ed
to the top of the pass the next morning. This point was 11,000 feet
above the sea, commanded a fine view of the Logar valley, and I
discovered from it that there was nothing between us and the immediate
vicinity of Kabul to prevent a force moving rapidly on that place.

We returned to Alikhel on the 10th, and, as it was important to retain
control of this advanced post, I decided to leave Captain Rennick in
political charge, a duty for which his nerve and determination of
character eminently fitted him. Colonel Waterfield, as a temporary
arrangement, remained there also with a battery of Artillery and two
regiments of Punjab Infantry, for the purpose of establishing friendly
relations with the neighbouring tribesmen.

From Alikhel there were said to be two roads leading to Kuram, besides
the difficult path over the Peiwar Kotal; and as it was of
great importance to gain a knowledge of an alternative line of
communication, in view of further trouble, I determined to explore one
of them, choosing that which appeared to be the shortest, and which I
heard had been used some time before by an Afghan Mountain battery.
This route was described as practicable for camels, and ran through
lands belonging to tribes whose headmen were with me, a fact which
should, I thought, ensure our being free from attack.

I left Alikhel on the 12th December, taking with me No. 1 Mountain
Battery, a wing 72nd Highlanders, the 5th Gurkhas, and the 23rd
Pioneers. The route lay for four miles along the banks of the Hariab
stream, a tributary of the Kuram river, through a valley which
gradually narrowed into a thickly-wooded ravine, three miles long: at
the end of this ravine the road, turning sharply to the left, ascended
till it reached an open grassy plateau, on which stood the hamlet of
Sapari. The inhabitants turned out to welcome us, bringing supplies,
and appearing so friendly that I settled to halt there for the night.
I had been warned, however, by the _maliks_ of some of the villages we
had passed through in the morning, that we should probably be attacked
on the march the next day, and that a defile which lay at the other
side of a mountain over which we had to cross would be particularly
dangerous to us. I determined, therefore, to send on troops that
evening to occupy the pass over this mountain, and to start the
baggage off long before daybreak, so that it should be out of the way
of the main body, which would also have to march