It was the
Watelai, or as we got to call it later--the Mamund Valley.
The Khan of Khar met the general on the farther bank of the river. He
was a tall, fine-looking man with bright eyes, bushy black whiskers and
white teeth, which his frequent smiles displayed. He was richly dressed,
attended by a dozen horsemen and mounted on a handsome, though vicious
dun horse. He saluted Sir Bindon Blood with great respect and ceremony.
Some conversation took place, conducted, as the khan only spoke Pushtu,
through the political officer. The khan asserted his loyalty and that of
his neighbour the Khan of Jar. He would, he said, do his utmost to
secure the peaceful passage of the troops. Such supplies as they might
need, he would provide, as far as his resources would go. He looked with
some alarm at the long lines of marching men and animals. The general
reassured him. If the forces were not interfered with or opposed, if the
camps were not fired into at night, if stragglers were not cut off and
cut up by his people, payment in cash would be made for all the grain
and wood it was necessary to requisition.
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