rning, and made a bold stand,
and Sailgai had to fire seven times before he despatched him, and
by that time the brother of the deceased had fetched some police and
followed up in chase of Sailgai. When, however, the police saw that
they had a well-armed band to contend with, although about equal in
number to the Wazirs, they beat a hasty retreat, with the exception
of one man, who opened fire on the murderers at two hundred paces,
but was hit and disabled, so that Sailgai and his party got away in
safety. Government gave a reward to this, the one brave man, and put
a price on Sailgai's head, so that he could no longer enter British
territory except by stealth, and he retired to his fort at Gumatti,
which he strengthened and made the base for marauding expeditions on
Government territory.

These subsequently became so frequent and so successful that the
Indian Government was finally constrained to send up a column under
Colonel Tonnochy, who was in command of the 53rd Sikhs at Bannu,
to destroy his fort once for all. Before the guns opened fire the
Political Officer, Mr. Donald, walked up alone to the loopholes of
his fort to offer Sailgai and his fellow-defenders terms. Knowing well
the long list of crimes that would be proved against him, he replied
that he had determined to sell his life as dearly as possible in the
fort where he had been born and bred; and we must say, to his credit,
that they restrained their fire till Mr. Donald got back to his own
lines. Colonel Tonnochy brought the guns up to within sixty yards
of the fort, and while directing their operations he was mortally
wounded. When the tower was finally taken by storm, all Sailgai's
companions were dead, and he himself wounded in four places. He,
however, with a last effort took aim at the British officer, Captain
White, who was bravely leading the assault, and shot him dead, and was
almost at the same moment despatched by that officer's orderly. Wazirs
from Gumatti, as well as from all the rest of the neighbourhood,
are constantly coming to the mission dispensary, and some of them
have been in-patients. The police munshi who made the bold stand
above mentioned was himself treated for his wound in our hospital.

The Afghan has in some respects such inordinate vanity in connection
with his peculiar ideas of sharm, and is so hot-headed in resenting
some fancied insult, that he sometimes places himself in a ridiculous
position, from which he finds it diff