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 VII.

IN BATTLE ARRAY.

December 18.

IN official despatches, I believe, it is described as a "general action." It is not my purpose to discuss its military significance, for I am not a war correspondent, or even a soldier. I can only put down what I saw, and how it struck a layman.

We arrived this morn at the great Mausoleum of Safdar Jang, some miles south of Delhi, on the road to the Kutab Minar. Forthwith we were in the midst of alarums and excursions. This time, be it understood, we were with the Northern Army, which was acting more or less on the defensive. On the previous day we had been well behind the Southern Army. We climbed to the roof of the massive gateway leading to the Tomb. The country to the south was thickly wooded, but immediately to the west was a broad dusty plain, a mile or two wide, flanked by ridges. Due east, a shady road led to the Tomb of the Emperor Humayun, a couple of miles away. But it was hard to discern the operations southward; the trees were too thick.

We were, it seemed, on the right flank of the Northern Army; and it did not take ten minutes' inspection of the scene from that convenient roof to