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- 128 - out, the people resolved that the tow forces shall not be permitted to join hands, and thus prevented such a meeting of the two sections of the English forces. Near the city, Sirdar Mohemad Akbar Khan tur- ned towards Lughman, and taking the hostages with him he had them detained in the house of Mohamed Shah Khan ababakr Khail at a place called, Badia Bad. Mohamed Shah Khan was the travelling com- panion of the Sirdar at the time. Everyone knows that events moved fast in that period of his- tory, each of which requires an article unto itself, such as the arri- ving of a large English force under the command of General Pol- lock at Jalalabad, the discord of leaders at Kabul, the going back of the Afghan national forces to Kabul, and the removal of the hostages to Bamyan. Here we can hardly go into these points, but will briefly study the position of Sirdar Mohamed Akbar Khan at Badia Bad and his treatment of his hostages and others during that period. Badia Bad had a fort, with high walls about 25 meters, high and a moat surrounded it. The hostages were detained at that place during the three months when General Sale and the town of Jalalbad was under seige. The life lived by these hostages had no similiarity with any prison restrictions. On the contrary, hospitality to the utmost degree a noted trait of the Afghans-was shown them. The English themselves write that these hostages thought that they would certainly be killed, but they slowly realised that they were really alive and that they were eating their food with Sirdar Mohamed Akbar Khan. They were permitted to communicate with their relatives at Jalalabad, and indeed, they used to go to see their friends and the General in the city itself. And the wonder of all wonders was that they themselves used to return to Badia Bad. Sirdar Mohamed Akbar Khan treated his hostages with great courtesy and considera- tion, especially the wounded men. On the way to Jalalabad, when they brought a wounded man, one named Melville, he himself (the Sirdar)