On this occasion Mustafa Khan escaped with a fine and a reprimand, but he was obviously looking for trouble, and it soon overtook him. He became very insolent. Some of his men stopped and robbed the British native courier, and the Chief sent a message that he would soon come and raid Bijar itself. There was nothing to do except to teach Mustafa Khan a much-needed lesson. However, before the salutary drubbing could be administered, Mustafa and his men, throwing discretion to the winds, and forgetful of their oft-repeated promises to be of good behaviour, got completely out of hand, cleaned out several Persian villages, and indulged in a veritable orgy of lawlessness. Then Mustafa, with consummate skill, having no case of his own, set about abusing the other side. He blamed the hapless villagers, and accused them of having killed two of his Sowars who had gone into the Persian village to "purchase" corn. The villagers in question, he remarked, were liars, and the sons of the Father of Lies--"May perdition be their lot!" But this time his defence of provocation was found to be unjustifiable; a richly deserved punishment was meted out to him, and for long afterwards he led an exemplary life. Nabi Khan was another Kurdish freebooter who gave considerable trouble before he was finally {241} subdued and made to see the error of his ways. From the point of view of stature and general physique he was one of the finest looking men I have ever seen. He stood a good 6 feet 4 inches in his socks, belying the prevailing idea that the Kurds are of small stature. In an evil moment for himself, he threw in his lot with the Turks, and for a brief period made things right merry for the British. He fought like an enraged tiger in defence of his village stronghold, but was put to flight after suffering severe loss. He thought the thing out for a couple of weeks, and then, like the old sportsman that he was, came in and surrendered, saying that he had lost, and was ready to pay the full price. It is easy to be generous to a chivalrous foe, and Nabi had been all that, so he found that he had not thrown himself upon our mercy in vain.