Both forces effected their purposes successfully and with but small loss. Brigadier-General Ross moved almost entirely unopposed through the Bori China Pass to Pustawani, and thence to Walai, where he met Brigadier-General Keyes. The Peshawar force bivouacked unmolested in or about Pustawani, which was destroyed on the 2nd January, when General Ross retraced his steps, and, meeting with but very slight opposition, regained the Bori Valley early that afternoon, and reached the Sarghasha camp without any casualties.
Early on the 31st December Brigadier-General Keyes left his camp in front of Bagh, debouched on the Paia Plain, and having reached Ghariba, moved to the left up the spur of the Dargai Sar, and sent troops through the Dargai Pass. Thence the General rode on to Walai, where he met General Ross, and it was agreed that nothing was to be gained by further operations or a prolonged occupation of the Pustawani Valley. On the next day the whole force commenced its retirement, the rear guard being followed up by the enemy, who had collected in some strength. The retirement was, however, admirably covered by the Pathan company of the 5th Punjab Infantry, and from Paia the troops marched back unmolested to camp.
The remaining operations carried out by the troops under Generals Keyes and Ross were mainly of topographical importance. On the morning of the 15th January both columns occupied the positions they had held on the 31st December, and thence they moved towards Jamu for the purpose of exploring the Nara Khula defile and the valley to the west of it, now the only remaining strongholds of the Jawakis. Despite a certain amount of opposition, this country was traversed by our troops, and by the 23rd January the bulk of the force employed had been withdrawn to Peshawar and Kohat, a small body of the three arms only remaining temporarily on the Sarghasha ridge as a force of observation. During the whole operations, from November 1877 to January 1878, our casualties had amounted to eleven killed and fifty-one wounded.
Almost immediately upon the withdrawal of our troops the Jawakis had begun to show signs of submission, and after negotiations, protracted until March, a settlement was effected, the tribesmen agreeing to make complete submission in full durbar at Peshawar, to pay a fine of Rs. 5000, to expel certain ringleaders of recent raids, to surrender a number of English rifles and native matchlocks, and to give hostages for future good conduct.