On Tuesday 700 tribesmen in Persia attacked a small British
force of 100 Sowars under Captain Birdwood, whioh was conducting Mr. Smart, the British Consul, to Shiraz. Mr. Smart was wounded in the thigh, three Sowars were killed and others were wounded. Further Indian troops under British officers have been hurried to Bushire as well as all available ships, so that precautions have been promptly taken for whatever measures of protection or punishment may be necessary. At Tabriz the fighting which we reported last week between the Russians and Persian Constitutionalists has continued. The Russian Consulate has been besieged and the total Russian casualties, according to the Times correspondent, are estimated at 150. Gross excesses are reported to have been committed by both sides, but in the absence of any satisfactory evidence we need not do more than chronicle the rumours and express our scepticism.
