Page:History of Aurangzib (based on original sources) Vol 1.djvu/142

112 dur Khan, were several days' march behind. They suffered untold hardships from heavy and incessant snowfall for three days together. Men and beasts of burden alike slipped on the snow or lost the narrow track and went rolling down into the depths below. The exhausted camels lay down in the ice never to rise again. The intense cold drove every man away in search of shelter. Zulqadar Khan alone, with a handful of men, guarded his charge on the bare top of the pass for seven days, regardless of snowfall, till the Rear under Bahadur Khan came up and took him away. This last officer's march had been slow, as he had constantly to face round and drive back the hillmen who clung to him in the hope of plunder. One night, in the midst of wind and snow, he had to bivouac on the top of the pass, and many benumbed men and beasts of his party perished. The last part of the army reached Kabul on 10th November.

The total loss of the Imperial army in crossing the passes was 10,000 lives, about one-half of the number being men, and the rest elephants, horses, camels and other beasts. Much property, too, was left buried under the snow, or flung into the ravines