228 An account of Upper and Lower Suwdt. [No. 3, 



village of Prrang I purchased three quires of English paper, as re- 

 quested by him, which I made over to Shahbaz Khan to have the 

 manuscripts of the poem of Khusrau aud Shirin copied thereon by 

 the time I returned. The next stage brought us to Jamal Grarraey 

 the residence of Muhammad Afzal Khan, Khattak. On the 17th 

 August, we proceeded by way of the mountain of Chfcharr, and the 

 village of Kattlang, which I visited with you when the 3rd Bombay 

 N. I. was here with Colonel Bradshaw's force, in December, 1849. 

 We halted at the village of Kuhai, a short distance in advance, 

 for the night ; and the Khan Sahib sent for the Malik, or head 

 man of the village, to ask his advice as to our entering Suwat, which, 

 as you are well aware, is difficult at all times, but more particularly so 

 for one, like myself, who am a Mughal, not an Afghan. Malik 

 Muhammad iEali said, that the matter would not be a very difficult 

 one, if Amir-ullah Khan, chief of Pala'i, should consent to allow us 

 to proceed by that route, otherwise it would be difficult indeed. 

 At length it was determined, that in the first place, Muhammad iEali 

 should go to Amir-ullah Khan, and speak to him on the subject ; 

 and in case he should agree to receive us, to bring us his reply 

 accordingly. He set out ; and in due course brought us a reply 

 from the chief of Pala'i to the effect, that at the present time, there 

 was continual skirmishing going on between himself and Khurasan 

 Khan of Shir-khana'i and Zor-mandda'i, two villages higher up the 

 valley. You will doubtless recollect also, that these were the self- 

 same villages which were burnt by the force under Colonel Brad- 

 shaw before referred to; and it was on the hills, to the north of these 

 villages, that the large force of Afghans were assembled on that 

 memorable night when you commanded the outlying Picket of the 

 3rd Regiment, when you heard the Afghans in front — to get a sight 

 of whom you had gone in advance of your centries, with a simple 

 sepoy — exclaiming in Pushto, that " all the Farangi dogs were asleep," 

 and that it was a favorable time to come on, not knowing that a 

 hot reception was awaiting them. To return, however, to the 

 message from the Pala'i chief, he said, that in consequence of the 

 disagreement between himself and Khurasan Khan, there were 

 also disturbances at Tarmah, the chief town of this part of Sviwut, 

 to the Khans, or chiefs of which they were both related, and who 

 were, themselves, at enmity with each other ; and on this account 



