CHITRAL AND THE N.W. FRONTIER CAMPAIGN 446 moreprisoners. But all things are relative,and among the Indian hills, where the very existence of our dominion over the frontier tribes depends on the prestige of an unbroken career of victory, even local failure is a serious event. The memory of even the smallest defeat must, therefore, be blotted out by prompt and overwhelming success. Happily, the turn of the tide was now at hand.

Up to the last moment it had been hoped that Robertson, whose knowledge of the tribes of the district was unrivalled and who possessed great influence over them, would beable to find a pacific solution for the tangled affairs of the ChitralValley. When rumours arrived that he was besieged in the fort and reports from Gilgit told of the disasters on the mountain road between that place and Chitral, preparations quietly began for a frontier war on a large scale The Indian military authorities had lately completed a mobilisation system by which transport andsupplies for a division could be veryrapidly assembled. These preliminaries werecomplete-el almost before the public were aware that anything exceptional was in progress. The preparations began in the first week of March. By the middle of the month all the necessary preliminary arrangements had been made, and the officers appointed to posts on the staff of the regiments detailed for service on the frontier were warned to be ready. It was not till March 18th that the press wasinformed that the Chitral Relief Force was assembling for active aperationson theNorth-Western Frontier THE N.W. FRONTIER CAMPAIGN: CAPTURING A VILLAGE.