The defence of Chitral during the forty-five days of the
-siege was a most heroic affair. The enemy, commanded by Shere Afzul and other Pathan chiefs, attacked the fort with determined courage; they knew how to sink mines, which would have been fatal but for a desperate sally, and their shooting was surprisingly good. The besieged, less than four hundred strong, could not show themselves without deaths, Dr. Robertson, the Political Agent and virtual Governor, was himself severely wounded, Captain J. McDonald Baird was killed, and the garrison lost in killed and wounded more than a third of its strength, a most unusual proportion. The native soldiers behaved splendidly, but the provisions ran short, and but for the appearance of Colonel Kelly advancing to the relief the siege must have ended in a general massacre. Dr. Robertson has already been confirmed in his appointment, and will henceforward rise in the Indian diplomatic service ; and both he and Colonel Kelly will doubtless be objects of
the favour of the Crown. Both clearly possess the highest of Indian qualifications, that mysterious something, by no means general, which induces native soldiers to fight as if they were Europeans. The men are as brave as steel, yet without trusted chiefs they could not have held Chitral a, week, and never would have got from Gilghit to the fort.
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