llop, extending into a long line
as they did so. Again the enemy opened fire, and again the dusty ground
showed that the bullets were well directed. Again, however, nobody was
hurt, and the sowars reached the hollow, laughing and talking in high
glee. The morning's skirmish had, nevertheless, cost the squadron a man
and a horse, both severely wounded.

Such affairs as these were of almost daily occurrence during the time
that the 2nd Brigade occupied the camp at Inayat Kila. They were of the
greatest value in training the soldiers. The Guides Cavalry know all
there is to know of frontier war, but there are many other regiments who
would be made infinitely more powerful fighting organisations if they
were afforded the opportunity for such experience.

The great feature which the war of 1897 on the Indian Frontier has
displayed is the extraordinary value of cavalry. At Shabkadr a charge
of the 13th Bengal Lancers was more than successful. In the Swat Valley,
during the relief of Chakdara, the Guides Cavalry and 11th Bengal
Lancers inflicted the most terrible loss on the enemy. To quote the
words of Sir Bindon Blood's official report to the Adjutant-General,
these regiments, "eager for vengeance, pursued, cut up and speared
them in every direction, leaving their bodies thickly strewn over the
fields." Again, after the action of Landakai, the cavalry made a most
vigorous pursuit and killed large numbers of the enemy. While I was with
the Malakand Field Force, I was a witness of the constant employment
of the cavalry, and was several times informed by general officers that
they would gladly have a larger number at their disposal. The reader may
recall some of the numerous instances which these pages have recorded of
cavalry work. On the morning of the 15th September, it was the cavalry
who were able to catch up the enemy before they could reach the hills,
and take some revenge for the losses of the night. In the action of the
16th, the charge of Captain Cole's squadron brought the whole attack
of the enemy to a standstill, and enabled the infantry by their fire to
convert the hesitation of the tribesmen into a retreat. Indeed, in every
fight in the Mamund Valley, the cavalry were the first in, and the last
out. In the official despatches Sir Bindon Blood thus alludes to the
work of the cavalry:--"I would now wish to invite attention to the
invaluable nature of the services rendered by the cavalry. At Nawagai,
three squadron