7 JUNE 1873, Page 3

The Times publishes a despatch from its Berlin correspondent 'saying

that a Russian detachment from Turkestan is believed to have reached Khiva between May 15 and 20. That may be true, as St. Petersburg would hear the news earlier than Calcutta, but it does not prove that the column is inside Khiva. The fanatics of the Khanate are just as likely to fall back on their fortress and die behind its walls as to do anything else. Unless the Russian column is unusually well provided with artillery, there will be hot work before Khiva falls.