1 526 THE SIKH TROOPS DISMISSED.
2 was urgently requesting their withdrawal alto-
3 gether from Afghanistan; and although no
4 troops had been raised to supply their place,
5 yet, in the absence of the Colonel from Lahore,
6 it will be seen that Raja Dhian Singh and
7 the Kour either took, or were very impro-
8 perly allowed to have, their own way in this as
9 well as in other matters, without regard to
10 the probable consequences.
11 The Najib and Aligol battalions had been
12 left at Ali Masjid and Jalalabad; that belong-
13 ing to the French legion being the only portion
14 of the troops which accompanied’ us to Lahore.
15 I have mentioned in former parts of my journal
16 the delays and difficulties we had to contend
17 with before the Mahomedan contingent was
18 formed. The occasion now seemed to have
19 arrived for deciding whether the Sikhs were to
20 maintain it. _ By the tripartite treaty they were
21 required always to have such a force in readi-
22 ness at Peshawr; and itis much to be regretted
23 that instead of being made to observe this
24 important article of the treaty, they should at
25 once haved been permitted to urge the return