CHITRAL AND THE N.W. FRONTIER CAMPAIGN. 526 Jamrud theother column hadalso been engaged with tlae enemy,and had lost twelve men. On December 30th the whole division had again assembled at the mouth of the Khyber Pass. The Christmas week campaign 'in the Bazar Valley, from which so much had been expected, had,on the whole,been a disappointingbusiness. Ithad been expected that the Afridis would be met-in force in this their winter home, that they would be forced to give battle, and would suffer a defeat that would at last induce them to sue for terms. But no large force of the enemy the Khyber to reoccupy the fort at Lundi Kotal, the crest of the Pass. Lundi Kotal had been capturedby the Afridis,andhad thus been in the possession of the enemy for four clear months, during which all the trade of the Khyber had been at a standstill. During this time thousands of tons of goods, including machinery and material for the Amir's arsenals at Kabul, had been accumulating at Peshawur. It is difficult to understand why so important a highway of trade was left so long in undisputed possession of a revolted tribe. Outspoken critics MAP OF THE KHYBER I'ASS, SHOWING THE BORDER FORTS NEAR TESHAWUR.

hadbeen encountered. They had avoidedanything like an engagementin tlae open, and had withdrawnbefore the advance only to harass the retreat up to the very entrances of the valley. Their village towers had been destroyed, but they had succeeded inhiding their stores in the mountain caves, andhad kept their cattle out of the reach of tlae invaders. At the end of a weekof desultory skirmishes they wereasdefiant and as full of fight as ever.

have not hesitated to denounce the fact as a lasting disgrace to the Indian Government, entailing a permanent loss of prestige on the frontier. Now at last, when the column moved up the Pass in battle array, it was found that there wasno enemy to dispute possession. The tribesmen had plundered and burned the buildings of Lundi Kotal, and then abandoned the ruins. Only the blackened walls werestanding. The roofs andevery bit of woodwork weregone. Some empty ammunitionboxeswere found near the fort. The house of Captain Barton, the political officer in charge of the Khyber, was a roofless ruin. Some of his papers and a few pieces offurniture werefoundhereand there by parties which visited theneighbouring mountain villages. But all tlaebest of tlae loot had been carried away to a safe distance.

While tlae First Division had been making thisraidintotlaeBazarValley,General Hammond with the Peshawur column haelbeen completing the reoccupation of tlae Khyber Pass. After protecting the flank of General Symons's advance over the Alachi Pass on Christmas Day, Hammond returned toFort Ali Musjid, and on the next day (December 26th) he marched up