Ghizr is 10,000 feet above the sea-level, and is a small village occupied by a hardy and somewhat independent set of people. Here it was that Colonel Kelly's chief difficulties were likely to commence. He had been able to get so far without encountering any serious obstacle. The people of Yasin had shown no hostility, and Ghizr had been reached without mishap; but here at Ghizr snow lay deep on the ground, and at the time of Colonel Kelly's arrival had been falling steadily for five days previously. The Shandur Pass (two marches ahead) had to be crossed, and the British officers had to bear in mind that if the pass could not be crossed, or if any sort of disaster befell them on the opposite side, there was the almost certainty that the loyalty of the people of Yasin in their rear would not stand the test of further trial, and that the Yasinis, believing that the Chitralis in rebellion on the western side of the pass must be in the ascendant, would begin to trim their sails to join them so as to save their own necks. On the 31st of March both detachments of Colonel Kelly's force had reached Ghizr, and in spite of the heavy snowfall and of the unpromising look of matters, it was decided to push on the next day towards Chitral, for the British officers in the fort there had now been shut up for four weeks, and it was urgently necessary to press forward as rapidly as possible to their aid. On April 1st, Colonel Kelly left Ghizr with the whole force, but difficulties commenced at once. The start, which was to have been made at 7 A.M., did not take place for three hours later on account of the coolies required for the carriage of the supplies in crossing the pass having absconded. For some hours the force plodded resolutely through the snow, but at about 2 P.M. it became apparent that, eager as they were to push on to the relief of their comrades in Chitral, it would be impossible to proceed with the means at their disposal. What was most necessary was to take on the guns; for the mere rumour that Colonel Kelly was bringing guns with him had been sufficient to produce the strongest moral effect upon the Chitralis, unaccustomed as they were to these weapons. The Chitralis might formerly have dreaded the regular troops of the Indian Army, but they had already annihilated two detachments of these troops, and were now engaged in besieging others, and Colonel Kelly's Pioneers alone might not have been able to produce that strong moral effect which was so necessary; but if guns could be brought over, the Chitralis would certainly be terrified, and Colonel Kelly was above everything anxious that the two guns he had brought from Gilgit should accompany him over the pass.