ON AFGHAN FRONTIER

Evening Post, Volume CIII, Issue 54, 6 March 1922, Page 8

ON AFGHAN FRONTIER

PRINCE GOES THROUGH KHYBER PASS

AT THE GATS OF INDIA.

(Received March 6, 2 p.m.)

DELHI, sth March.

All th-a hill fort 3 and watch-towers in the. Khyber ' were manned when tfie Prince of Wales motored through the famous pass to the Afghan frontier. At Landi Khana, riflemen stood at ths salute in little groups on slender crags, or peeped down from dizzy heights into the winding raad, which was lined by native infantry. Over fifteen hundred Afridi warriors were posted in the hills along the defile, in addition to the regular frontier garrisons. V/ords of welcome were picked out in whitewashed stones beside some of tlie tiny watch-towers poised among the clouds, while a mulecorps, encamped near Alimusjid, emblazoned s, greeting in tsn-foot letters on a steep slope. There were also several gay arches erected by the tribesmen over the route. The Prince was unable to see the U3ual caravan traffic, as the pass had been kept clear for his journey. At Landi Khan he visited the last outposts of the Ghurkhas, looking into Afghanistan, and caw a single tent just beyond the frontier where a few of the Amir's infantry guard then side of the Gate of India. Beyond was a- fine view of the Afghan plain, with the snowcapped mountains in the distance. On his return journey the Prince participated in a striking scene near Jamrud, where a thousand Maliks, or village 'elders, representing- the entire Afridi nation, were gathered. They were mostly old and bearded |men, and they squatted on costly carpets before the chairs where the Prince sat with the chief commissioner of tie North-west Frontier, .and the political agent. The Maliks presented the Prince with sheep, specimens ,of the ancient- Afridi •: arms, and the most modern rifle they can manufacture in their primitive factory.