Alarming reports have been received from Khokand. It is stated
that the Mohammedans have risen all round the Russians, that all isolated parties have been cut off, and that General Kaufmann, with the main body of his troops, is in danger of being surrounded. The total extirpation of the Russians is even hinted at. These statements are not confirmed by official advices from Russia, and are probably exaggerated, as General Kauf- mann, if he has only food and water, ought to be able to hold out until succours arrive. It is difficult to imagine where the people of Khokand or their allies are to find the force to cut up a regular army, however small, unless it was in straits for food or water. A real but small disaster has probably been converted by native rumour, as it would be in India, into a massacre of the white-faces.
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