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280 had under his orders some 3000 British soldiers, a battalion of Gurkhás, the corps of Guides, some remnants of native infantry sipáhís, whose fidelity was not assured, and twenty-two field-guns. He had, as we have seen, taken his position on the ridge, an elevation of from fifty to sixty feet above the general level of the city, extending along a line of rather more than two miles, its left resting upon the Jamnah some three or four miles above Dehlí, its right extremity approaching the Kábul gate at a distance of about a thousand yards. The ridge intersected the old cantonment towards its left centre. Following its front towards its right was a road which joined the grand trunk road from Karnál, beyond its extremity, and led down, through a mass of suburban gardens and ancient edifices, to the Kábul gate. Two other roads, also leading from Karnál, diverged through the old cantonment to different gates of the city. The position was open to the rear, and commanded a splendid supply of water from the Najafgarh canal. The English tents, pitched on the left and centre of the ridge, obliquely to the front of attack, were concealed from the view of the enemy by the houses very recently occupied by the officers of the Dehlí brigade, still left standing. The weakest point of the position, that nearest the enemy, was the right. Here a strong body of troops were posted. There was an extensive building known as Hindu Ráo's house. This house had been left empty by its owner, and was promptly occupied. Nearly in the centre of the position was a round tower called the Flagstaff Tower, double storied, and offering a good point for observation. Between that tower and Hindu Ráo's house was an old mosque, with good masonry walls, admirably adapted as an outpost. This, too, was occupied. Further along the ridge road, at a distance of some 200 yards from the position on the extreme right,