Washington sentinel., 1898-05-21
The Kbyber Pass and the Afrtdi
AAn An-,.,ilIr,r,s AHzPazine.

been to hnglSnmen piaGS VI II
repute, rivalling in its gloomy as
sociations the Black Hole OF Cal
cutta or the Well Of Cawnpore
and never did any place appear t
me to deserve an evil reputation
more truly than the famous pas
as l first saw 1t one bleak stormy
dav at the end OF last year.
We were marching up the Khybei
as part of force destined to cleai
the Pass and reopen the trade route
to Afghanistan, and knowing that
at best, our occupation must last
several months, we regarded the
country through which we were
travelling With very mixed feel
ings. Hitherto we had been
marching through an enemy
country, had RACED his towers ano
Notifications, and had felt the pride
Of knowing that we had been where
no white man had ever set foot
before. Now we were in what is
practically British territory, march
ing along a road which the Gov
ernment of India is pledged to keep
open and in good repair, while all
round us were our own forts and
strongholds in absolute ruin. AS
we descended to the open space
above the Khyber stream. where
we were TO encamp, just below the
historic fort OF Ali Musjld, we be-
gan to realize the damage done US
by the Afridis. The caravanserai,
in peace time crowded twice a
week by the heavily laden cara
vans passing between India and
Afghanlstan, no longer existed.
The barracks of the Khyber Rifles
were in ruins; and of the fort itself
little remained but the outer walls
and towers, too solid to be des-
troyed without dynamite. In fact
throughout the whole length ol the
British Khyber. from Lundi Kotal
to Fort Maude, almost under the
noses Of our guns at Jamrud, de-
termined attempt had been made
to wipe out every trace Of English
authority. There was not an Eng
lishman in the force which entered
the Pass that day who did not un-
derstand what the effect on the
whole frontier would be if we were
to fail to inAict condign punish
ment on the tribes for such an act
OF daring insolence.
The Airidi is by nature and train
ing a skilful skrmisher and a
splendid shot; his very life depends
upon his being both. Rare indeed
is it that the tribes are not at open
hostility among themselves, while
within the tribe, and even within
the family, blood feuds are so COM
mon that every Afridi has far more
enemies than friends. A strict code
regulates the prosecution of these
ieuds. During seed time and har-
vest, or during the progress of
sacred war, all quarrels are laid
aside; and at all times the persons of
women and children are inviolate.
But with these exceptions their
feuds are prosecuted with vindic-
tiVeness to which the history Of the
Scottish Highlands in the widest
times can offer no parallel. An
Arakzai, who owned a house Just
belo " a spot which my picquet oc
cupied for some time on the Sam
pagher Pass, one day pointed out
to me another house within twenty
PAGES Of his own. There, he said,
lived his enemy. and then he went
on to describe with the utmost
pride how he had killed the father
of the present owner after waiting
nine VIII Die months IN his tower for
a shot, his food and water being
brought him by the women of his
household, who also were respon
sible for the proper tending Of the
fields and cattle of the estate, until
this somewhat protracted stalk had
been brought to successful issue.
1t is this state of affairs which
makes the possession of a good
rifle the dearest ambition of from
tier tribesman, good Government
Martini being always worth over
three hundred rupees, an immense
sum of money to people as poor
as the Afridis, The difficulties eX-
perienced by the headmen of the
tribes in collecting the rifles for
the fines we have imposed may be
easily imagined, when il is realized
that the greater number of these
rifles must come from men with
blood ieuds on their hands to
whom the sacrifice Of their arms
means sooner or later the sacrifice
of their lives. A charming story
is told Of the Kamber Khels, illus
trating how cheaply the trIbesmen
regard human lie. A moollah of
the tribe once in a moment Of can
dor expressed his regret to his
flock that no sacred man among
them had yet been called upon to
lay down his life for his religion,
alleging that the presence in their
midst OF the tomb of so holy
man would be of the highest value
both from a spiritual and prac
tical point of view, spiritually be-
cause the Prophet would regard
them all henceforth with greater
favor, practically because devout
pilgrims attracted to the shrine
would enrich the whole tribe by
their gifts. The Kambers took
counsel together, laid hold OF the
moollah and slew him; and then
having erected a sui able shrine
oyer his corpse, felt that they had
done all that was in their power to
remove a reproach which reflected
upon the whole tribe.