I ask the reader
to return to the Malakand and ride thence with the Headquarters Staff
along the line of march. On the 5th of September, Sir Bindon Blood and
his staff, which I had the pleasure to accompany, started from the Kotal
Camp and proceeded across the plain of Khar to Chakdara. Here we halted
for the night, and as the scenery and situation of this picturesque fort
have already been described, the march may be continued without delay
next morning. From Chakdara to Sarai is a stage of twelve miles. The
road runs steadily up the valley until the summit of the Catgalla Pass
is reached. "Catgalla" means "Cut-throat," and, indeed, it is not hard
to believe that this gloomy defile has been the scene of dark and horrid
deeds. Thence a descent of two miles leads to Sarai. On the way, we fell
in with the 2nd Brigade, and had to leave the road to avoid the long
lines of mules and marching men who toiled along it.

The valley at Sarai is about two miles wide, and the mountains rise
steeply from it. On every ridge it is possible to distinguish the red
brick ruins which were the dwellings of the ancient Buddhists. These
relics of an early civilisation, long since overthrown and forgotten,
cannot fail to excite interest and awaken reflection. They carry the
mind back to the times "when the smoke of sacrifice rose from the
Pantheon, and when camelopards and tigers bounded in the Flavian
amphitheatre." And they also lead us to speculations of the future, till
we wonder whether the traveller shall some day inspect, with unconcerned
composure, the few scraps of stone and iron which may indicate the
British occupation of India. Few, indeed, the remains would be--for we
build for immediate use, not future ostentation in these days, and if
we should ever cease to be a force in the world, all traces of us would
soon be obliterated by time. Yet, perhaps, if that unborn critic of
remote posterity would remember that "in the days of the old British,"
the rice crop had been more abundant, the number of acres under
cultivation greater, the population larger and the death rate lower,
than at any period in the history of India--we should not be without a
monument more glorious than the pyramids.

We camped with the 2nd Brigade on the night of the 6th, and next
morning, while the stars were still shining, resumed the march. Five
miles from Sarai the road dwindles to a mule track, and henceforward is
not fit for wheeled traffic. In spite of