We suppose it is wise for England and Russia to
mark out the Northern frontier of Afghanistan. Every State should have a defined boundary, Afghanistan is quite content, and the- two great Empires involved are in most harmonious accord. For all that, we are uneasy about this united Commission. Sir P. Lumsden will have only thirty Europeans and a body of Sepoys, whom Turkomans and Afghans, like the last King of Persia, hold to be "rotten soldiers," and there is some very- wild country to be traversed. Some tribe or other is sure to be divided by the new boundary, or offended by being trans- ferred from one territory to another, or disabled from plundering travellers in its hereditary manner ; and if that occurs an attack on the Europeans will certainly be made. We should not be in the least surprised to hear that the Mission had been slaughtered-out, and that England and Russia were organising a joint expedition of vengeance. Wild men are sensitive about boundaries, and agree with the lady in South Carolina who had always heard that Georgia was unhealthy, and died of ague because the Georgian boundary was carried by agreement between the States north of her house. If a Turko- man finds himself an Afghan without being consulted, he will certainly kill somebody as a relief to -his feelings, and it is very likely to be Sir Peter. There are too few Europeans in that expedition, which passed Quetta on the 19th inst., for perfect safety.
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