1865. Elphinstone obtained much information respecting the Kafirs from
one Mullah Najib in 1809; and Lumsden from a Kafir slave named
Feramory, who was a general in the Afghan service in 1857. Further
particulars will be found in the writings of Burnes, Wood, Masson,
Raverty, Griffith, and Mohun Lal." In recent years, Major Biddulph
entered from Kashmir, through Gilgit, and made his way to Chitral, and
Colonel Tanner advanced from Jalalabad a short distance into
Kafiristan, among a portion of the people who had been converted to
Mahommedanism, but who still retained many of the peculiarities of the
Kafir race. Dr. Leitner had also taken great pains to obtain
information about this ancient and unconquered people but Mr. McNair
was the first European who had ever penetrated into Kafiristan.

Mr. McNair then read as follows:--

In the September number of this Society's "Proceedings," p. 553, under
the heading "An Expedition to Chitral," allusion is made to my being
accompanied by a native explorer known "in the profession" as the
Saiad; it is to this gentleman that I am indebted for the partial
success that attended our undertaking. I say partial advisedly,
inasmuch as the original programme we had marked out, of penetrating
into the heart of Kafiristan, fell through, for reasons that will
appear as I proceed with the narrative.

The Saiad, whose name I need not mention, had been made over to me more
than a year ago by Major Holdich to instruct. This led to a mutual
friendship, and on his explaining to me that he had a plan of getting
into the Kafir country, which was by accompanying Meahs Hosein Shah and
Sahib Gul (who yearly go to Chitral either through Dir or via the Kunar
Valley) as far as Birkot and then following up the Arnawai stream,