Evening journal., 1899-08-29
THE GORGE OF SHAME
q Story OF indian Retaliation
Observation-Disclosures aassseSasaS


Indian empire. The Waziris are 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 as "The dead sin no
more"
Ludlow, the doctor, Gordon, my sub
alterne,~and myself We're 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, waa smoking
with us. Ludlow had spent a 13-hour
day trnmping 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 10 fieeting
glimpses OF distant Markhor; but,
somewhat wearily, he told us that lie
had come across the bones Of a woman
in the soft sand under the lee Of a
bowlder at the mouth of a very ugly
gorge; bones curiously shattered
skull, arms, legs, ribs, not a 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"
I looked at the Bakshan Khan. He
blew a slow cloud Of smoke from his
mouth and said: "Years ago" We
pulled ourselves together 10 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 as=i4jb
in command named Grierson. Perhaps
it was IS, perhaps 20, years ago. What
is time to us who only know day and
night, summer and winter? He was
brave man, but reckless. He loved
women too well. He also drank and
smoked very much, but was never a
bit weaker for it. In those days the
caravans passing down had TO fight for
it all the way along the Waziri border,
and il was out in the broad bed of the
Kuch, where the rivers meet, that they
lay safest under the rifles of the little
post, as it then was-only one-third as
big as it is now, and not half as many
men in 1t. Often the party at the post
used to sally out to fire on raiders, and
more often wounded traders used tc
drop in at The post to be healed Of gun.
shot, sword and spear wounds. The
days were by no means dull. To mar
of Grierson's nature life of hard liv-
ing, fighting, drinking and no woman
to cheer him was but fuel TO fire.
Grierson was not a sentimentalist
Many men who mean and do no wrong
to women are not sentimentalists, and
they do not usually make the worst
husbands. One day there had been a
dash on caravan at early dawn and
a pursuit. Grierson had succeeded in
overtaling and shooting a Mahsud
Waziri. who bore away girl on his
camel, and she Kay fainting from It's
fall, for it dropped dead, shot at the
same time as its master. Grierson went
to her aid and found her beautiful.
He brought her back to the caravan
made terms and was married to hei
by the Mohammedan law, and for the
handsome price of a thousand rupee,
in money and kind. 1t was a difficult
matter TO arrange, but in those days
even more than now, might was right
and who could say nay to a man whe
could slay as well as protect? II it hae
pleased ericsson to have her abductet
for him the price would have been less
and, suspicious as all savages are, the
caravan Of Zillah Khel Waziris saw thai
they stood a good chance of greater
security II one of their women was tn,
wife of one of their protectors. BE
sides, the girl was of no consequence
She was an orphan, and the Malils haC
the. legal right TO dispose of her. He
relations were few and poor. foul
guns, 20 rounds of ammunition, a guI
and a substantial sum in cash, to sa,
nothing of the influence and security
was a good price for a "tocherless las
sic" So Grierson got his way and hii
wife, Now she was his wife in Englisl
law, though he did not know it; but
to do him justice, he meant honestly
by her, and treated her kindly and well
At last there came a day when the OLE
game of trailing the tail of my coat
was played by the government Of India
Officially this is known as testing th
temper of the tribes;" and il is don
by sending parties more or less arme'
to visit" various tribes in a friendl.
. way. The "tribes" have the same oh
jections to being called upon in
friendly way-with gun in your han'
; that Englishmen have. They also ge
alarmed, then they begin TO shoot ou
of funk, whereupon they are said u
be ''uncertain;" an expedition goe
forth, and little more red paint i
added 10 the map of our Indian empire
Il was during one Of these episodes tha
Grierson's menage came to the motto
r Of an official Of the austere kind, ant
E Grierson was sent off abruptly to q re
mote part Of the interior Of Panjat
. T.. til r. .~.41. l.sr, fartr,l