The intelligence from Afghanistan, never very clear, is be- coming
more obscure than ever. The Viceroy now reports, under date January 28th, that Shere Ali never quitted Afghani- stan, but is residing at Mazir-i-Sharif, a holy place close by Balkh, whence, it is said,." if he receives no satisfactory answer from Tashkend "—mark the open distrust of Russia—he may retire to Herat. According to this account, Shere Ali is still Ameer, and Yakoob Khan only his lieutenant in Cabul, a, statement at variance with all information previously received. The Viceroy further intimates that the British army is going to Cabul, and congratulates himself, in view of that movement, upon the arrival of Wall Mahommed, "half-brother of the Ameer," in our camp at Jellalabad, he having influence with the Ghilzais. Shere All was going to shoot him for running away from Peiwar. Are we going to support a civil war in Afghani- stan, by way of ensuring the "friendliness, prosperity, and independence," of which Lord Cranbrook wrote so posi- tively P So far as appears, the Viceroy does not know what he is going to do, and we can only assume that he has some policy behind his disconnected telegrams, if it be only to delay decision until the troops are cantoned in Cabul. According to the latest rumours, Lord Lytton advises the annexation of all Afghanistan, in defiance of Lord Beaconsfield's explanations and Lord Cranbrook's pledges, and it may come to this in the end. At present, however, the only thing clear is that no one reigns in Afghanistan, or could conclude a treaty binding anybody but himself,—which is not a pleasant prospect for invaders, whether they wish to remain or to retire.
