Peshawur and the Khybcr Pass 59 



thousand ponies in a week ; half of them were in a 

 wretched state to start with, and quite unfit to with- 

 stand the cold they encountered. The camels could 

 get no proper food up among the mountains, and 

 they succumbed in hundreds. We passed many of 

 them, their loads having been removed, left to die 

 by the roadside. 



But to return to Jamrud : it stands at the foot of 

 the mountains which surround the plain of Peshawur, a 

 sort of initial letter at the entrance to the Khyber Pass. 



We were met by Major Cooke-Collis, and taken 

 over the fort, which is itself actually in Afridi 

 country by three miles. Here the unfortunate 4th 

 Dragoon Guards had sweltered all the preceding 

 summer and autumn months, in a spot which is 

 literally nothing but rocks and stones, off which, 

 like so much fire-brick, the sun must blaze. On the 

 walls of the mess-room the black-and-white drawings 

 from " Alice in Wonderland " are excellent, and must 

 have successfully whiled away somebody's time. 



We had, however, little time to spend in admiration, 

 for no one was allowed in the pass after 3.30 p.m. It 

 was not long since Sir Havelock Allen, wandering 

 off it by himself, was shot, a short distance from the 

 road, by the Afridis : we were the first women who 

 had been up at all since the war broke out. 



As we trotted off from Jamrud, our escort from 

 the 9th Bengal Cavalry joined us, four in front, one 

 on either side of our cart, and six behind, all jingling 

 along together. 



