was the chief engraver to the Royal Mint from the latter portion of George the Fourth's reign until his decease in 1851, and is considered the most accomplished medallist of modern times. He has represented the figure of Victory, on the reverse, as seated, considering that quiet posture the most fitting to commemorate services long past, the medal not being engraved until 1850. In her left hand is a laurel wreath, and in her right an olive branch. A lotus-flower,* emblematic of India, is at her side, a trophy of Oriental arms and a palm-tree forming the back-ground. It is superscribed To THE ARMY OF INDIA; in the exergue 1799-1826. The ribbon is pale blue. The various services specified at page 1, are commemorated by clasps. On those belonging to the medal from which the engraving has been made are the words ALLIGHUr, Battle of DEIG, and CAPTURE OF DEIG; the medal granted to the Duke of Wellington contained bars for ASSYE, ARGAUM, and GAWILGHUR.

considered that there is a great restriction to the same class of designs, such as figures of Victory or Britannia, the merit of such medals as the above, and those for the Kaffir campaigns and Indian mutiny, can be better appreciated. The Crimean Medal is by Benjamin Wyon, Esq.; and that for Waterloo is by Thomas Wyon, Esq., Jun., who was chief engraver to the mint at the time of the great re-coinage in 1816. He was a young man of great promise, but died at the early age of twenty-five. Benjamin Wyon, his brother, was an eminent medallist, and succeeded his father, Mr. Thomas Wyon, as chief engraver of His Majesty's seals in 1830. He died in 1858. The Peninsular War Medal and others engraved in this work for Indian services, are by Mr. William Wyon, with the exception of that for the first capture of Ghuznee in 1839, and that for Jellalabad, of the mural crown pattern.

* Prior to the Indian mutiny the lotus-flower was circulated amongst the native regiments of Bengal as a symbol of conspiracy. According to the interpretation of the Hindoo priests, the lotus rising from the water is typical of the world issuing from the ocean of time. The goddess Asteria (or Justice) is depicted in Egyptian Mythology as rising from this flower; and in representations of the Judgment of the Dead, the lotus of knowledge, or tree of life, the great serpent, the vase of nectar, and the table of ambrosia, emblems of Paradise, are introduced before Osiris, who, clad in the white habiliments of the grave, with a red girdle, sits upon a throne of black and white spots, emblematic of good and evil. The figures of Buddha at the Indian Museum, now in Whitehall Yard, have a lotus-flower in the left hand. It is cultivated by the Buddhist priests and placed in vases in their temples, and the veneration of the Chinese extends also to this sacred flower. In the new Indian Order, recently instituted, the lotus is prominently introduced.

SHAH SOOJAH-OOL-MOOLK had been driven from the throne of Affghanistan, and his kingdom divided among several chiefs. A Persian army besieged Herat, on the Affghan frontier, and the court of Persia claimed an extensive portion of territory, which, lying between India and Persia, appeared to menace the safety of the British dominions in the East Indies. These circumstances, and the unprovoked attack made on a British ally, Runjeet Singh, by Dost Mahomed Khan, occasioned a tripartite treaty to be concluded between the British, Rungeet Singh, and Shah Soojah, for the purpose of effecting the restoration of the dethroned monarch, and a British force designated the "ARMY OF THE INDUS," was assembled to effect this object. In addition to the native corps, it comprised the 4th. and 16th. Dragoons, (the cavalry being commanded by the late Lieutenant-General Sir Joseph Thackwell, G.C.B., then Major-General,) and the 2nd., 13th., and 17th. regiments of the regular army. The Bengal column was placed under Major-General Sir Willoughby Cotton, K.C.B., and the Bombay one under Major-General Willshire. General Sir Henry Fane was to have commanded the whole, but on information being received in October, 1838, that the siege of Herat had been raised by the Persian monarch, who had marched therefrom towards his capital, the force was reduced, and the second Bengal division was left at Ferozepore. Lieutenant-General Sir John (afterwards Lord) Keane, was consequently appointed to the command.

The plan of operations was thus arranged:-Major-General Sir Willoughby Cotton was to march near Scinde, through the Bolan Pass to Candahar, and proceed thence to Ghuznee and Cabool. The Bombay division of the army commenced its march from the mouth of the Indus, through the country occupied by the Ameers of Scinde, who, refusing permission for the troops to pass through their territory, a passage had to be effected by force. Hyderabad, the capital, was captured;

Ameers were brought to The army then continued bridge of boats near the

Kurrachee was occupied; and the submission early in February, 1839. its march, passed the Indus on a fortress of Bukkur, (which had been delivered up as a place of arms during the war in Affghanistan,) and entered upon regions never before traversed by British troops, but which are interesting from their association with the operations and reverses of Alexander the Great.

Advancing from Shikarpore the troops arrived in the middle of March, at Dadur, situated a few miles from the Bolan Pass, through which they marched between mountains covered with snow. In these wild regions bands of Beloochees lurked to avail themselves of every opportunity to follow their predatory habits, and they murdered several camp followers, and plundered some baggage. Issuing from this gloomy defile of more than fifty miles in length, the army entered the Dushi-be-doulut, or the unhappy desert, and halted a short time. at Quettah, situated in the centre of the valley of Shawl, of which it is the capital. Supplies of provisions could not be procured in these sterile regions; the issue of grain for the horses ceased, the soldiers were placed upon half rations, the native followers upon quarter, and several men, who were searching for forage at a distance from the camp, were sacrificed by the natives, who availed themselves of every opportunity of destroying small parties.

All these hardships were borne with fortitude, and in the early part of April the army commenced its march through the vale of Shawl; it descended the picturesque height of Kotul into the valley of Koochlak; forded rivers; traversed a difficult country spangled with flowers of every hue, some of which reminded the soldiers of their own distant home; and passed the height of Kozak, where the men had to drag the artillery over the precipice with ropes. Surmounting every obstacle with patient perseverance, the troops continued to press forward; the rulers of Affghanistan, struck with dismay, fled from the capital, leaving the country to the Sovereign whom the British were advancing to restore. As the army proceeded on its way, various classes of individuals tendered their submission, and on the 27th. of April it arrived at Candahar,

E

the capital of western Affghanistan, where provisions and repose were obtained. The tents were pitched in the grassy meadows, among enclosures covered with crops of grain. The watery exhalations from the low grounds however proved injurious to the health of the men, and the great heat experienced in the tents, with a saline impregnation in the water, augmented the number of the sick.

CAPTURE OF GHUZNEE.

23RD. JULY, 1839.

BREAKING up from Candahar on the 27th. of June, to reduce the remainder of the Shah's dominions to obedience, the army advanced along a valley of dismal sterility to the Turnuk river; then proceeding up the right bank, traversed the country of the Western Ghilzees, and arrived on the 21st. of July before Ghuznee, a strong fortress garrisoned by three thousand Affghans, under Prince Mahomed Hyder Khan, who were well provided with stores, and had determined on a desperate defence, having blocked up every gate with masonry excepting one.

Not having a battering train of sufficient power to proceed by the regular method of breaching the walls, LieutenantGeneral Sir John Keane resolved to storm the place without delay, and a reconnoisance was made on the 21st. of July, when it was determined to blow open the gate, and accordingly during the night of the 22nd. of July a quantity of gunpowder was secretly brought to the one not blocked up with masonry, which was to be destroyed by an explosion before daylight on the following morning.

To the 13th. Foot was assigned the duty of covering the operations, in blowing open the gate, and they paraded at two o'clock, a.m. Three hundred pounds of gunpowder (in twelve sand-bags) were used for this purpose. The regiment proceeded in advance of the storming party to the causeway of the gate under cover of the darkness of the night, and the fire of the batteries of the assailants, six men of the leading company being told off to assist in carrying the powder-bags. On reaching the causeway, the 13th. extended