AFGHANISTAN. 



preparations of a rough nature had been made 

 to stand a siege, when the news of the skir- 

 mish at Tuk-i-Put caused an entire change of 

 plans. 



General Roberts, after annexing the Kuram 

 Valley, advanced into the Khost Valley, in an 

 endeavor to make a new route into Afghanis- 

 tan. At Bukk, the governor of the province 

 sent in an officer to announce his surrender. 

 At Yakubi, which General Roberts reached 

 January 6th, the deputy-governor of Khost 

 came to pay his respects to the British com- 

 mander, and transferred to him the forts 

 and records. Notwithstanding these favorable 

 signs, his force was in a critical position. 

 Large numbers of Mangals were hovering 

 around the camps in a threatening manner, 

 and the men were obliged to sleep on their 

 arms. On the 7th, in anticipation of an attack 

 in the night, General Roberts went out against 

 the Mangals, and defeated them after a brisk 

 action. A reconnaissance was made of the 

 southern and western extremities of the val- 

 ley, and a promise was gained from the people 

 that they would not give the British any 

 trouble. The Mangals, however, continued to 

 maintain a threatening attitude, and a return 

 to the Kuram Valley was decided upon. Be- 

 fore leaving Khost, General Roberts called the 

 chiefs of the valley to a durbar at Matoond 



January 22d. Announcing to them his in- 

 tended withdrawal, he pointed out to them 

 that the British arms had been successful 

 everywhere, that resistance to its progress was 

 hopeless, that neither Shere Ali nor Yakoob 

 Khan could reign at Cabool unless he accepted 

 the British terms, and that it was idle to enter- 

 tain any hope of Russian assistance. On the 

 next day he marched to Subbery, twelve 

 miles distant, leaving Sultan Jan as the British 

 representative at Matoond. On the following 

 day news arrived that the Mangals were 

 threatening the fort. A force was dispatched 

 back to Matoond, who found the hills swarm- 

 ing with Afghans. General Roberts rescued 

 his representative, stripped the fort, burned 

 the stores, and marched . back to his camp, 

 allowing it to be announced that he had aban- 

 doned Khost for the present, convinced that 

 similar disturbances would be incessant. Wali 

 Mahomed, a half brother of Shere Ali, ten- 

 dered his submission, and was received by Gen- 

 eral Roberts at a durbar held for the purpose. 

 While these movements were going on, a 

 band of Mazud Waziris, a tribe who did not 

 acknowledge the rule of the Ameer, made an 

 incursion into British territory, and plundered 

 and burned the frontier town of Tank. Reen- 

 forcements were sent to the neighborhood to 

 prevent a repetition of the outrage, who made 



