When once, however, the first fusillade was over, matters
were on a somewhat more equal basis, for a matchlock cannot be reloaded
on horseback; yet the odds were still great, and it took the Guides all
their time to hold their own. But the surprise, as a surprise, having
failed, the Swati cavalry, finding so stout a resistance, began to
weaken in their endeavour. Catching the tide on the turn, the Guides
dashed forth, and became themselves the attackers, hamstringing the
horses, and so hewing, cutting, and thrusting, that, finding this no
pigeons' nest, but rather a swarm of angry hornets, the whole two
hundred horsemen scattered and fled.
The loss of the Guides in this staunch little affair proved, when all
was over, to have been altogether insignificant; while the enemy on
their part, besides leaving many dead men and horses in camp, carried
off also, as was afterwards ascertained, a goodly number who would never
throw a leg over a horse again. The leader of the attack was the
redoubtable Mukaram Khan, one of the most daring and notable free-lances
on the border.
In consequence of this and other raids it was determined to take
measures, on a considerable scale, to discourage further efforts on the
part of the border tribes. Consequently a brigade of all arms, under Sir
Colin Campbell, moved out from Peshawur, to punish the lawless, and to
exact retribution from those who had erred from the strict path of
peace.
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