[Illustration: Chitral Bridge and Fort.] WITH KELLY TO CHITRAL By LIEUTENANT W.G.L. BEYNON, D.S.O. 1st BATTALLION 3rd GOORKA RIFLES STAFF OFFICER TO COLONEL KELLY'S RELIEF FORCE 1896 GILGIT, _21st October 1895_ MY DEAR MOTHER, Before you read this short history of a few brief weeks, I must warn you that it is no record of exciting adventure or heroic deeds, but simply an account of the daily life of British officers and Indian troops on a frontier expedition. How we lived and marched, what we ate and drank, our small jokes and trials, our marches through snow or rain, hot valleys or pleasant fields, in short, all that contributed to fill the twenty-four hours of the day is what I have to tell. I write it for you, and that it may please you is all I ask.--Your son, W.B. CONTENTS CHAPTER I - INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER II - THE MARCH BEGINS CHAPTER III - THE SHANDUR PASS CHAPTER IV - FROM LASPUR TO GASHT CHAPTER V - CHOKALWAT CHAPTER VI - THE RECONNAISSANCE FROM MASTUJ CHAPTER VII - THE FIGHT AT NISA GOL CHAPTER VIII - THE MARCH RESUMED THROUGH KILLA DRASAN CHAPTER IX - NEARING CHITRAL CHAPTER X - WE REACH THE GOAL LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS _Those marked with a * are from Sketches by the Author_. *CHITRAL BRIDGE AND FORT NIZAM-UL-MULK, MEHTER OF CHITRAL *A "PARI" ON THE ROAD TO GUPIS *THE SHANDUR PASS *RECONNAISSANCE SKETCH OF THE POSITION AT CHOKALWAT *MASTUJ FORT LOOKING UP THE NISA GOL NULLAH *RECONNAISSANCE SKETCH OF THE POSITION AT NISA GOL MAP SHOWING ROUTE OF COLONEL KELLY'S FORCES * * * * * *** Thanks are due to the Publishers of Mr. Thomson's _The Chitral Campaign_ for the loan of two blocks illustrating "Chokalwat" and "Nisa Gol" from Lieut. Beynon's sketches. [Illustration: MAP OF NORTH WEST FRONTIER OF INDIA*] WITH KELLY TO CHITRAL CHAPTER I INTRODUCTORY "Would you like to go up to Gilgit?" "Rather." I was down in the military offices at Simla, hunting for a book and some maps, when I was asked the above question. No idea of Gilgit had before entered my head, but with the question came the answer, and I have since wondered why I never before thought of applying for the billet.