The latest news from Somaliland is better. Brigadier- General Manning
has telegraphed to the War Office under date June 23rd announcing that he has reached Damot with- out opposition. He proposes to leave "an adequate garrison" there, but march with the bulk of his force to Bohotle, whence he will telegraph more fully. He is therefore in all probability safe ; but it must not be forgotten that his safety is due to a retreat back into our own bit of Somaliland, and that the Mullah, besides escaping unharmed, will assure the tribes that he—and Islam—are victorious. The Governmenthave evidently decided not to leave affairs in this position, for they have ordered Major-General Sir Charles Egerton with two thousand troops from India to Berbera, where he will necessarily, from his rank, assume the general command, and, in fact, lead a new expedition. This, for reasons stated elsewhere, is inevitable, and Sir C. Egerton is a man entirely trusted by the Indian Government and with large experience in Himalayan warfare, but the necessity is a most regrettable one. We shall have to expend much and get nothing, for the annexation of Somali- land would be most imprudent. We have a great deal too much " light soil," as Lord Salisbury described the French Soudan, upon our hands already.
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