y a dozen horsemen and mounted on a handsome, though vicious
dun horse. He saluted Sir Bindon Blood with great respect and ceremony.
Some conversation took place, conducted, as the khan only spoke Pushtu,
through the political officer. The khan asserted his loyalty and that
of his neighbour the Khan of Jar. He would, he said, do his utmost to
secure the peaceful passage of the troops. Such supplies as they might
need, he would provide, as far as his resources would go. He looked with
some alarm at the long lines of marching men and animals. The general
reassured him. If the forces were not interfered with or opposed, if the
camps were not fired into at night, if stragglers were not cut off and
cut up by his people, payment in cash would be made for all the grain
and wood it was necessary to requisition.

The khan accepted this promise with gratitude and relief, and henceforth
during the operations which took place at Nawagai and in the Mamund
Valley, he preserved a loyal and honourable behaviour. To the best of
his power he restrained his young bloods. As much as he was able, he
used his influence to discourage the other tribes from joining the
revolt. Every night his pickets watched our camps, and much good sleep
was obtained by weary men in consequence. At the end of the fighting he
was the intermediary between the Government and the Mamund tribesmen.
And on one occasion he rendered a signal service, though one which
should hardly have been entrusted to him, by escorting with his own
retainers an ammunition convoy to the 2nd Brigade, when troops and
cartridges were alike few and sorely needed. Had he proved treacherous
in this instance the consequences might have been most grave.
Throughout, however, he kept his word with the general, and that in the
face of opposition from his own people, and threats of vengeance from
his neighbours.

He on his part will not complain of British good faith. Although the
fighting was continued in the district for nearly a month, not one of
his villages was burnt, while all damage done to his crops was liberally
compensated. He was guaranteed against reprisals, and at the end of the
operations the gift of a considerable sum of money proved to him that
the Sirkar could reward its friends, as well as punish its enemies.

The camel transport of the 3rd Brigade lagged on the road, and the
troops, tired after their long march, had to wait in the blazing sun for
a couple of hours without sh