We are at present engaged in building a branch dispensary at Thal, a place on the extreme border mentioned several times in the text, where the medical mission will have a profound influence on the trans-border tribes, as well as on those in British India. This will be known as the "Lord Roberts Hospital," as that place was at one time of the 1879-80 campaign the headquarters of his column. The Author's profits on the sale of this book will be entirely devoted to the building of the hospital, and carrying on of the medical mission work at Thal. T. L. PENNELL. P. and O. s.s. "China," Gulf of Suez, September 24, 1908. CONTENTS Chapter I The Afghan Character Pages Paradoxical--Ideas of honour--Blood-feuds--A sister's revenge--The story of an outlaw--Taken by assault--A jirgah and its unexpected termination--Bluff--An attempt at kidnapping--Hospitality--A midnight meal--An ungrateful patient--A robber's death--An Afghan dance--A village warfare--An officer's escape--Cousins 17-30 Chapter II Afghan Traditions Israelitish origin of the Afghans--Jewish practices--Shepherd tradition of the Wazirs--Afridis and their saint--The zyarat, or shrine--Graveyards--Custom of burial--Graves of holy men--Charms and amulets--The medical practice of a faqir--Native remedies--First aid to the wounded--Purges and blood-letting--Tooth extraction--Smallpox 31-43 Chapter III Border Warriors Peiwar Kotal--The Kurram Valley--The Bannu Oasis--Independent tribes--The Durand line--The indispensable Hindu--A lawsuit and its sequel--A Hindu outwits a Muhammadan--The scope of the missionary 44-53 Chapter IV A Frontier Valley Description of the Kurram Valley--Shiahs and Sunnis--Favourable reception of Christianity--Independent areas--A candid reply--Proverbial disunion of the Afghans--The two policies--Sir Robert Sandeman--Lord Curzon creates the North-West Frontier Province--Frontier wars--The vicious circle--Two flaws the natives see in British rule: the usurer, delayed justice--Personal influence 54-67 Chapter V The Christian's Revenge Police posts versus dispensaries--The poisoning scare--A native doctor's influence--Wazir marauders spare the mission hospital--A terrible revenge--The Conolly bed--A political mission--A treacherous King--Imprisonment in Bukhara--The Prayer-Book--Martyrdom--The sequel--Influence of the mission hospital--The medical missionary's passport 68-77 Chapter VI A Day in the Wards