1 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS. 185
2 from the field on both occasions. We. have en-
3 deavoured to account for the occurrence : at Fee-
4 rozshuhur his presence, without instruments, might
5 have tended little to render his aid efficacious; but
6 surely, after a lapse of nearly six weeks, the defi-
7 ciency of matériel might have been supplied.
8 With regard to Dr. Walker, surgeon to His Ex- pr. Waker.
9 cellency the Governor-general, we willingly ac-
10 quiesce in the praise bestowed upon him by Sir
11 Henry Hardinge. Before daybreak, on the morn-
12 ing after the battle of Sobraon, he came to offer
13 his valuable assistance to ourselves in the necessary
14 operations, all of which were performed befpre the
15 men left the camp for Feerozpore. The necessity
16 for promptitude was well exemplified by what oc-
17 curred in some regiments, where hardly an ampu-
18 ‘tation succeeded when performed at a late period.
19 In all engagements, in India at least, the sooner a Inportance of
20 limb is lost after it has been wounded, the greater fon?
21 will be the chance of success; in fact, the ampu-
22 tation, if delayed, had better not be performed at
23 all. Hence, the necessity of a field-hospital is an
24 important point that will not, it is hoped, be over-
25 looked in future wars.
26 As every officer takes an interest in the welfare
27 of his soldiers, a few remarks on the state of the
28 wounded will, we feel assured, be acceptable to our
29 military readers.
30 At Feerozshuhur, the grape of the enemy com- Wounds at
31 mitted the greatest havoc; and accordingly, the nee
32 greatest number of wounds were inflicted by a 8tpe-shor.