The tribesmen, however, had not been sufficiently punished to prevent a repetition of the attack, probably with largely increased numbers; so I ordered the destruction of the hamlets nearest us, in which they had been sheltered and some of our camp followers had been murdered.

The next night a most unfortunate occurrence took place, resulting in the death of six of our prisoners; but it was just one of those things which could hardly have been foreseen or guarded against, and for which, however lamentable, no one was to blame.  The headmen of the particular Waziri tribe to which the captives belonged had been summoned during the day, and told that the men would be released on payment of a sum of fifty rupees each.  The money was paid down at once for a certain number, who were immediately set free; but there was not quite enough for all, and the headmen went off to procure what was required for the ransom of the remainder.  Soon after dark, however, some of the enemy[5] were discovered creeping up the banks of a nulla at the back of the camp, where the unransomed men were detained under a guard; the nearest sentry instantly fired, and the piquets all round took up the firing, thinking that another attack on the camp had commenced.  At the sound of the first shot the prisoners all jumped to their feet, and calling to each other to escape, attempted to seize the rifles belonging to the guard, upon which the Native officer in command (a Pathan like themselves) told them that if they persisted in trying to escape, they would be shot.  His words had no effect, and to prevent his men being overpowered, he gave the order to fire.  Six of the prisoners were killed and thirteen wounded.  It was a most regrettable affair, but a Court of Inquiry decided that the Native officer had no option, and completely exonerated the guard from acting with undue severity.  The wounded were, of course, taken to our hospital, and well cared for by our Doctors.[6]

The remainder of our sojourn in Khost was not marked by any incident of particular interest.  We marched to the end of the valley, and made a careful survey of it and of the surrounding hills.

The instructions I received with regard to Khost were, to occupy the valley and dislodge the Afghan administration therefrom.  To my great chagrin, the smallness of my force made it impossible for me to give effect to these instructions as I could have wished.  To have remained in Khost under the circumstances would have been to court disaster; the numbers of the enemy were daily increasing, and it would have been impossible to hold our own.  It was, however, of great importance, if practicable, to retain some control over the valley, a peculiarly productive district, which, if left alone by us, I feared would become a centre of dangerous intrigue against any settled government in Kuram.  Accordingly I determined to try how placing Khost in charge of one of our own Native officials would answer, and I selected for the