188 Dr. Jameson's reports [No. 135. 



About six o'clock on the evening of the 6th, Duria Khan, one of the 

 Afreedi chiefs in the pay of General Avitabile, arrived in company with 

 Ibrahim Khan, retainer of Shahzada Houssum Khan, a brother of Dost 

 Mahomed, and pensioner of the Sikh Government. They visited me with 

 Alif Shah and delivered a note from Captain Mackeson, intimating that 

 they had been sent by General Avitabile to conduct me by the direct 

 route to Peshawur. With the former there were 50 followers armed 

 with jezails, and at their urgent request I delayed my departure till the 

 8th. In regard to the directed route, they stated that it was perfectly 

 safe. 



8. On the evening of the 7th I received another letter from Captain 

 Mackeson, advising me not to put too much faith in Duria Khan, and 

 that unless the Cohat authorities, as also the Lahore agent, agreed on 

 the practicability of the water, not to proceed by it. On the receipt of 

 this note I sent for Alif Shah, and explained its contents, and also men- 

 tioned that Captain Mackeson had sent a Persian letter for Seyed 

 Kasim Khan, requesting him to give me every assistance, which I had 

 transmitted to him through Futteh Khan. He then left me, and returned 

 again in about half an hour, and stated that there would be no annoyance 

 whatever en route, as all the chiefs were to accompany me across 

 the Pass ; that the letter sent by Captain Mackeson was not for Seyed 

 Kasim Khan, but for Aga Medi Khan, and that all would be ready 

 to move at day-break next morning. Futteh Khan afterwards waited 

 on me and reiterated the words of Alif Shah. 



9. Early next morning (8th) I commenced my march, accompanied 

 by the chiefs (Futteh Khan, Aga Medi Khan, Duria Khan and Ibrahim 

 Khan) with their followers. 



The Pass formed by the Teera or Khyber range of mountains, which 

 separates the Peshawur from the Cohat vallies, is about two coss distant 

 from the town, and rises to a height of upwards of a thousand feet ; its 

 entrance, between two lateral or subordinate ranges, is protected by a 

 small mud fort garrisoned by Futteh Khan's sepoys. Here I was re- 

 quested to remain ; a sepoy, who had gone on to reconnoitre, having 

 reported that a large body of men, amounting to several hundred, 

 had assembled at the summit of the Pass, and that it was their intention 

 to dispute our passage ; the alarm was given, and the party of the chiefs, 

 amounting to nearly two hundred horse and foot, was joined by 



