"At that time I was in the Derbyshires.

In this case it was the wildness of the country, rather than the stoutness of the defence of the Thibetans, that caused our difficulty.

The force consisted of a mountain battery of four guns, two hundred men of our regiment, four hundred of the Bengal Infantry, and seven hundred men of the 32nd Pioneers.

The men were all picked and of good physique, as it was known that the campaign would be a most arduous one.

In addition to the usual entrenching tools, a hundred and twenty short swords were issued to each regiment, and fifty per cent of the followers were also supplied.