On the 17th August, definite information reached Peshawar from the Khyber that an Afridi force, reported 10,000 strong, had left Bagh in Tirah on the 16th, with the intention of attacking the Khyber posts on the 18th. Both the General Officer commanding and the Commissioner of Peshawar decided against any occupation of the Khyber forts by regular troops, for the reason that such a course would imply distrust of the tribesmen holding to their treaty obligations. This decision, and the resultant abandonment of the Khyber, and the failure to support the Khyber Rifles holding its different posts, have been widely criticised and greatly condemned. Holdich says: “But, alas! whilst the Afridi fought for us, we failed to fight for ourselves; 9500 troops about the Peshawar frontier looked on, whilst 500 Afridis maintained British honour in the Khyber.” And those who were present at a lecture given at Simla in 1898, on “the Campaign in Tirah,” will not have forgotten the general chorus of approval which there greeted the remarks of a prominent Punjab civilian, that “the 23rd of August was a day of pain and humiliation for every Englishman in India. We had 12,000 troops at the mouth of the Pass or within easy reach of Ali Musjid, marking time as it were, or held in leash, and we allowed these forts to fall one after the other.” But whatever opinion may be held in regard to the reasons of policy which held back the troops of the regular army, there seems no question that at the time any forward movement on anything like a large scale was practically out of the question; pack transport especially was very scarce, all immediately and locally available having already been requisitioned for military operations elsewhere in progress. At the same time, it cannot be denied that the military authorities in Peshawar had been in receipt of at least a fortnight’s definite notice of what might be expected, while, for any operations in the Khyber Pass itself, wheeled transport, contrary to ordinary frontier experience, could have been utilised practically throughout. [Sidenote: Precautionary Measures] The following precautionary measures were taken: Ali Musjid and Fort Maude were reinforced by 100 tribesmen each; the Zakha Khel and Shinwari maliks were reminded of their obligations; additional troops were sent to Fort Bara, and a column of all arms to Jamrud; while—a step which aroused, perhaps, more adverse comment than any other—the British commandant of the Khyber Rifles was recalled from Lundi Kotal to Peshawar, the Commissioner considering that his presence at the former place might hamper the action of the Indian Government. On the 23rd August, when the storm finally broke over the Khyber, the distribution of the Khyber Rifles was as under: