The record-union., 1897-11-09
ON INDIA'S FRONTIER.
ENGLAND'S TROUBLE A REPE-
TION OF PAST WARS.
Story of Retreat Through Khyber
Pass in Which Sixteen Hun
dred Were Massacred.

Englands present troubles on the
frontier of India, centering in the IA
nous Khyber Pass, are only repeti-
ton of wars she has waged in that re-
gion on several occasions before. says
the Springfield Republican khyber
Pass, which the savage Afridis are now
said to completely control, is a narrow
defile, canyon-like, twenty miles long,
in Eastern Afghanistan, through which
runs the road from Peshawur to Kabul,
spelled Cabool on the map. The pass Is
traversed by the kabul River, and Tor
many miles to the north and south is
the only practicable route through the
mountains for an army or large cara
van. The district is mountainous. and
the mountains are among the ruggedest
on the face of the earth, huge masses OF
broken cragS, precipices many hum
dreds of feet in hight, inaccessible peaks,
the sides of which are covered with
snow that never melts. There is a fine
road running through it, built by Brit
ash engineers.
Kabul is the Ameer's capital. and is
the end of the road through the great
pass. Jelalabad is situated in a valley
midway to Kabul. 1t is eighty miles
from Peshawur, which is in India, to
Jelalabad, and ninety miles from the
latter place to Kabul. Peshawur, the
British jumping-off place, lies in the
shadow of the Hindu Koosh, the from
tier having been pushed forward in a
sharp bend to include it. The town lies
on a. plain. across which a fine road
leads to the great rock gate which gives
entrance to the Khyber defile, guarded
by the Fort of Ali Musjid. Up in the
mountains surrounding the pass dwell
the Afridis. Living in stone huts which
elsewhere would hardly be deemed fit
for cattle, cultivating a few square
yards of soil that is kept in place by
retaining walls, marauders by profess
sion, thieves and murderers by instinct
bloodthirsty, knowing no faith, utterly
disregardful of promises given, the
mountaineerS are among the worst men
in country which from time immemo-
rial has been noted for the perfidy and
murderousness of its population. They
nave not materially changed since Alex
ander the Great marched through the
pass on his way to India
The Afridis are famous fighters
Their 'tulwar'' is a sword, a trifie
shorter than our present cavalry saber,
shaped somewhat in the resemblance
of a scimitar though heavier at the
back, and terrible weapon in any kind
of an encounter. When they have used
their long rifles until it is no advantage
to fire them any longer-and they are
taught to shoot them from boyhood-
they take to the tulwar. and with this
they meet the advancing line of bayo-
nets by slipping in under the points of
the bayonets and slashing the legs and
bodies of their foes. While, of course,
they will not refuse to meet the bayo-
nets in this way, yet they prefer to fight
behind stone walls, where they can get
the full effect of their terrible precision
with the rifle. An Afridi is accustomed
TO lie down behind a small rock which
no more than half covers him, and yet
in the course of an hour. all of the time
of which he is engaged in firing, to scoop
himself out a trench with his left elbow
which would completely screen him.
Unlike other mountain tribes. they are
excellent horsemen, but in their raids
ON British possessions they generally
come down on foot. But they can
muster no more than $4,000 fighting
men. and when once the British army
gets grip on the pass they will sweep
1T clean and doubtless leave it SO guard
ed as to give them no further trouble.
The present trouble began early in
July in the Tochi Valley, south of Khy-
ber Pass, when the Waziris, a tribe of
Pathans, fired from ambush on a Brit
ish force, the escort Of Mr.. Gee the
political agent. who was being enter
tanned by their chiefs, with the result
Itch Iii
"A punitive expedition was sent out at
once into the Tochi Valley to destroy
all fortified posts. The next rising,
which occurred a week or two later,
was in the Swat Valley, north of the
pass, about 200 miles north OF Tochi.
1t was through this valley that an ex-
pedition was sent northward into
Chitral two years ago to relieve a be-
3eaguered British post. Since that ex-
pedition British brigade, under Cen
eral Meiklejohn, has been maintained
on the road to Chitral, at the Malakand
Pass, and an outpost of 300 men in a
fort some miles beyond, at Chakdara
Chakdara was attacked about July
July 25th by a force of some 5000
Pathans, led by the mad mullah, ''
who persuaded the clans that he had
the power to turn the British bullets
into water. The fort was rushed
night after night for a week or more
without success. a large force crush
ed" at night the camp at Malakand
Pass, without result, other than To
kill and wound a few of the British
and Hindus. Reinforcements were hur-
ried up, and the whole force was placed
under Gen. Binden Blood. August 2d
Gen. Meiklejohn led a column which re-
lieved Chakdara. arriving in time to
drive away the thousands of Pathans
who We're on the point of making an
other assault, with the help of scaling
ladders. Some 1000 of the latter were
killed in the attacks on the fort, and
the mad mullah was wounded. The Pa
1hans lost also 700 in the attacks on the
Malakand Pass. beside 500 killed dur
ing the British advance thence TO the
relief Of Chakdara. The British loss il
the whole affair was some ten killed
and fifty wounded. Another rising or
the northwest border was attempted
by the mullah of Hadda, in the Nah
mand country, who collected some