1 WANT OF A SIKH COMMANDER. 34]
2 posed that Dost Mahomed intended to follow
3 the steps of his brothers of Candahar, and to
4 retire to Persia via Hazara or Kundooz.
5 Letters were addressed to various quarters in
6 Afghanistan, informing our friends of the fall
7 of Candahar, mentioning the immediate inten-
8 tion of the Shah Zada to advance, and inviting
9 them to join him on his way.
10 8th.—We now began to prepare to move to
11 Takal, a place four kos distant to the west ; but
12 before we did so, the presence of a competent
13 officer to command the Sikh force was sen-
14 sibly felt, as Colonel Wade, who had hitherto
15 looked after their troops alone, could hardly
16 attend to them and his other important duties
17 at the same time with satisfaction ; conse-
18 quently when Nao Nihal Singh paid him a
19 return visit, that measure was urgently pressed
20 on his attention. The Kour proposed to refer
21 to the Maharaja, but was told that, as we were
22 about to move, there was no time for such a
23 reference to Lahore; that his Highness would
24 no doubt sanction the Kour’s nomination, who
25 then said that he would send his answer in the