midnight
The passage of the various water courses caused great delays ; and it was difficult to keep the column together , in the dark . At each passage , the rear was immensely delayed while the leading troops were passing ; and these again had to be halted , while those behind them struggled over the difficulties . The men suffered much from cold , as the pace was so slow that they could not warm themselves ; and the mounted officers specially suffered , in their hands and feet . At midnight the ravine leading up to the Spingawi Pass was reached ; but so dark was it that the 2nd Punjaubees , separated by a few yards from the regiment in front of them , marched straight on instead of turning up it ; and the 22nd Pioneers , and the four artillery guns carried on elephants -- being behind them -- naturally went astray , also . Brigadier General Thelwall , who commanded the column , was at the head of his brigade ; and was , for some time , unaware of the absence of two of his regiments but , after halting and finding that they did not come up , sent back a mounted officer who , after a two-mile ride , came up with the missing troops , and guided them back to the point where they had left the route . From the foot of the ravine to the top of the pass is six miles in distance and , dark as it was in the open , it was still more so in the ravine , shadowed by the steep hills on either side . As the ascent continued the road became worse ; the boulders being larger , and the holes and dried-up pools deeper .