re some whose names have occurred
previously in these pages--Major Beatson, Major Hobday, and Lord
Fincastle. A squadron of the 11th Bengal Lancers acted as escort.

The valley of the Jandul is about eight miles long and perhaps half as
broad. It opens out of the main valley, which extends from the Panjkora
to Nawagai, and is on all other sides surrounded by high and precipitous
mountains. The bed of the river, although at the time of our visit
occupied only by a small stream, is nearly half a mile broad and
bordered by rice fields, to which the water is conducted by many
artfully contrived dykes and conduits. The plain itself is arid and
sandy, but at the winter season yields a moderate crop. The presence of
water below the surface is attested by numerous groves of chenar trees.

This valley may, in natural and political features, be taken as typical
of the Afghan valleys. Seven separate castles formed the strongholds of
seven separate khans. Some of these potentates had been implicated in
the attack on the Malakand, and our visit to their fastnesses was not
wholly of an amicable nature. They had all four days before been
bound by the most sacred oaths to fight to the death. The great tribal
combination had, however, broken up, and at the last moment they had
decided upon peace. But the Pathan does nothing by halves. No black
looks, no sullen reserve, marred the geniality of their welcome. As we
approached the first fortified village the sovereign and his army rode
out to meet us, and with many protestations of fidelity, expressed his
joy at our safe arrival. He was a fine-looking man and sat well on a
stamping roan stallion. His dress was imposing. A waistcoat of gorgeous
crimson, thickly covered with gold lace, displayed flowing sleeves of
white linen, buttoned at the wrist. Long, loose, baggy, linen trousers,
also fastened above the ankle, and curiously pointed shoes clothed his
nether limbs. This striking costume was completed by a small skull-cap,
richly embroidered, and an ornamental sabre.

He sprang from his horse with grace and agility, to offer his sword to
Major Deane, who bade him mount and ride with him. The army, four or
five rascally-looking men on shaggy ponies, and armed with rifles of
widely different patterns, followed at a distance. The fort was an
enclosure about a hundred yards square. Its walls were perhaps twenty
feet high and built of rough stones plastered together with mud and
interspersed