The Ameer of Afghanistan has received the Native Agent of
the Indian Government in a friendly manner, and it is believed that Sir Neville Chamberlain's Mission, with its infantry and cavalry escorts, will be allowed to reach Cabal. The Calcutta correspondent of the Times mentions, however, two facts which those who are anxious about the policy of the Administration in Afghanistan will do well to bear in mind. The Mission altogether includes 1,000 men, most of them armed ; it will move under the sanction of the Ameer, and it is backed by the whole authority of the Imperial Government. Nevertheless, it has not been deemed safe to trust to the promises of the hill tribes who command the Khyber Pass, but that most absurd of expedients, a demand for hostages, has been adopted as an additional security. It is no security at all, as the tribesmen know perfectly well that we shall neither hang, nor maim, nor imprison the innocent men. they send ; but it is intended to be one, and shows that in the judgment of the Indian Government the Khyberees are hostile to our design. What are they likely to be when they know its extent, when they are backed by the Ameer, and when they are told that they are fighting for the independence of the Faith ?
