_Mahsud and Darwesh Khels._—The behaviour of all the Wazirs, Mahsuds and Darwesh Khels, may be said to have been uniformly good for a further period of ten years, dating from the conclusion of the expedition of 1881. In 1883 the Mahsuds gave facilities for the survey of the country about Khajuri Kach; in 1889 the Zhob Valley was traversed by us; the Gomal Pass was opened up, and our protectorate extended over the Zhob Valley and the country between the Gomal and Pishin; a railway survey was carried out in the Gomal; and our influence was strengthened among the Mahsuds and the Wazirs of Wana by the granting of new or increased allowances. There had, of course, been periods of disquiet, occasioned and accentuated by the fact that at this time there was no definite boundary line demarcating British and Afghan spheres of influence. The difficulty of restraining the tribesmen within limits and of inflicting punishment for outrages was increased, and a delicate situation thereby created, owing to the fact that it was often impossible to determine whether offenders were subjects of the Amir of Afghanistan, or came within the pale of British influence. It was then, in October 1893, that, after long negotiations, Sir Mortimer Durand went to Kabul and returned with an agreement signed by the Amir. By this settlement the respective spheres of influence of the British Government and of the ruler of Afghanistan were carefully defined. The Amir agreed to retire from Chageh in Baluchistan, and withdrew his objections to the extension of the railway to New Chaman, west of the Kwaja Amran Range, and to the establishment of a British cantonment at that place; the Bajauris, Afridis and Wazirs were left outside the limits of his influence, but Asmar, and the Kunar valley above it as far as Chanak, and the tract of Birmal, bordering on the Wazir country, were included within his territory; on the other hand, a somewhat clumsy arrangement, and one almost certain to be fruitful of future trouble, had been come to, whereby the country of the Mohmands had been arbitrarily divided by the watershed of the Kunar and Panjkhora rivers. [Sidenote: Delimitation Commission] Early in 1894 the Government of India began to make preparations for the demarcation, in co-operation with the Commissioners appointed by the Amir, of the western boundaries of Waziristan; and the attitude of the Wazirs being, as ever, uncertain, it was decided to maintain a considerable force on the frontier. Work was to commence at Domandi on the 15th October, and some weeks prior to this a proclamation was issued to the tribesmen, fully explaining the objects and limitations of the expedition; the news seemed to be generally received in Waziristan in a friendly spirit. The following troops under Brigadier-General Turner were detailed to form the escort: 129 sabres, 1st Punjab Cavalry. 6 guns, No. 3 Punjab Mountain Battery. 189 bayonets, No. 2 Company Sappers and Miners.