ont. "Oh," replied the latter, "you'll be all right so long as you
don't go near no officers, nor no white stones." Whether the advice
was taken is not recorded, but it was certainly sound, for three days
later--on 30th September--in those companies of the Royal West Kent
regiment that were engaged in the village of Agrah, eight out of eleven
officers were hit or grazed by bullets.

The fatigues experienced by troops in mountain warfare are so great,
that every effort has to be made to lighten the soldier's load. At the
same time the more ammunition he carries on his person the better. Mules
laden with cartridge-boxes are very likely to be shot, and fall into
the hands of the enemy. In this manner over 6000 rounds were lost on the
16th of September by the two companies of Sikhs whose retirement I have
described.

The thick leather belts, pouches, and valise equipment of British
infantry are unnecessarily heavy. I have heard many officers suggest
having them made of web. The argument against this is that the web
wears out. That objection could be met by having a large supply of these
equipments at the base and issuing fresh ones as soon as the old were
unfit for use. It is cheaper to wear out belts than soldiers.

Great efforts should be made to give the soldier a piece of chocolate, a
small sausage, or something portable and nutritious to carry with him
to the field. In a war of long marches, of uncertain fortunes, of
retirements often delayed and always pressed, there have been many
occasions when regiments and companies have unexpectedly had to stop out
all night without food. It is well to remember that the stomach governs
the world.

The principle of concentrating artillery has long been admitted in
Europe. Sir Bindon Blood is the first general who has applied it to
mountain warfare in India. It had formerly been the custom to use the
guns by twos and threes. As we have seen, at the action of Landakai, the
Malakand Field Force had eighteen guns in action, of which twelve were
in one line. The fire of this artillery drove the enemy, who were in
great strength and an excellent position, from the ground. The infantry
attack was accomplished with hardly any loss, and a success was obtained
at a cost of a dozen lives which would have been cheap at a hundred.

After this, it may seem strange if I say that the artillery fire in the
Mamund Valley did very little execution. It is nevertheless a fact. The
Mamunds are a p