1 172 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS.
2 but it had become dark before he left camp, and
3 though the distance was short, he and his men missed
4 the direction of the post, and the first challenge was
5 from a Sikh sentry! To advance would have
6 ensured their being taken prisoners; return they
7 could not; and therefore retreating: a little, they
8 remained quiet until morning, when it was dis-
9 covered, that the position was close to the place
10 which he was in quest of. Others of this regiment
11 received severe wounds, which afterwards proved
12 fatal; among the rest, Lieutenant John Lambert.
13 To speak of him as merely a_brother-officer,
14 would be doing injustice to his memory; he was
15 our friend, the friend of the writer of these pages,
16 and never, have we known a more zealous and
17 enthusiastic soldier, or one who more fully sustained
18 the honour of his profession. - He had talents of
19 no ordinary kind; and had he been spared, poor
20 Lambert would have been an honour to the fair town
21 of Alnwick, which gave him birth; but he died the
22 death he coveted,—fell fighting side by side with
23 his gallant companions before Sobraon, universally
24 lamented by his brother-officers, and by none
25 more than him who offers this humble tribute to
26 his memory.
27 One other officer must not be passed over in
28 silence.
29 Though wounded at Feerozshuhur, Lieutenant
30 Beatson did not dismount until his horse, wounded
31 in three places, obliged him to do so. The wound
32 experienced by Beatson was a severe one, but even
33 this did not preclude the hope that he would soon