rises up before his vision like a dread spectre. A twelve years' intimate connection with Russian officers has fully imparted to him the knowledge of the faithlessness and unreliableness of the Muscovites; and really, if such had not been the case, he would have long ago been caught in the net of Russian intrigues, and beguiled by promises profusely sent from Tashkend, would not have come to Rawul Pindi, and would not have fought Alikhanoff on the Khushk. As to the people of Kandahar, there is not the slightest apprehension of their resistance, as we formerly stated. The west of Afghanistan is quite different from the east and north of that country. Here the Afghan element is not so compact, for it reaches only to the Hilmend, or, at the utmost, beyond Girishk, nor is it conspicuous for those military qualities generally applied to the whole

nation.

Sir Richard Temple, who speaks of the Afghans as a fighting race, and who gives full credit to their martial virtues, says, among other things: "This description is applicable fully to the country around Kabul, and to northern Afghanistan, but in a much less degree to the country round Kandahar, and to southern Afghanistan ; indeed, many believe that the city and district of Kandahar could, if necessary, be permanently held. There is a considerable difference

between the character of the northern tribes and that of the southern."

In summing up, therefore, all the means of defence available to England, we must come to the conclusion that the line of policy hitherto followed, with regard to Afghanistan, must undergo an entire and radical change. The time for experimenting is irrevocably gone; the idea of convincing the Emir of British friendship, and getting in exchange for it Afghan sympathies, must be dropped for ever, for should he prove obstinately blind to his own interests, then he cannot be used as an ally in the defence of India. To dally with the sympathies of Asiatics, and particularly of Mohammedan Asiatics, is a pastime which only Russia may permit herself, as she is quite superior to England in duly appreciating the doubtful value of such Eastern articles. She, above all, takes care to fetter tightly her Asiatic neighbours or allies; she even goes so far as to cripple them; and if these allies or neighbours, after having been rendered totally innocuous and powerless, will come forward with their sympathies, she then only allows them to make declarations of love, and only permits herself, occasionally, the luxury of responding with a fond simper. England, on the contrary, unable to understand the real value of Asiatic professions of amity, has been too frequently misled in her dealings with

Is

Mohammedan powers in Central Asia. She has opened her purse liberally, giving rich subsidies in money and in arms, forgetting entirely the lesson experience might have taught her, that this money and these arms will be employed by her good friends to fight her. What use is there in the £120,000 annually given to Emir Abdurrahman, refusing as he does, even now, to receive an English officer as an envoy and representative of the Viceroy? Whenever the attention of the Government has been called to this anomaly, we generally got to hear that the Emir could not guarantee the safety of the English representative against his fanatical and ill-disposed subjects. Sir Bartle Frere not quite right, when he remarks on this subject-"I have never believed in the validity of this objection, and I should consider it quite chimerical, unless it were formally stated by the Ruler himself. In that case, I should point out to him the absurdity of his calling himself the Ruler of a country where he could not ensure the safety of an honoured guest. I should decline to communicate with him except through a representative accredited to him like our envoys at other Asiatic courts, and I should state clearly the impossibility of our talking of friendly relations with a nation where our representative would not be welcomed." ("Afghanistan and South Africa," 5th edition, London, 1881, p. 36.)

So much for the main line of future Russian aggression through Afghanistan. As far as regards the lateral movements across the Oxus to Balkh, and over the Hindoo Koosh to Kabul, such movements are scarcely worth noticing, and the Russians were the first who, convinced of the impossibility of carrying out such a scheme, had years ago bestowed the greatest care upon the main road leading from the Caspian across the Turkoman country, through Herat. We have still further to allude to the way of communication, hitherto only secretly discussed, through the Pamir Plateau, which, starting from one of the passes of the Alai Mountains in Khokand, is said to convey a Russian column in a very short time to Yassin and Ghilghit, enabling the daring adventurers to drop down like a Deus ex machiná, and to attack the English from a vulnerable and least expected side. As there is no historical record of such a feat in marching, we should rather turn our attention to a question which has in these latter days been the subject of so many and varied discussions-namely, to the military strength of the two rival Powers, and the skill and preparation necessitated by the future struggle. But this being the province of a strictly military pen, and being, therefore, utterly beyond the range of my literary powers, I beg to refer my reader to a chapter in Col. Malleson's lately published

excellent little book, "The Russo-Afghan Question and the Invasion of India," headed "The Armies on both sides," an elaborate and exhaustive paper which affords us an insight into the military strength of both Powers available in a contest for India.

In connection with these statements I would only remark that, being accustomed to judge Russia, not from the extension she shows on the geographical maps, but from the strength she was able to display on the battlefields of Europe and Asia, I must say that I do not share the opinions of those who attribute to that gigantic empire such a formidable and extraordinary power of action. An army which ran a great risk of being thrown into the Danube, the Emperor and general staff included, by the ill-fed, half-naked, and emaciated Turkish soldiers, if the regiments of little Roumania had not hastened to her assistance—such an army I cannot call a formidable one. Still less does it inspire me with fear, if brought face to face with the hardy, plucky, and intrepid British soldiers of India, who, led by such generals as Donald Stewart, Roberts, Charles Macgregor, and others like them, would certainly keep up their old reputation, and do their duty for the welfare of the country. Why should we overlook the enormous difference existing between military material recruited from a free country, and led by highly-educated