The Daily Telegraph of Wednesday gives a map of the
Pamirs, which shows the present position of the Russians, and adds a very alarmist article by way of explanation. According to the writer, while we have been thinking only of the Western portion of our North-West frontier as a point of danger, Russia has been slipping round the dominions of the Ameer, and has now gained "a position on the Pamir plateau which brings her within four days' march of the Hindu-Kush." It is by no means unlikely that this calculation is quite unsound; but, even if true, we do not think it greatly matters. The Russians would never dream of invading India through the Pamirs. A troop of Cossacks might get to Chitral and so into Cashmere by this route ; but no General in his senses would ever propose to invade India through the Hindu-Kush. People talk as if Russia possessed an army of perfect effi- ciency and inexhaustible resources, and forget with what difficulty her troops struggled through the Balkans. If Russia ever tries to enter India, it will be by Herat, and not by the Pamirs.
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