1 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS. 341
2 .
3 10 cwt.) will, with a charge of 2 Ib. 4.0z. with two
4 degrees elevation by quad., give one graze at 900,
5 but ricochet to the extreme distance of 2,500
6 yards.” ;
7 It would appear that the newspaper’ editors Further par
8 ticulars re~
9 made remarks on the artitery, which in the opinion gondig fhe
10 of the above writer were not warranted by the
11 circumstances. He accounts for the want of ammu~
12 nition at Sobraon from the shortness of time that
13 elapsed between the arrival of the siege train on
14 the 7th, and the evening before the battle on the
15 9th February.
16 There can be little doubt, that to the hurry of
17 the movements previous to Feerozshuhur, and the
18 want of time after the train arrived, is to be attri-
19 buted the apparent ineffectiveness of the artillery.
20 The movement of infantry with their pouches
21 filled, and their ammunition close to them and
22 ready for use, renders the full effect of this branch
23 of the army a much easier matter than that of the
24 artillery, where great ‘labour is required for prepar-
25 ing of shrapnell, which is not stored in the magazine.
26 To provide the means of sustaining a constant dis-
27 charge of shot and shells for even the space of two
28 hours, as occurred at Sobraon, required no small
29 exertion on the part of those employed in prepar-
30 ing the missiles. Had the siege train arrived
31 earlier, and more time been thus allowed, the Com-
32 mander-in-chief might have completed his original
33 intention of giving the Sikhs the full force of his
34 artillery for four hours. There appears to be a feeling