Scrapbook of newspaper cuttings about Afghanistan [‎132v] (272/312)

ENGLAND AND CABUL.
* 96
return of the envoy.
REPORTED RUSSIAN CAPTURE OF
YARKAND.
(BY INDO-EUROPEAN CABLE.]
[from our special correspondent.]
SIMLA, O ct . 12 (5.32 p.m.)
The Native Envoy at Cabul received, on
Oct. 6, the Ameer's permission to return to
Shere
India. He was to be the bearer of
^ATi's replies to the Viceroy's letters.
His route homeward was through the Kur
ram Valley, and it is expected that he will
reach Kohat about the 18th instant. >
i The Maharaja of Ulwar has offered tne
Government 250 camels and fifty men, to be fitted
i out and maintained at his expense during the
1 operations.
A report has reached Kashgar that the
| Russians have taken possession of Yarkand.
[BY DAILY TELEGRAPH SPECIAL WIRE.]
[from our own correspon A ent. J
PARIS, O ct . 13.
The Golos, returning to the question of the
neutrality of Russia in case of an Anglo Afghan
war, on which it maintains that its views have
been travestied by one of your contemporaries,
re-states its opinion as follows : It declares that
the same obligations which were imposed upon
English subjects by the Royal decree relative
to neutrality would be equally imposed upon
Russian subjects in case of a war breaking out
between England and Afghanistan, of course,
with the reserve that the Russian Government
would not display more zeal than the English
Cabinet thought proper to exhibit during the
Russo-Turkish conflict. Its principal instances
• are the Stafford House Committee, the rdle
j played by General Kemball, and the engagement
1 of English half-pay officers under the Turkish
j flag. The argument of the Golos is intended to
show that neither the English Government nor
the Pre as ought to be astonished if a similar
occasion calls forth similar conduct on the part
of Russia.
[BY DAILY TELEGRAPH SPECIAL WIRE.]
[from our own correspondent.]
VIENNA. O ct . 13.
According to a telegram from Bucharest, pub
lished by the Presse, a large number of Bulga
rian volunteers are preparing to leave for
Afghanistan to take part in the war against
England*.
O ur telegraphic despatch from Simla published
this morning tends to remove the apprehension
which had existed as to the safety of the native
Envoy who preceded Sir Neville Chamber
lain . The Sirdar Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division. Gholab H oussein Khan,
a Mohammedan officer of much distinction in
the British Army and honorary Colonel of his
regiment, was- sent up to Cabul bearing the
Viceroy's letter to the Ameer. He passed the
mountains in safety and was well received by
Shere A li , but was none the lera detained in
the Afghan capital until long after the time
when an answer might and should have been
forwarded. Meanwhile, as all know, a practi
cally hostile and defiant reply came back through
the hills in the form of an order to the garrison
at Ali Musjid that a passage should be refused
to the British Mission ; yet the Sirdar Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division. was still
kept at Cabul, under restrictions which appear
to have prevented his communicating with the
Indian Government. At all events, bis continued
absence caused much surprise and some anxiety,
nor need it be pointed out how inexpiable an
offence any ill-treatment of him must have
been considered. Even semi-barbarous Muslim
Princes acknowledge the authority of that verse
in the Koran, lately quoted by our distinguished
correspondent, M. A rminius V ambery , which
says, "Do no harm to an Ambassador, he is a
sacred guest." Yet Ambassadors and Envoys
have been murdered before now in Afghanistan,
and.the fact that this gallant officer's safety has
been in decided jeopardy may possibly have had
something to do with the cautious procedure of
Lord L ytton . It seems now, however, from
the intelligence transmitted by our Special Cor
respondent at Simla that, although detained by
the Ameer down to as late a date as the 6th in
stant, Sir Gholab H oussein has obtained what
may be called his " passports " at last, and is on
| way back, bringing with him replies to the
Viceroy's letters. He will return not by the Khy-
ber, but by the Kurram pass, a route marked out
for him probably by motives of precaution, as
it might be inconvenient to disclose the num-
; her and position of the Afghan troops in tho
Khyber. Our native Envoy is expected at
Kohat about Friday next, and much speculation
must naturally arise as to the character of the
tardy rejoinders which he will bring from Sijere
Ali . It is not, of course, impossible that they
may be couched in a tone of excuse and con-
: ciliation, though nothing could be more impro
bable, looking to the action taken already by the
Ameer in repulsing the Mission, arming his
fortresses, and summoning his chiefs into the
field ; nor would a merely polite letter of regrets |
be of the slightest utility at this stage of events.
The Ameer may very likely have been insti
gated to say that he objected to the escort ac
companying Sir Neville Chamberlain , rather
i than to the visit of that gallant officer, and that
if his answer had been more patiently awaited,
he might perhaps have himself invited the
English Envoy. Sherb Ali , however, cannot
^ r but be aware that it is no longer simply a ques- i
. tion of the right to send a representative to
' Cabul, or of the prompt respect due to commu
nications from the Queen's Viceregent. Cer
tain large and serious guarantees must hence
forward be taken against the misuse of the geo-
graphical position of the Ameer s country, and
|i the full surrender of these must either accom- 1
pany any attempt at explanation, or must be |
speedily appended to it. The armies of the |
frontier have not been arrayed, and all these
costly military preparations completed, to obtain
a few phrases of ironical apology in Persian, -
' • while the affront to the British name remains I
unatoned. The amende of the Afghan ruler, if I
it bo made at all at the eleventh hour, will need
to be complete and substantial; but we think
it far more probable that nothing at all like an
amende is coming, and that the desperate policv
of the morose chief will be sustained in his renlv
to the Viceroy. Whether it be so or not, a verv
brief interval of time will soon enlighten both
India and England.
Another statement of much importance is 1 ^
contained in our Simla despatch, in the shape of !
a report that the Russians have taken possession
of Yarkand At first sight it mjght appear!
strange that this piece of news should reach the !
Indian headquarters by way of Kashgar, but it 11
is a better road by that principality than bv! '
Khotan and the Kuen-Lun range, and there is j %
no impossibility in the assertion that the Rus
sians have finished their frequent attempts on
the independence of Yarkand in the old way.
This city is the largest in Eastern Turkistan.
It is computed to possess one hundred thousand
mhabitantS' and a direct road runs to it from i
Jhelum and Chaitral in Cashmere. This route I "
crosses the vast mountain masses of the Hindoo
Jloosh and Karakorum, and the significance of i
the tidings now received is therefore that Russia '
has m one point at least arrived at the outer face !
ot our natural rampart in the East. It will be
said that the nature of that rocky rampart forbids
the idea of any large military expeditions ever
being despatched through its wild and elevated
northern and eastern passes. The gateways of
India on this side are no doubt of surpassing
ru ggedness, and most of the routes pursued by
merchants wind over heights where the breath
of man is drawn with difficulty and pain
an where no beast of burden can exist except
the yak and the hardy Himalayan sheep, used
for this purpose. But, in truth, the transit is
not everywhere as hard as is commonly believed.
Mr. D a vies , in his official report, published by
Mr. F orsyth , observes of one road between
xarkand and Cashmere: "This route via
Jhelum, Kashmir, and Leh to Yarkand is, in
Captain M ontgomery's opinion, ' not only the
shegest, but the best and cheapest route for the
traffic from the sea to Eastern Turkistan.' From
Jholum to Leh (Ladak) the route through the
mountains is better than any other that tra
verses the Himalayas; the road between the