General Roberts, in his latest telegram (15th inst.), of course
expected, with reinforcements, to restore British " command " in Cabul, and the Viceroy professes perfect confidence in his safety. The grounds of his confidence are, however, not clear. We write on good professional authority, when we say that General Roberts has not more than 6,000 efficients, 2,200 of whom are Europeans ; that he is terribly short of officers ; that he has 12,000 mouths to feed ; that he has little firewood, and no forage ; and that the statement of his having five months' supplies is a mere phrase. How many mouths has ho calculated for P He has undoubtedly large quantities of grain, but the daily demand for it will be enormous, the water is bad, and he will be most reluctant to kill his beasts. Our calculation, therefore, is that, pressed by the enemy from the hills, aware that he cannot be reinforced, and afraid of losing his cavalry, he will take counsel of his daring, and in about three weeks break out and fight his way, to Jellaiabad, whither General Gough will have retreated. It will be a desperate march through snow, but General Roberts is no Elphinstone ; lie will do all man can do, and he may carry half his army safely through. That is our best anticipation for him, unless, of course, some unforeseen event occurs ; and that depends greatly on an unknown quantity, the mos ement in Herat.
