=The Black Mountain Expedition.=--In 1888 a punitive expedition under Brigadier-General M'Queen, C.B., was sent into the Hazara or Black Mountain district on the left bank of the Indus, beyond the north-west frontier of India, to punish Khan Khel and to chastise the Azakis and Hassanzais for the murder on June 18th of Major Battye, Captain Thurston, and a number of the native surveying party which they led. The district lies in a perfect maze of mountains, on the crags and precipices of which watch-towers and villages were perched, frequently 9,000 feet above sea-level; indeed, the Northumberland Fusiliers and the Kybeerees actually carried the Gorapher Peak 9,500 feet above sea-level, thus establishing a record in altitude for an assault by British troops. The expedition entered the district from two directions, and the fourth column concentrating on October 1st prepared to act on the offensive. On the 4th they proceeded against the enemy, who was found in great force--official figures say 4,000--at the village of Kotkai, which, built upon a great mass of broken rocks on a steep spur, was defended by well-built sangars, but this was taken after some hard fighting, in which the 18th Royal Irish met a charge of Ghazis, who rushed from cover and surprised the Irishmen, but they "went at them with a will, bayoneting or shooting every Ghazi within reach." In this rush 88 fanatics paid the penalty of their madness. Leaving the 29th Punjab Infantry in possession of Kotkai as an advance post, the expedition pushed on and blew up the hill fortress of Maidan; meanwhile the other column had been pressing forward from the Agror Valley, climbing mountains and destroying watch-towers and hostile villages, so that the pressure of the two forces, together with the losses they had sustained, compelled the hillmen to sue for peace, promising better behaviour in the future, and paying the heavy indemnities imposed. In this campaign, which concluded on November 9th, the Hazara field force lost 2 officers mortally wounded, and about 100 men killed and wounded. The following regiments were engaged in the Hazara or Black Mountain expedition: 1st Batt. Northumberland Fusiliers; 1st Batt. Suffolk Regiment; 2nd Batt. Royal Irish Regiment; 2nd Batt. Sussex Regiment; 2nd Batt. Seaforth Highlanders; 240 men of the Scottish Division Royal Artillery; 4th Goorkas; 3rd, 14th, and 45th Sikhs; 4th, 24th, and 29th Punjab Infantry; 4th Bengal Native Infantry; 34th Pioneers; 15th Bengal Cavalry, and a Native Mountain Battery. =Hazara, 1888.=--To those not already in possession of the India medal it was awarded with the bar HAZARA 1888, while the bar was added to the medals of those who already possessed the I.G.S. 1854 medal. Bronze medals were awarded to the followers.