The unfinished wall on the eastern face was raised by logs of wood, and abattis and wire entanglements were placed in front.  In the open space lying between the Bimaru ridge and the north-west circular bastion, a defence on the laager system was constructed out of gun-carriages and limbers captured from the enemy; while the village of Ghulam Hasan Khan, which formed an excellent flanking defence along the northern and western faces, was held as an independent post.

I divided the whole of the defences into five sections, under the superintendence of five different commanders:  Brigadier-General Macpherson, Colonel Jenkins, Brigadier-General Hugh Gough, Major-General Hills, and Colonel Brownlow.  Brigadier-General Massy was given the centre of the cantonment, where were collected the forage and firewood; and Brigadier-General Baker commanded the reserve, which was formed up at the depression in the Bimaru heights mentioned above, that he might be able to move rapidly to either end of the ridge, the weakest points in our defences.

The several sections were connected with each other and with my Head-Quarters by a telegraph-wire, and visual signalling was established at all important points.

In my arrangements for the defence of Sherpur I relied to a great extent on the advice of my accomplished Chief Engineer, Colonel AEneas Perkins, and it was mainly owing to him, and to the exertions of his competent staff, that the work was carried on as rapidly and satisfactorily as it was.

During these days of preparation the enemy remained comparatively inactive, being chiefly employed in looting the city and emptying the Amir’s arsenal.  The gunpowder had been destroyed as far as possible; but a great deal still remained, and many tons of it were carried off by the army of Mahomed Jan, who had now become the practical leader of the Afghan combination, and had lately proclaimed Yakub Khan’s eldest son, Musa Khan, Amir.

On the afternoon of the 16th I received the welcome news that Colonel Hudson had successfully resisted an attack on his position by the Ghilzais—­welcome because I could now feel assured that Lataband could be depended upon to hold its own.

For the next five days nothing of much importance was done on either side.  The enemy took up positions daily in the neighbouring forts and gardens, causing a few casualties, and some of our troops moved out to dislodge them from those places from which they could specially annoy us.  I destroyed some of the forts, and removed other cover in the immediate vicinity of the walls; but I did not undertake any large sorties, for to have attempted to drive the enemy out of the outlying posts, which I could not then have held, would have been a useless waste of strength.