1 374 PREPARATIONS,
2 fringed, in one or two places, with mulberry-
3 trees ; whilst in the middle of the channel a
4 black rock or two upreared their heads, and
5 broke the force of the current as it flowed
6 swiftly by, causing the water to be lashed into
7 a white foam, and which, as it receded from
8 the obstructions, gradually resumed its un-
9 ruffed appearance. The Momand country,
10 a mere succession of barren and rocky hills,
11 was to the north; and to the south, and to the
12 east, the valley of Peshawr, over which were
13 spread tracts of cultivation, and clumps of
14 trees, bounded our view; the high range of
15 the Khaibar mountains being to the west.
16 ** The largest of the villages was pointed out
17 by Colonel Wade as that which he wished to be
18 shelled ; but it appeared to me beyond the
19 range of the small howitzer we had brought
20 with us: however, I arranged matters to make
21 a trial. Unwilling to commence hostilities, in
22 the hope that the people might yet be induced
23 to come in peaceably, the Colonel still deferred
24 proceeding to extremities, notwithstanding some
25 hours ‘had passed by beyond that he had fixed