to this day. In the hot weather they sojourn in Afghan Khorasan, and every autumn fight their way down through the passes into India through Dera Ismail Khán, bringing with them the products of their own hills – grapes, almonds, dried fruits, dye materials, drugs, &c. They leave their women, children, and she-camels in the different grazing tracts, both cis- and trans-Indus, and carry their merchandise all over India. As the spring advances, they return as they came, taking back with them Manchester and Indian made piece-goods, tea, &c. The Nasars were then daily streaming down through the Gomal Pass into the district. They are very independent men, will not tolerate bullying, and will only work for others, no matter what the pecuniary inducement, when so inclined. An attempt four and a half years before to coerce them into hiring and selling their camels to Government for service during the late Afghan war had caused a riot, in which a brother of their chief was killed, and had all but driven them into joining the Mahsuds and our own rebellious subjects in the disturbances then occurring. The great advantage of using Nasar camels as carriage lay in the fact that their usually spongy feet were hardened by years of hill-climbing, and that their owners were armed men, accustomed to hold their own against all comers. Amongst disadvantages was their excessive independence and touchiness, and the doubt whether their she-camels, many of them great with young, could endure the wear and tear of hill-climbing over sharp limestone rocks, each carrying nearly 400 lb. of supplies on her back. There was no hope that the Nasars would be willing to hire out their male camels on any terms, as all such, heavily loaded with the produce of Khorasan, were being hurried on to one or other of the Indian markets. As to plain-camels, male and female, their feet would be too soft for the rough work which had to be done. Thus it was I had to fall back on female hill-camels, provided the owners would readily come to terms with me. Horsemen had been sent round to the different Nasar camps in the district to summon the headman of each to Dràband. Though, like all Afghans, stern republicans in principle, the dangers of their annual march to and from India, through the lands of hostile tribes, compel each section to adopt a rude discipline and obey the man whom the common voice affirms to be the bravest and ablest leader. It is thus easier to deal with Nasars than with most independent Afghans. Their chiefs responded promptly to the summons. Their greatest chief was named Abdullah Khán, the grandson of a leader who, thirty-six years before, after defying the Sikhs for years, fought the late Colonel Sir Herbert (then Lieutenant) Edwardes close to that very place. This Abdullah Khán's brother had been killed there, as already mentioned, four and a half years before. Abdullah Khán himself had been since treated with a certain amount of suspicion. To gain him over was a necessity. I determined to treat him frankly, – told him the strait I was in, and that I expected he would do his best to help, so that bygones might be forgotten; and, "what is more," I said, "let your clan do their work well, and I'll introduce you to the Lord Sahib (Lieutenant-Governor), and get you a dress of honour, and, still greater honour – a chair."
The man's handsome Jewish fea-
