SERGEANT-MAJOR TAYLOR'S SCENES AND ADVENTURE& IN AFGHANISTAN.

SERGEANT TAYLOR accompanied the Bombay division of the Army of the Indus, from its embarkation at the Presidency till its arrivat at Cabul, through the Bolan Pass, Candahar, and Ghuznee. Ile was present at the capture of the last-named fortress, though, as a cavalry soldier, not actively employed : he was engaged in several of the little affairs by which the Beloochees annoyed the army in its advance : he witnessed the mummery of the investiture of SHAH SOOJAH at Candahar,—Sir WILLIAM MiNAorrrets figuring in a full court-suit : he " assisted" at the " triumphal" entry of the same potentate into Cabul,—the sante court-suit again doing duty : and he received, in common with the army, the promise of a silver medal "commemorative of the campaign," as a kind of com- panion to " the order of merit, called the order of the Doorannee Empire," which her Majesty has graciously granted permission to the troops to wear, but which medal is not yet forthcoming—nor is it, we fear, likely to be. After the ovation of Lord AUCKLAND'S SHAH SOOJAH—"Augustus, born to bring Saturnian times"—to the countries beyond the Indus, certain of the troops, and the Ser- geant-Major among them, received orders to return to the Indus by a new route, leaving Candahar and the Bolan Pass for a shorter cut through the desert : and the order was reluctantly obeyed ; for the men were delighted with the climate and other good things of Cabul, and bad no stomach for the hardships of the return- march. But "Dis aliter visum est "; and we suppose the grum- blers are now satisfied that the superior decree was right.

There is little if any substantial novelty in Mr. TAYLOR'S Scenes and Adventures in Afghanistan : his narrative merely confirms the rashness of the enterprise in a military sense, for had the Bolan and Khojuck Passes been defended, the disasters of Cabal might have been forestalled ; and perhaps it more plainly attributes the losses in camels and the hardships undergone by the troops, in the Bombay division, to the mismanagement of the Commissariat, originating probably with the Commissariat's masters. There is a sort of newness in some of the incidents and anecdotes; being such as political or scientific writers did not see, or left untold. Though Sergeant TAYLOR is without doubt a clever and in some sense not an uneducated man, the mind of the work is rather that of the soldier than of the officer : and this is so far useful, that it gives some idea of the feeling pervading an army on service ; which seems improved since the Peninsular heroes gave their memorials to the world—unless the Cavalry Sergeant represents the few, not the many. In point of mere rapidity and readableness, the Sergeant's nar- rative excels that of some of his superiors in rank ; partly, perhaps, because it is written from memory, which only allows the more salient and impressive points of things to be retained ; partly because the writer does not attempt to exhaust his topics, but skims over the surface. The slight and superficial character of his description does not, however, lessen the interest of his book ; because any man who followed the camp to Cabul must have seen enough to form an interesting narrative; and Sergeant TAYLOR is really a clever fellow—a quick observer, with as much of reflection as might be looked for in a non-commissioned officer or even a subaltern, and, if he has had no assistance in the composition of his book, a good example of the literary abilities of the cavalry- sergeants.

Of unpretending but lively traits of various kinds we might cull a large batch without difficulty ; but we shall only take such ex- tracts as have a relation to military life or Afghan warfare.

EXHAUSTION OF DESERT-MARCHING, AND POWER OF MUSIC.

The Infantry entered on this cheerless waste about three in the afternoon, and the Cavalry followed about five. The former were fully accoutred, and carried sixty rounds of ball-cartridge each. At two o'clock the follow- ing morning the Cavalry overtook them, and the general halt sounded. So great was the fatigue of the Infantry, that numbers threw themselves upon the ground in despair, declaring it was impossible for human nature to sustain more, and they could proceed no further. It must be borne in mind, that our rations bad for two months previous, consisted of only half-a-pound of dour and an equal quantity of red rice, with about four ounces of meat ; and the latter was in some instances of no use to us, from the difficulty of procuring fuel to cook it. The order of march having been again given, several refused to move, from sheer exhaustion ; and their situation became one of great em• barrassment to their Colonel, who was aware that if he left them behind they would he instantly sabred by the enemy, who were always hovering on our rear. Recollecting it was St. Patrick's Day, and that most of the recusants were Irishmen, he ordered, as a last resource, that the band of the regiment should strike up their national anthem. The effect was electrical: the poor devils, whose limbs, a short time previous, bad refused to perform their accus- tomed office, and whose countenances wore the aspect of the most abject des pendency, seemed at once to have new life and energy infused into them. They felt that this was an appeal to their proverbial bravery and powers of endurance, and gratified vanity did that which threats and remonstrances had faded to effect. A faint smile lit up their features, and, slowly rising from the ground, they tottered on their way.

AN UNGAZETTED TRAIT AT GIIUZNEE.

While the Afghans were disputing our entrance into the citadel. an incident occurred, which for a moment diverted the attention of the combatants, and turned their fury into pity. Amongst the foremost of the party who sig- nalized themselves by their desperate gallantry, was an aged chieftain, the rich- ness of whose costume excited general attention, his turban and weapons being resplendent with jewels. The hope of plunder immediately marked him out as an object of attack, and numbers at once assailed him. He defended him- self like a man who knew there was no chance of life, but who was resolved to sell it as dearly as he could. He had killed several of the Queen's Royals, and severely wounded Captain Robinson, when a grenadier of the company to which the latter belonged, seeing his officer in danger, rushed to his assistance, and with a thrust of his bayonet brought the gallant old chieftain to the ground. The grenadier was about to despatch him, when a beautiful girl, about seventeen, threw herself into the melee, and plunged a dagger in his breast. She then cast herself on the body of the chieftain, for the purpose of protecting it; and the Afghans, forming a sort of rampart before them, maintained their ground until the heroic girl succeeded in getting it conveyed into the interior of the citadel. Shortly after the place was taken, she was found weeping over the remains of the brave old man; who, on inquiry, we learned was her father. She was treated with the utmost respect and tenderness by our men; who neither obtruded themselves on her grief nor offered any interruption to the prepsrations which she made for his interment.

USEFUL KNOWLEDGE.

As the soldiers severally left the fortress to return to the camp, they were stripped of the plunder which they had obtained, and a goodly heap of armour and weapons of every kind was soou piled before the entrance. Among the number of curious articles obtained in this way, was an old shield, which had belonged to one of the Afghan chiefs, and which, though remarkable for the oddness of its construction, presented little else to attract the eye. Its ma- terial appeared to be a compound of copper and some white metal; and it was thrown aside by the prize-agent as the most valueless of the objects which fell under his care. A soldier of the Bengal European regiment, who had been ajeweller by trade, happened to observe the circumstance, and carelessly taking up the shield, as if to examine the devices with which it was orna- mented, scrutinized it for some time, and went away without making the slightest observation. He immediately repaired to the captain of his company, and told him to bid for the shield at the prize-sale which was to take place in a few days afterwards, advising him not to stop at any reasonable price for it. The officer acted on the hint, and obtained the article for about thirty or forty rupees. The shield turned out to be of the purest and finest gold, and the for- tunate possessor felt so grateful to his informant that he made him a present sufficient to purchase his discharge and carry him home to England.

AN AFGHAN HOSPITAL.

I one daypaid a visit, with some of my comrades, to the hospital where the wounded Afghans had been carried by their friends. It was situated in the old town, and consisted of a mud hut, whose thatched roof was broken in se- veral places, and afforded little or no shelter against the heat of the sun. The interior was as filthy and disgusting as it is possible to conceive. Into a space of about thirty feet by twelve, were crowded from seventy to a hundred patients, who were disabled by wounds of every description, their sufferings being aggra- vated tenfold by the intolerable heat and stench of the place. They were at- tended by two elderly men and a youth about fifteen years of age, who were busily engaged dressing their wounds, whilst a funk was performing certain charms, by which he pretended he could restore them to health. * Happening to have a quantity of apples with me which I had just plucked from one of the orchards in the vicinity, I offered them to the sufferers, in the hope that they would in some degree refresh them. They accepted them with eagerness; which induced some Sepoys who were with me to follow my example. The Afghans indignantly refused to receive any thing at their bands ; and so great was their hatred of the native troops, that they actually spat upon the men who showed them this kindness.

A RACE AT CABUL.

In order to give his Highness some notion of an English horse-race, it was agreed that the officers should get up sweepstakes among themselves; which the Shah no sooner heard of, than he added a splendid gold-hilted sword with Damascus blade.

The officers rode their own horses, and turned out in gay striped jackets and jockey-caps; so that but for the dark faces and turbaned heads which every- where encountered the eye, it would not have been difficult to imagine our- selves suddenly transported to Ascot or Epsom. The word having been given, away started the competitors, hi high blood and spirits ; and as the rider belong- ing to some particular regiment passed the others in his caner, the men com- posing it enthusiastically cheered and hurraed him, others taking up their shouts as their favourite passed him in turn ; this military favouritism impart- ing to the contest a degree of wild excitement such as 1 have never witnessed on any similar occasion.

The second heat was still more warmly contested ; as, according to the regu- lations above-mentioned, only the two foremost horses could be entered for the third. Major Daly of the Fourth Light Dragoons, and an officer of the Six- teenth Lancers, whose name I now forget, obtained the precedence, after a hard struggle, the race being a neck-and-neck one the entire way. As the two successful officers belonged to different divisions, one to the Ben- gal and the other to the Bombay army, the partisanship which before had been only regimental now extended to the two armies, and " Bravo, Bengal!" and " Bravo, Bombay ! " burst at every moment from the eager multitudes assem- bled, as the riders alternately passed or repassed each other in the final heat. After a contest in which the competitors themselves almost appeared to feel the influence which pervaded the crowd, and to think that the honour of their respective divisions depended upon their success, Major Daly gained the race by about a neck, and was handed the sword amid the delighted cheers of the Bombay troops.

The following instance of military licence is nothing by itself— the violence might have happened in any army stationed any- where : but, coupling it with the alleged conduct of the officers, and the allusion to other " unpleasant scrapes," it adds another hint to the notion that national and religious hatred at Cabul was sharpened by military licentiousness. It should be observed, too, that this affair took place before the surrender of DOST Hartord- MBD and the apparent termination of all danger. " Leave had been given by the officers in command of the different regi. ments to men entering the town to carry their side-arms, as a protection in case of chance-collision with the inhabitants. The facility of obtaining intoxi- cating liquors rendered this a contingency of not unlikely occurrence, and our men soon got themselves into unpleasant and in some instances dangerous scrapes. On one occasion, a private of the Thirteenth Light Infantry having been drinking rather freely, forced himself into the apartments of the wife of a respectable inhabitant. Proceeding to offer her some violence, her screams alarmed the neighbourhood, and the soldier was soon surrounded by a host of angry husbands and fathers, armed with every description of weapon. He de- fended himself with his bayonet for sonic time, contenting himself with merely parrying their blows; and had fought his way into the street, when he was met by several others of the townspeople, who set upon the unfortunate fellow and instantly despatched him. They secreted the body until nightfall, and then threw it outside the walls of the town, where it was discovered next morning."