he brown-clad armed men. I can never doubt
which is the right end to be at. It is better to be making the news than
taking it; to be an actor rather than a critic.

To cross the bridge, it was necessary to dismount and lead the horses
over in single file. Even then the swinging of the whole structure made
it difficult to walk. The passage of the transport under such conditions
occupied all the day, and the unfortunate officers in charge of the mule
trains were working incessantly. The staff passed quickly, however, and
riding on about a mile forded the tributary stream of the Jandol,
and reached the camp at Kotkai about noon. Thence we proceeded on the
following day to Ghosam, but as the road is uninteresting, and I am
beginning to think the reader will readily excuse further description,
we need not toil along it in the dust and the heat. The narration of the
daily movements of troops, unmarked by variety of incident, is dull and
wearying. Yet he who would obtain a true idea of the soldier's life on
service, must mentally share the fatigues of the march and the monotony
of the camp. The fine deeds, the thrilling moments of war, are but the
high lights in a picture, of which the background is routine, hard work,
and discomfort.

At Ghosam the 2nd Brigade remained until joined by the 3rd and pending
negotiations between the political officers and the tribal Jirgahs.

The use of purely local terms in all writing is to be deprecated.
Perhaps the reason that no popular history of India exists, is to
be found in the outlandish names of the characters, and the other
expressions with which the pages are sprinkled. In this account I have
zealously tried to avoid the ugly jargon of a degraded language, and to
minimise the use of native names. The term just employed has, however,
been so freely used in the newspapers recently, that it is perhaps as
well to explain its meaning. A Jirgah is a deputation of tribesmen. It
does not necessarily represent the tribe. It may present--and very often
does--a minority report. Occasionally it expresses the opinion only of
its own members. What has been settled one day is therefore very often
overruled the next. The Jirgah may accept terms of peace in the morning,
and the camp may be rushed that night. These were, however, genuine,
and spoke in the name and with the authority of the tribes. All day they
kept arriving and squatting in rows before Major Deane's tent, to hear
the Government ter