MEANWHILE, IN AFGHANISTAN IN 1826

"They were not, of course, consciously embarking on an expedition; they were running for their lives. Gardiner himself [a soldier of fortune in the service of various Sikh and Afghan chiefs, now between assignments -MoF] was wounded in the neck and the leg. Washed in salt water and dressed with powdered charcoal and clay, it was not surprising that these wounds never really healed. His outfit consisted of a high black Uzbek hat, black sheepskin coat, hair rope girdle, and Turki boots. They had guns and horses but for food depended on what they could steal. Until the first well-provisioned caravan passed within their grasp, they lived off 'snow mushrooms' and a half-rotten, partially cooked 'hyena-like animal'. "