St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1899-07-22
THE GORGE OF SHAME
A Story Of Indian Retaliation.
7 seems proper to preface the brief


L seems proper to preface the brief
chapter of life in India with a word
OF taution. for the tale is grewsome.
1t is story from life, reminiscence
OF the early colonial days, and forms
one of series of tales illustrating the
march of British power in the East
Indian empire. The WaziEis are a tribe
inhabiting Afghanistan, which was
transferred to the British in 1894
In their manner of dealing with the
woman question the Waziris are old
fashioned. With them, above all peo-
pies, chastity is the virtue of woman,
courage of the man. There is no place
among them for the wanton or the
coward; and the expression of public
opinion seems to be founded on some
such maxim - "The dead sin NO
more"
Ludlow, the doctor, Gordon, my sub
altern, and myself were sitting outside
the little fort smoking after one of the
scrubby dinners of the country, and
Bakshan Khan, who had been invited
to share our cheroots, was smoking
with us. Ludlow had spent a 13-hour
day tramping after elusive Markhor, in
in the course of which he had climbed
to 1000 feet above the sea level, and,
tough as he was, was very tired. He
showed no wish to tell us of his sport,
which had been confined to fleeting
glimpses of distant MarkhOr; but,
somewhat wearily. he told us that he
had come across the bones of a woman
in the soft sand under the lee of q
gorge; bones curiously shattered
skull, arms, legs, ribs, not bone whole.
And the sepoys who were acting as his
shikarris had spat on the bones and
covered them again, and would tell him
nothing, only that the gorge was called
The Gorge of Shame
looked at the Bakshan Khan. He
blew a slow cloud of smoke from his
mouth and said: Years ago" We
pulled ourselves together to listen. for
we always listened to Bakshan Khan,
and he told us the story Of Grierson. |
Years ago. when the post was first
held by the English. there was sahib
In command named Grierson. Perhaps
il was IS, perhaps 20. years ago. what
is time TO MS who only know day and
night, summer and winter" He was
a brave man, but reckless. He loved
women too well. He also drank and
smoked very much, but was never a
bit weaker for il. In those days the
caravans passing down had to fight for
il all the way along the Waziri border,
and it was out in the broad bed of the
Kuch, where the rivers meet, that they
Law safest under the rifles of the little
most. as it then was-only one-third as
big as il is now. and not half as many
men in it. Often the party at the post
used to sally out to fire on raiders. and
more often wounded traders used to
drop in at the post to be healed OF gum
shot. sword and spear wounds. The
days were by no means dull. To man
Of Grierson's nature a life OF hard liv-
ing, fighting, drinking and no woman
10 cheer him was but fuel to fire.
Grierson was not q sentimentalist.
Many men who mean and do no wrong
"a women are not sentimentalists, and
they do not usually make the worst
husbands. One day there had been
dash on n caravan at early dawn and
a pursuit. Grierson had succeeded in
overtaking and shooting Mahsud
Waxiri. who bore away girl on his
camel, and she lay fainting from its
fall, for it dropped dead. shot at the
same time as its master. Gricrson went
ia her aid and found her beautiful.
He brought her back to the caravan,
made terms ard was married to her
hv the Mohammedan law, and for the
handsome price of thousand rupees
in money and kind. 1t was dihcuit
matter to arrange. but in those days.
even more than now, might was right,
and who could say nay to man VINO
could slay as well as protect? Ii 1t had
nleased Grierson to have her abducted
for him the price would have been less;
and. suspicious as all savages are, the
caravan Of Zillah Khel Waziris saw that
they stood a good chance of greater
security if one of their women was the
wife of one of their protectors. be-
sides. the girl was of no consequence.
She was an orphan, and the Malik had
the legal right to dispose OF her. Her
relations were few and poor. -Four
rims. 90 rounds of ammunition, a gun
and = substantial sum in cash. to say
nothing of the influence and security.
Was q good price for a '.tocherless las
s;r." So Grierson got his way and his
wife. Now she was his wife in English
law though he did not know it; but
10 do him justice. he meant honestly
.hv her. and treated her kindly and well.
Al last there came day when the old
g.me of ..traiiing the tail OF my coat
Was played by the government OF India.
flfscially this is known as testing the
,rmper of the tribes;" and II is done
,,v sending parties more or less armed
- ..xisit'' various tribes in q friendly
,r.x The ..tribes" have the same OBJ
sections to being called upon in 2
S~;-ndly way-with . gu1 "a your hand
-that Englishmen have They also get
.,.rmed. then they begin to shoot out
- funk. whereupon they are said to
:. ..uncertain;" an expedition goes
srrth. and ! little more red paint is
!. ssded to. the map of our Indian empire: