PREFACE


"According to the fair play of the world,
Let me have an audience."

"King John," Act v., Sc. 2.



On general grounds I deprecate prefaces. I have always thought that if
an author cannot make friends with the reader, and explain his objects,
in two or three hundred pages, he is not likely to do so in fifty
lines. And yet the temptation of speaking a few words behind the
scenes, as it were, is so strong that few writers are able to resist
it. I shall not try.

While I was attached to the Malakand Field Force I wrote a series of
letters for the London Daily Telegraph. The favourable manner in which
these letters were received, encouraged me to attempt a more
substantial work. This volume is the result.

The original letters have been broken up, and I have freely availed
myself of all passages, phrases, and facts, that seemed appropriate.
The views they contained have not been altered, though several opinions
and expressions, which seemed mild in the invigorating atmosphere of a
camp, have been modified, to suit the more temperate climate of peace.

I have to thank many gallant officers for the assistance they have