The Army of the Indian Moghuls: Its Organization and Administration c13.39

c13.39

Difficulties arising in the use of rockets are well described by Captain Thomas Williamson, 62, "*Bāns* are not very safe engines, being apt to turn back on those who use them. They are much employed among the native powers. The contrivance is very simple, being nothing more than a hollow cylinder of iron, about ten inches or a foot long, and from two to three inches in diameter, closed at the fore end, and the other having a small aperture for filling. These cylinders are tied strongly to *lāthies*, or bamboo staves, six or seven feet long, parallel to the thickest end of the bamboo. The fuze at the vent is lighted, the direction is given by the operator, a slight cast of the hand commences the motion, and then the dangerous missile proceeds to its destination. The panic it occasions among cavalry is wonderful! When it does fall where intended its effect is inconceivable; all fly from the hissing winding visitor, receiving perhaps a smart stroke from the stick, which gives direction to the tube and often causes it to make the most sudden and unexpected traverses. So delicate, indeed, is the management of this tremendons weapon, that without great precaution, those who discharge them are not safe, and it requires much practice, not only to give them due elevation, by which their distance is proportioned, but to ensure that they shall not, in the very act of discharging, receive any improper bias, which would infallibly produce mischief among the party".