• It is officially announced that the Mission to Afghanistan
has secured an agreement with the Amir, and left Kabul on March 29th. The terms are as yet unknown in detail, but it seems to be understood that Afghanistan will not obtain a port—a curious demand, which for many reasons, commercial as well as political, was unacceptable—but will obtain a definite guarantee against external attack, making in return, of. course, certain concessions. It was hoped that the right of constracting railways would be among them; bathe chiefs of clans are so opposed to this proposal that we imagine it has either been dropped or limited to a single railway to Kandahar. The discussion has been unusually long, and was, we fancy, rather terminated by the result of the battle of Mukden than by any diplomatic arguments. The Afghans are the most suspicious of mankind, but the will of Allah as expressed on the battlefield weighs with them very heavily. We shall be glad to hear, nevertheless, that the Mission has reached Peshawur on its return march.
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