As we anticipated in our last week's issue, Ayoub Khan
has won the battle on the Helmund, and on the 26th inst., totally de- feated, it is said, .Abdurrahman Khan, the Khelat regiment and Candahar horse having deserted to Ayoub. Ayoub took Abdur- rahman's eighteen guns and all his baggage. And, of course, Candahar will soon fall, there being only 400 men of Abdurrah- man's force in it. There will now be an outcry that Lord Ripon should order another advance of our forces on Candahar, but we will trust the Indian Government to be steadily deaf to so mad a proposal. It is no interest of ours whether Ayoub beats Abdurrahman, or Abdurrahman beats Ayoub. Our interest is that Afghanistan should be governed by a strong native Prince, jealous of all foreign influence, whether English or Russian ; and nothing will promote that result better than to leave the stronger ruler free to win. If Ayoub is the stronger ruler, lie will answer our purpose better than Abdurrahman.
