4so THE ARMY ON THE MARCH CHAPTER IX THE MARCH INTO SWA1 A FEW miles above Chakdara the Swat Valley, at a place called Landaki, narrows to a remarkable pass, locally known as the l;Gate of Swat." The road. which follows the south or left bank of the mountain rive;' is carried on a causeway built above the water's edge, and in this way works round a long flat-topped spur, which projects from the main chain of the mountains to the riverside,closing the valley like a great rampart. Behind the spur the valley widens again into an expanseof swampy rice fields.

When General Blood advanced he knew that theLandaki spur was held by a body of about 5,000 tribesmen, some armed with rifles, others being fanatic ghazis, armedwith sword or spear.

To rush the spur by a front attack would have meant heavy loss. Blood's plan depended on occupying the enemy's attention in front while the mass ofMeiklejohn's brigade reached a point on the hills from which they could not only threaten the enemy's left flank, but also cut off hisretreat ifhe held on to the spur, for the only wayin which any large body of men could leave it was by the neck that connected it with the mountain chain. If the tribesmen fled by the swampyfields in the valleythey couldonlymove slowly, and would beliable to be cut up by the pursuing cavalry.

According to this plan the West Kent we/e pushed forward to threaten an attack in the front. The}- drove in an advanced post of the enemy, and then the three batteries came into action against the spur, the big shells of the field batteryproducing a markedeffect on theenemy, who retired to their sungars or to the back ot the ridge. Meanwhile Meiklejohn, with his three battalions of Sikhs and Punjaubis, was climbing the hills to the right of the attack, and it was not till his leading regiment had got well up to the level of the point where the spur joined the mountain that the tribesmen perceived the movement and grasped its meaning. Till then they had expected that the British would try to force their way through the narrow pass by the river. Surprised and outmanSuvred, they began to leave the jipitr, and fled alongthe hills ordown its reverse