At 5.30
A.M. the brigade started, and, preceded by the cavalry, marched up the
valley--a long brown stream of men. Arrived nearly at the centre, the
troops closed up into a more compact formation. Then suddenly the head
wheeled to the left, and began marching on the village of Zagai.
Immediately from high up on the face of the mountain a long column of
smoke shot into the air. It was a signal fire. Other hills answered it.
The affair now became a question of time. If the village could be
captured and destroyed before the clans had time to gather, then there
would be little fighting. But if the force were delayed or became
involved, it was impossible to say on what scale the action would be.
The village of Zagai stands in a similar situation to that of Domodoloh.
On either side long spurs advance into the valley, and the houses are
built in terraces on the sides of the hollow so formed. Great chenar
trees, growing in all their luxuriant beauty out of the rocky ground by
the water-course, mark the hillside with a patch of green in contrast to
the background of sombre brown.
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