50 
INDIA 
species ranged so far north. A strange-looking long-nosed Grass¬ 
hopper, Tryxalis nasuta, Linn., seemed well adapted to its stony 
desert surroundings. 
From Peshawar my most interesting expedition, from every 
point of view, was to Ali Musjid in the Khaibar Pass. This tiny 
white building, said to be the first Musjid (Mosque) erected in India 
by the invading hordes of Mohammedan conquerors, stands in the 
middle of the valley about 2400 ft. above sea level. 
On either side are the forbidding crags which Pollock’s infantry 
surmounted in 1842, and so forced the pass, making the relief of 
the gallant Sale a comparatively easy matter. In front, perched 
high aloft on a hill that seems to close the valley, is the fort which 
Sam Browne reduced with his 40-pounders in 1878. Naturally we 
longed to go further, to see what there might be beyond that turn 
of the road where the valley narrows to a gorge. However I had 
not gone ten yards when the ringing voice of a sentry on the rocks 
to the right made me hesitate; the next moment an orderly ran down 
and exhibited a board whereon were written in diverse tongues the 
most peremptory orders against moving one step beyond the Musjid. 
It was hot and glaring. My daughter sat down to sketch. A few 
yards on the other side of the sacred enclosure was a green patch of 
vegetation beside the small stream which, clear as crystal, was full 
of frogs and tiny fish, and its banks fringed with a profusion of a 
species of Mint over which many butterflies were sporting. It was 
with difficulty that I persuaded the soldier to let me traverse those 
few yards; however, by letting him see me catch a butterfly, and 
letting him smell the cyanide bottle, he was somewhat pacified. I 
could not speak Pushtu, nor even Hindustani, so was probably a 
Bussian spy. Soon other sipahis came down: each one insisted on 
smelling the bottle in turn: each saw a butterfly succumb to the 
fumes, and to each I tried to explain that the bottle would kill any¬ 
thing, even a Busski! To each the process of papering was demon¬ 
strated. The result was that I was permitted to move on perhaps 
100 yards, and then they got quite excited at the chase. Soon a 
number of them indicated by signs a desire to be photographed. 
They stood in a row, and when all was ready I gave the word 
“ ’ten-shun! ” They instantly sprang up. I pressed the button, 
and then said, “ Stand at—ease. Stand easy.” They were obviously 
delighted-—saying “ Achchha ” (good). Then the word was passed 
round that I knew the words of command and was therefore a pakka 
Sahib, and no Busski. Presently I had to photograph another group, 
and they finally insisted on my writing down all their names and 
