The Cabul correspondent of the Times, who forwards, we presume,
official intelligence upon this subject, declares that the Chinese army in Kashgar has actually entered Kuldja; and that all the Mussulmans of the Khanates are excited, either expecting a Russian defeat, or anxious to take advantage of the concentration of Russian troops towards Kashgar. If this statement is true, the long-expected war between Russia and China has commenced, and in a way to prove that the Chinese are in earnest. The Times evidently be- lieves the story, and there are two partial confirmations of it. The Russian Government is despatching ship after ship into Chinese waters in a way which indicates alarm, and Colonel Gordon, who was going to Zanzibar, has suddenly swerved and gone to China, throwing up his commission for that purpose. He is entirely trusted by the Chinese, and may be able either to prevent the war, which, he says, is his object, or to organise a powerful defensive force. As we have re- peatedly pointed out, the Russian temptation will be to blockade the northern ports, and so interrupt European trade.
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