8th Dogras . . .. 2
Total casualties, 16.

I shall make the reader no apology for having described at such length,
what was after all only a skirmish. The picture of the war on the
frontier is essentially one of detail, and it is by the study of the
details alone that a true impression can be obtained.

On the 22nd and 23rd the villages of Dag and Tangi were respectively
captured and destroyed, but as the resistance was slight and the
operations were unmarked by any new features, I shall not weary the
reader by further description. The casualties were:--

BRITISH OFFICER.
Wounded--Major S. Moody, the Buffs.

NATIVE RANKS.
Killed. Wounded.
Guides Infantry. . . 1 2
38th Dogras. . . . 0 2

By these operations the tribesmen of the Mamund Valley had been severely
punished. Any exultation which they might have felt over the action of
the 16th was completely effaced. The brigade had demonstrated its power
to take and burn any village that might be selected, and had inflicted
severe loss on all who attempted to impede its action. The tribesmen
were now thoroughly disheartened, and on the 21st began to sue for
peace.

The situation was, however, complicated by the proximity of the Afghan
frontier. The western side of the Mamund Valley is bounded by the
mountains of the Hindu Raj range, along the summits of which is the
Durand line of demarcation with the Amir. On the farther side of this
range Gholam Hyder, the Afghan commander-in-chief, lay with a powerful
force, which, at the time of the actions I have described, amounted to
nine battalions, six squadrons and fourteen mountain guns. During the
attack upon Zagai, numerous figures in khaki uniform had been observed
on the higher slopes of the hills, and it was alleged that one
particular group appeared to be directing the movements of the
tribesmen. At any rate, I cannot doubt, nor did any one who was present
during the fighting in the Mamund Valley, that the natives were aided by
regular soldiers from the Afghan army, and to a greater extent by Afghan
tribesmen, not only by the supply of arms and ammunition but by actual
intervention.

I am not in possession of sufficient evidence to pronounce on the
question of the Amir's complicity in the frontier risings. It is
certain, that for many years the Afghan policy has consistently been to
collect and preserve a