45i CHAPTER V.

THE SIEGE AND RELIEF OF CHITRAL.

THE siege of Chitral may be said to have begun on March 3:d. On that day the garrison was, as we have seen, defeated with heavy loss in its attempt to check the advance of Umra Khan. Next morning the had to be reserved for the sick and woundedin hospital. To grind the corn properly was a difficulty which wasnevercompletely overcome. Harley had amongst his Sikhs an invaluable man who seemed able to do anything andeverydetached post at Chitral thing which required bridge was withdrawn to the fort, and all communication with the outer world was cut off for fifty days. In the fort, a space about eighty yardssquare,were crowded together 340 fighting men and about two hundred non-combatants and servants,including the boy ruler of Chitral and his suite. The roofs could be commandedbyrifle fire from the neighbouring hills, and, to add to the difficulties of the defence, supplies were not overabundant.

skilful hands. But the only stones for him to shape into hand mills were of the wrongkind, and soft ; consequently they were continually wearing away, and the flour was always mixed with grittyparticles. As a result, the men got dysentery and other internal ailments."

Under these circumstances the long siege was a time of great suffering and privation for the defenders. Active attacks by the enemy were few and far between. They contented themselves for the most LIEUTENANT HARLEV.

(Photo: Chancellor, Dublin.) " There was," says Sir G. Robertson, "sufficient ammunition, but none to spare— namely, 300 rounds a man for the Martini-Henry rifles of the Sikhs and 280 rounds for the Sniders of the Kashmir troops, with a little over. Food was scantier than we expected. The Bengali Commissariat agent had returned as in stock a certain quantity which he only expected to receive in return for advances paid to local dealers. However, the little Mehtar Shuja-ul-Mulk handed over to me all his private stores, and,finally,it was ordered that eachman was to receive one pound of flour a day as the basis of his diet. This poorallowance would enable the garrison to hold out for three months. It was to be supplemented by rations of ghi (clarified butter), theEastern soldier's delight,and condiments, as far as the limited supply of these articles would stretch. There was a little riceavailable for the officers' table,but thefew sheep part with blockading the fort and keepingup a brisk fire from sungars and loopholed walls, at very close range in the later days of the siege. The non-combatants and such of the fighting men as could be spared in the fort were organised in working parties and kept busy demolishing buildings just outside that would have afforded cover to the enemy, improvising parapets toscreen the topsof towers and walls from rifle fire,and strengthening the defences of the water tower and the short covered way to the river. At night bonfires were lighted just outside the fort, and later a means was found for hanging out improvised cressets of burning fir knots and splinters, to reveal the approach of the besiegers. Great care had to be taken that these did not set fire to the woodenwallsof the sort.

Umra Khan tried frequently to induce the garrison to treat with him, promising them a