be miserably ploughed in examination. In
November, 1878, we were rather weak in Central Asia through having to
devote all our resources to bringing the war with Turkey to a close, and
so the English again entered Afghanistan. They meant to take advantage
of our embarrassments to bring the country entirely under their
suzerainty. They advanced in three columns by way of the Bolan Pass, the
Kuram Valley, and the Khyber Pass. But on this occasion too they were
unable to stand their ground, and had to retire with great loss. No
Power will ever be able to establish itself in Afghanistan without the
sympathies of the natives on its side. And the sympathies of the Afghans
are on our side. We understand how to manage these people; the English
are solely infidels in their eyes."

"Do you believe that Russia merely covets the buffer-state Afghanistan,
or do its intentions go further?"

"Oh, my dear comrade, at present we mean India. For more than a hundred
years past we have had our eye on this rich country. The final aim of
all our conquests in Central Asia has been India. As early as 1801 the
Emperor Paul commanded the Hetman of the army of the Don, Orlov, to
march upon the Ganges with 22,000 Cossacks. It is true that the campaign
at that time was considered a far simpler matter than it really is. The
Emperor died, and his venturesome plan was not proceeded with. During
the Crimea General Kauffmann offered to conquer India with 25,000 men.
But nothing came of this project. Since then ideas have changed. We have
seen that only a gradual advance can lead us to our objective. And we
have not lost time. In the west we have approached Herat, until now we
are only about sixty miles away, and in the east, in the Pamirs, we have
pushed much nearer still to India."

"It is most interesting to hear all this. I have done my best to get at
the lie of the land, but till now the Pamir frontiers have always been a
mystery to me."

"They mystify most people, you will find. Only a person who has been
there can understand the situation. And he who has been there does not
know the frontier line either, for there is, in fact, no exact boundary.
The Pamir plateau lies to the north of Peshawar, and is bounded in the
south by the Hindu-Kush range. The territorial spheres of government
are extremely complicated. The Ameer of the neighbouring country of
Afghanistan claims the sovereignty over the khanates Shugnan and Roshan,
which form the larger