I had occasion to (skim)read Lady Sale’s diary of her nine months as one of a group of hostages during the British-Afghan conflict in 1842-3.
It’s very Victorian: a relatively dry and emotionless accounting (she does admit to crying upon rescue).
“The weather was this, we had a minor earthquake, we marched to here, we ate that, we heard these reports of troop movements, Mrs Waller gave birth to a daughter, we got some mail.”
Wait, what?
THREE women gave birth during their time in captivity, including Lady Sale’s OWN DAUGHTER, all three recorded with a single line, not a mention of their pregnancies even using the common euphemisms of the day (all three were soldiers’ wives, by the timing already pregnant when captured; Lady Sale avers the women were treated well).
She also only ever refers to her daughter as Mrs Sturt but that could have been changed for publication, surely if she was writing a private diary she would have unbent enough to call her Alexandria.
The bit that raised my eyebrows the most: “When little Tootsey (Capt. Anderson's child) was carried off in the Khoord Cabul pass, she was taken direct to Cabul: and the Khan rode up and down the streets with her; offering her for sale for 4000 rupees. After some negotiation regarding the price, Conolly purchased the child.”
AFTER SOME NEGOTIATION REGARDING THE PRICE????
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/50219
