53° CHAPTER XIX.

THE CLOSING OPERATIONS OF THE CAMPAIGN.

known to the enemy. General Symons's column from Forts Jamrud and Ali Musjid, though they did twenty miles of stiff mountain marching, saw neither sheep, cow, nor man belonging to the Afridi tribes. The column from Fort Bara, though it moved straight on to the Kajurai Plain,had the same experience. But the fourth column, supplied by General Westmacott's brigade, met not the cattle but their owners, and had a hard fight at thepas of Shin Kamar.

ON December 31st, on account of the increasing activity of the enemy in tlae Khyber, Sir William Lockhart brought the First Brigade up to Ali Musjid from Fort Jamrud, and sent the 4th Goorkhas -and the 45th Sikhs up the Pass to Lundi Kotal to reinforce General Hammond. As aresult of this display of force things becamequieter in the Khyber,and there were even reports that the ZakkaKhel Afridis wereat last becoming weary of the long campaign, and anxious to get back to their villages before the spring. Thus the first four weeks of the New Year passed,with news of occasional" sniping," and ofattempts to open negotiations with the chiefs. The outlook for peace was consideredhopeful, andit waswith a shock of surprise that at the end of January England heard the news of another disastrous day on the Khyber border. The Second Division, now under the command of Sir Power Palmer,hadbeen resting in its camps at Mamanai andFort Bara. The authoritieshadresolved to use it for araid, the object of which was the capture of a large quantity of sheep and cattle that the Afridis had so far succeeded in keeping outof reach. It wasnowreportedthat sheepand cattleof the tribes who had taken refuge in the rangebetween the Bazar and Bara Valleys were everydaydriven down to pasture on theKajurai Plain, a bit of level ground at the end of the range, and inclosedby its spurs on west,north, and south. They were driven back to their hiding-places each evening. Itwas proposed to march out four columns, two supplied by the Second Divisionand two from the First, on the morning of January 29th. It wascalculated that while three of these columns seized the spurs and passes on the other sides of the Kajurai Plain,the fourth, moving out from Fort Bara, would close its eastern opening, marchon toit, and secure theprize, or as much of it as had not fallen into the hands of the other columns when the herdsmen tried to withdrawit.

The pass leads westward into the hills from the plain, and the column sent to seizeit was commanded by Colonel Seppings,of the Yorkshire LightInfantry. He had with him,besides his own regiment, 200 men of the 36th Sikhs, under Colonel Haughton, and two mountain guns. As the column advanced to seize the pass there was hardly a sign of opposition, only the sight of an Afridi scout moving among the rocks, or an occasional long-ranging shot from the hillside. But the Afridis were playing their usual game. As soon as it was found that the plan of seizing the cattle had come to nothing, and the retirement downthe passbegan,the tribesmen commenced a vigorous attack. Colonel Haughton had gone over the pass with some of his men to examine some caves. He was coming back, but had not yet got over the crest, when by some mistake a picket of the Sikhs,holding a knollcommanding the pass, was withdrawn. Instantly the Afridis seized it. Haughton would have had to pass under their rifles at close range if the knoll were left to them, so two companies of the Yorkshiremen were sent up to recapture it, and did it in fine style, though it was their first day under fire.

But whenthey won theknoll they found that the enemyheld in force a ridge about 150 yards beyond it, from which they poured in a deadly rifle fire. With both their officers down, and severalmen killed and wounded, the Yorkshires faced the fire from the enemy, who was under cover on higher ground. Haughton had now fallen back to the crest of the pass,just below It wassupposed that the secret of the plan was well kept,and that the surprise would be complete. But somehow the plan had become