse, so that both he and his rider rolled in the sand, while the pig went off with the eight-foot spear stuck in his body like a pin in a pin-cushion. If we had not been close at hand the savage creature would have turned and rent the fallen man, who, though unhurt, would have been defenceless.

In the afternoon the beaters started on the other side of the camp, and a most thrilling incident occurred. After a chase of about two miles our pig disappeared over the edge of a forty-foot precipice, which was the cliff-like side of a dry nullah; we had to look for a chine, and {148} after a scrambling descent found him again, rather winded, hiding in a ditch about five feet deep and six to eight feet wide. The General had broken his spear in a previous conflict, and was therefore unarmed. There were two officers only with us, one of whom cried out, "If you do not know how to tackle him yourself, give your spear to the General, and let him try."

He took the proffered spear, and, handing over his pony, stepped down into the nullah, just opposite the boar, and with the lance under his elbow stood facing the fierce creature for some four or five minutes, till the latter suddenly rose up and plunged forward; but the spear was in readiness, the charge was stayed, and the animal fell back, run right through the throat.

While at Bhuj the following telegram reached the General:

"From Military Secretary, Chief, Calcutta: Chief proposes to select you to officiate in command Quetta District during absence of General Galbraith proceeding on leave to England. Please wire if agreeable to you."

It was followed two days later by another, from Sir Charles Nairne, Commander-in-Chief Bombay Army:

"I congratulate you both on going to Quetta. You will have a wide enough field there."

Throughout the month of March the General was kept busy with the preparation and execution of some extensive manoeuvres which took place on the hills near Khandalla. There was {149} also a Horse Show in Bombay to attend to; this was on a bigger scale than had hitherto been attempted. The General rode in several cla.s.ses, and won the first prize for Arab chargers, and also for the best turn-out in the driving cla.s.ses. The cheers that greeted him as he appeared in the prize-winners' parade were significant of the public appreciation of the energy that, as chairman of the committee, he had thrown into the undertaking.

[Sidenote: Leaves Bombay]

On the evening of April 7, as the General Officer Commanding sailed in the transport _Warren Hastings_ for Karachi, _en route_ for Quetta, the nine-gun salute boomed out its farewell greeting in the summer night.

This First-cla.s.s District, with its headquarters on the lofty plateau known as Quetta, about 6,000 ft. high, was a command wholly congenial to Gatacre's temperament. The office-work was very light; there was a garrison of two battalions of British infantry, one regiment of Native cavalry, and two of Native infantry, besides a complement of artillery, equipped both with oxen and mules, a splendid transport train, and other details. The outposts are on the actual frontier of the British Empire; their very distance and inaccessibility exercised a great attraction for him, so that the official visit to each station became a picnic pleasure-party in a very literal sense. Nothing was wanting, not even battle, murder, and sudden death, to create that sense of danger and adventure that casts its fascinating shadow over this wild frontier land.

{150}

As the season in which marching could be accomplished in comfort was already advanced, and the days were fast growing hot and long, it was decided to start very soon after our arrival on a tour of inspection to Fort Sandeman, Lorelai, and other outlying posts. Fort Sandeman lies to the north-east of Quetta, and is in the Lower Zhob Valley; it is 180 miles from Khanai station on the Quetta Railway. A squadron of the 5th Sind Horse, under Captain Sherard, furnished the escort. No supplies could be reckoned on by the way, so that transport had to be drawn to carry six weeks' food for five mounted officers, their servants and horses, and also for the hundred Sowars and their horses, and for the transport animals themselves. This made quite a long line of horses, camels, and mules on the march, and one of the duties of our daily routine was a walk down the transport lines at sunset.