A BORDER FIGHT 167 



knocked down the first man they saw, and only 

 released him when Mr. Christie confronted them 

 with a revolver. They then apologised for attack- 

 ing a foreigner and rode away! Another adven- 

 ture which might have terminated very un- 

 pleasantly befell him shortly after he first came 

 to Choni. His business took him to a town a 

 hundred and fifty miles to the north which it was 

 important he should reach quickly. Thirty K 

 from his destination lay a valley. Seven years 

 before the inhabitants of the upper portion had 

 stolen a goat from those who lived at the lower 

 end. They had stopped on their way home, not 

 fearing any pursuit, when just as they had killed 

 the goat and were eating it the real owners 

 suddenly appeared on the scene. One of the 

 raiders was killed in the encounter which fol- 

 lowed, and the feud was kept up. On reaching 

 this place Mr. Christie found that a fight was 

 in progress. He knew the combatants, and on 

 reaching their outskirts, called one of the men and 

 asked if he could get through. The road ran 

 beside a little river from which rose a succession 

 of terraced fields, among which the fighting was 

 going on. The inhabitants of the lower end of 

 the valley seemed to be getting rather the best 

 of it, but, hearing that Mr. Christie was in a hurry, 

 they agreed to cease fire whilst he went through 

 the lines. Accordingly they shouted across to their 

 enemies, who hoisted a pole with a white flag at 

 the end. 



" Now gallop ! " they cried to Mr. Christie, who, 

 with his two followers, dashed down the valley. As 

 they did so the men from the upper end of the 



