AGAINST THE HUSSUNZIES AND BOREE AFRIDIS. 1852–53.

A party of Hussunzies having murdered two British officials, and the tribe refusing to surrender the murderers, an expedition was dispatched to chastise them. The Hussunzies occupied the western slopes of the Black Mountains, a height of about 10,000 feet above the sea level, and trusted to the inaccessibility of their stronghold, which had hitherto defied every assailant. In December, 1852, two Brigades took up a position at the foot of the Black Mountain, and three columns commanded by Colonel Napier (afterwards Lord Napier of Magdala), Colonel Mackeson, and Major Abbot, were formed for the assault. After an obstinate resistance all three columns won their way up the steep ascent, and bivouacked for three nights on the summit of the so-called impregnable Black Mountain. The villages of the enemy were burnt in the sight of their owners, and the columns, with little loss, descended the mountain and were broken up. No British regiment seems to have been engaged in this affair.

In the latter part of the year 1853, the Boree Afridis inhabiting the country near the Kohat Pass, began to commit depredations, and refusing any reparation or promise to abstain from similar acts in the future, a force under the command of Colonel Boileau, with Colonel Napier, was sent against them in November. The troops comprised the 22nd. Foot, the Guides, 66th. Goorkhas, and Native Infantry. The expedition was ably planned and successfully executed; the principal villages of the enemy were destroyed, and the Afridis taught a lesson which they long remembered.

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