Evening journal., 1899-08-17
THE GORGE OF SHAME
A story OF Indian Retaliation


OF cdullNls LOT lut Ndlc Is BIeWSOlne.
It is a story from life, a reminiscence
Of the early colonial days, and forms
one of a series of tales illustrating the
march Of British power in the East
Indian empire. The Waziris are a tribe
inhabiting Afghanistan, which was
transferred to the British in 1894.
In their manner Of dealing with the
woman question the W6zirLs are old
fashioned. With them, above all peo-
Piles, chastity is the virtue Of woman,
courage Of the man. There is no place
among than for the wanton or the
coward; and the expression Of pubtc
opHiion seems to be founded on seine
such maxim as "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 cbmbed
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 feeting
glimpses Of distant Marlrhor; but,
somewhat YEARLY, he told us that he
had come across the bones Of woman
in the soft sand under the lee Of q
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
nsthing, only that the gorge was called
"The Gorge of Shame"
looked at the Dakshan Khan. he
blew a slow cloud of smoke from hs
mouth and said. ''Years ago" We
pulled ourselves together 10 listen, for
we always listened to BalSshan Khan,
and he told us the story Of Grierson.
Years ago, when the post was first
held by the English, there was a sahib
in command named Grierson. Perhaps
it was IS, perhaps 20, years ago. What
is tine 10 us who only know day and
night, summer and winter?" He was
brave nan, but reckless. He loved
Women too we'll He also drank and
smoked very much, but was never q
hit weaker for it. In those days the
caravans passing down had to fight foi
it all the wsY along the Waziri border
and il was out ia the broad bed of th'
! Kuch, where the rivers meet, thatrihe.
lay safest under the rifles OF the littli
, post, as Il then was-onF one-fhird al
, big as il is now, and not half as maH,
men in it. Often the party at the pos
-, used to sally out to'fire on raiders, ant
z more often wounded traders ussd 1
drop in at the post to be healed Of gun
shot, sword and spear wounds. Tn
days were by no means dun. To ma
of Grierson's nature a life of hard liz
] ing, fighting, drinking and no womai
r. to ehoer him was but fuel to fire.
Grierson was not a sentimentalisi
= Many men who mean and do no wroni
to women are not sentimentalists, an
they do not usually make the wors
husbands. One day there had been
dash on q caravan at early dawn an
a pursuit. Grierson had succeeded IL
overtaldng ara shooting a Mabsn
: Waziri, who bore away q girl on hi
camel, and she lay fainting from il
fall, for it dropped dead, shot al th
same time as its master. Grierson wen
e to her aid and found her beautiful.
o He brought her back to the caravan
: made terms and was married to he
G by the Mohammedan law, and for III
+ handsome price of thousand ruPes
T in money and kind. 1t was a diilicul
d matter to arrange, but in those day
L even more than now, might was righ
: and who could say nay TO man VIII
n could slay as well as protect? fit hs
r pleased Grierson to have her abducte
Y Tor him the pnfce would have been less
S and, suspicious as all savages are, th
IS caravan of Zillah IIhel Waziris saw tha
2 they stood a good chaace OF create
10 security II one of their women was tn
J. wife of one of their protectors. b
IS sides, the girl was of no consequence
e She was an orphan, and the Malik ha
2 the legal right to dispose of her. He
= relations were few and poor. For
p guns, 20 rounds of ammunition, gu
le and a substantial sum in cash, to sa
q nothing Of the influence and seeurit
d, was a good price for a "tocherless la
le sie." So Grierson got his way and b
w wife. Now she was his wife in Englis
is law, though he did not know it; bu
J. to do him justice, he meant honestl
p. by her, and treated her kindly and we
Il At last there came a day when the o
rs game of trailing the tail of my coar
was played 10y the government Of lndi
Officially this is known as testing Il
temper of the tribes;" and it is doi
n b. sending parties more or less acm'
n to visit various tribes in friend
is way. The "tribes" have the same o
el jections to being called upon in
s. friendly way-with a gun in your haI
n that Englishmen have. They also g
he alarmed, then they begin TO shoot o
at of funk. whereupon they are said
~ be 'uncertain;" an expedition go
by forth. and n little more red paint
= added to the map Of our Indian empir
j: II was during one Of these episodes tn
ep Grierson's menage came to the noti
IS of an Official of the austere kind. al