before long. From Girishk I crossed the river and followed the road due east right up to Kandahar. For some miles after leaving the river the ground on either side is a wide stony plain, bounded northward by a considerable chain of hills, running parallel to the road, from which several spurs trend outwards towards the valley of Kushk-i- Nakhud, on the east and west. From the Helmund to Kushk-i-Nakhud the plains become more and more undulating, until the elevation becomes abrupt and difficult, and although not actually impassable for any arm, yet would be sufficient to prevent cavalry or artillery passing except at a walk. I gave my notes of the topographical features of the route to General Burrows on my return, and trust he may find them of use where he now is.

Since the departure of General Burrows and his brigade the inhabitants here have been in a most nervous and unsettled state. Beyond all doubt our rule has been exceedingly popular, and the change in appearance of the streets and bazaars would alone prove this, did we not possess the assurance of all the wealthy and well-to-do sections of the population. During the régime of Shere Ali, every rupee of the revenues, amounting, I am told, to about 65,000l. annually, was sent direct to Cabul, not one penny being spent upon the city or its institutions. All this has been altered by our government, the city has been partly rebuilt, the streets cleaned, the fortifications placed in repair, and the gardens placed under cultivation, while the supplies furnished to our troops have proved a source of wealth and prosperity to the inhabitants. A small tax levied upon the shops in the bazaars for the purpose of cleansing the city has been willingly paid, and the result

has been that our sanitary arrangements have prevented disease amongst our troops. Since our advent the older inhabitants say the whole place teems with life and bustle, commerce thriving in the mart, and money rapidly changing hands in the bazaar, women moving about freely and unmolested at all hours, children playing in the streets, gardeners working at their plots, merchants conversing upon their exchanges, droves of camels, donkeys, and oxen moving along each highway, and, in fact, all the signs of a prosperity usual to our British rule.

Kandahar is supposed to have been one of the seven cities built by Alexander the Great, and was originally known as Iskandahar, having been called after him. At his death it passed successively through the hands of the Parthians, the Sassanides, the Arabs; it was conquered by Mahmood of Ghuzni, by Timurlane, by Baber, and by the Persians, until, at the commencement of the 17th century, it fell into the hands once more of the Mogul dynasty; but in 1650 the Persians again captured it, and though Arungzeeb once besieged it in person, and made several attempts to gain possession of it, the Persians retained it until a revolt of the Ghilzai Governors forced it from their hands. In 1737, Nadir Shah determined to recapture it, and, after a siege of nearly two years, compelled its Governor, Meer Hoossain, to capitulate; at the death of Nadir, Ahmed Shah Durani was crowned in the mosque, and made it the capital of his kingdom. His successor, Timur Shah, changed his capital to Cabul; the Sadozai branch of the Duranis retained possession of the place until Purdil Khan Barukzai seized it. In 1824 the ill-fated Shah Sujah marched against it, but, after displaying great

bravery, was defeated by Dost Mahomed, and compelled to raise the siege with a loss of 20,000 killed. He was compelled to retire on Shikarpur, and, in 1839, once more entered the city, accompanied by the British army under Lord Keane. No resistance was then offered. During the rebellion in Cabul, thanks to the good management of General Nott, in spite of numerous attempts of the Ghilzais to gain the city, the English remained masters until the 8th of August, 1842, when, in obedience to instructions from home, Nott evacuated it, and marched on Cabul. Since then it has often changed hands, but finally was captured for Shere Ali by his unfortunate though gallant son, Yakub Khan, after the battle of the Helmund, on 1st April, 1868, and has remained the capital of Southern Afghanistan ever since.

WITH GENERAL BURROWS-MUTINY OF WALI'S TROOPS.

Camp Kushk-i-Nakhud, July 18.

SINCE I last wrote to you, after our first day's march from Kandahar, our troops have covered a great deal of ground, and, I must honestly confess, to little purpose, if our object has been to measure swords with Ayub Khan, a general who certainly is a strategist of no mean order. Our first day's march was to Kokeran, about six miles from Kandahar, and situated on the left bank of the Argandab. The road was picturesque, and our march an extremely pleasant one, all our fellows being in high spirits and delighted at the near prospect of a brush with so celebrated a foe as the young Prince

Ayub, whose early achievements are the theme of many an Afghan poet's verse. The march was through orchards, villages, across canals and streams, where temporary bridges and ramp had been constructed under the supervision of Colonel John Hills, our head Engineer, and his lieutenants, Blackwood, Osborne, Heath, and Maclean, who, although belonging to the sister scientific branch, the Artillery, placed their services at his disposal, and proved their skill in road and bridgemaking. An enemy retiring after a defeat by this road would find it an easy task to greatly obstruct a pursuing foe, by scarping these ramps and by blowing up the bridges we have made. Our next march was but five miles, to Sunguri, across the river Argandab, and through a more difficult piece of country. The ford has a good sound bottom, and at this period of the year the water is not deep, while the width of the river is about forty feet. After reaching the opposite bank without any accident to man, horse, mule, or camel, we had to cross no less than six unbridged canals, where our small pontoon train was found of considerable assistance. Many of the ramps were made last year by General Biddulph, whose notes and itinerary of the route traversed have been of much use to us..

The valley through which we passed after crossing the Argandab is covered with villages, and full of trees of all kinds and luxuriant cultivation. The date, the palm, the mango, and the cocoa-tree abound, and some fine well-tended vines near the villages showed the industry of the inhabitants of this favoured oasis in the desert. We found the village people friendly, civil, and exceedingly communicative, and gleaned from some of the headmen intelligence which corroborated our

reports of Ayub's movements. These were to the effect that the Prince marched from Herat with the existing Herat force on the 20th of June last, his force consisting of 4000 regular infantry, 1000 cavalry, and 37 guns, besides a force of about 3000 irregular horse, which formed his advanced and rear guards. His artillery, we are told, is of various kinds, large and small, and principally of Afghan manufacture. these may be added one battery of European-made 4-pounder guns of the latest pattern.

Το

Ayub has issued a proclamation to his troops, worded somewhat as follows:-'Soldiers of the true faith! We march to the conquest of our city of Kandahar, now in possession of our bitter enemy the Feringhi, whom we will drive hence with our steel, and win back the capital of the south. The garrison is weak, and we are strong; besides, we are fighting for our homes and our land, and our foe is not prepared for us with either food or ammunition for a siege. The bazaars of the city are full of English gold, and this shall be the prize of the conqueror when we have chased away the invader from our soil. Let us march on, then, day by day, with the determination to conquer or to die!' Copies of this address were sent forward to the villages and the tribes between this place and Herat, with a view, no doubt, of inciting the Ghazis and fanatics to join in this modern crusade. Ayub, we hear, was at Farah on the 21st of June, and on the 9th of July had pushed forward his cavalry outposts as far as Washin, where they were seen by the advanced horsemen of the Wali, who had effected his junction with us at Girishk on the 9th. From Sunguri to Hoaz-i-Madad Khan is about fourteen miles, and the canal runs parallel to the