Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1897-08-26

tn murder and another war, anu rn,y
through that pass that the Br't.sn ta MIS-
again moved TO the invasion OF a1,d the
ian. From time immemoTia'' nav he
Khvbcr has been the great sa'ewa', &c
tween India and Afghanistan ana , :,
to-day the centre of the insu,een., sron-
which darkens the whole n0rth"c'i
tier.
on the map three places are 70 ps nd
cialiv noted: Peshawur, JeilaI'o H. mid
Cabul. They are the beginning tue i ,,,.,
die. and the end Of the Kbyber roau ,r,,,,ie
first. Peshawur Is a sort of ultina inu'.
OF British rule in India. 1t lies IN 's,e or,,ar
shadow OF the Hindoo koosn; inc sharp
having been pushed forward III "a sna'
bend to include IT. The town ne oSs 70
plain. across which a fine roau ieau' ~
the great rock sate. when CIV. fas-
trance to the Khyber defile, sase 90,
tened with the lock and key OF me ioa.
OF Ali Musiid. now beleaguereo, II hVs
captured. by the Afridis. Inc pis'nn
British. The mountains are Afghan. bu9
the pass itself is the land OF ,rloes s,,,,
who nay allegiance TO no one put it'll
selves. 1t Is the buffer margin OF Jul
fer State.
The pass is twenty miles long, and the
hills are a full mile high. There is a me
read running through IL, built ny brltiSn
engineers. Nowhere along IL IS tne sIauu
more than one i'm fifty, ana you mo-
drive a horse and buggy, or a coach anu
four straight through with ease from
peshawur-if you do not nina now anu
then having "a wheel on the hoIhs
the Mornin an a wheel on the cage o
the Pit" But that does not mean II -
an easy road for an army to travel in
time of war On the contrary IL Is Nus ,9
difficult. 1t is so narrow. ana tne hlls
around II are so impassable else"hcic,
that a small force could hold IL asalissSi
great one. Sir Samuel Brown coulu
never have got through In lsio II tns
Afghans had known their business: Norlh
Of the pass lies the so-called al .al q
Pass. mere goat-track. not 10 De IL
versed by an army, and south OF IL Is ..t
Bazaar Valley, also impossible against
any opposition.
Bevond the Khyber Pass lies the great
valley or basin of Jellalabad, when Is
the furthest stable outpost OF the Amer
toward India. II is girt about on an slues
Nv steep mountain walls. Inc oiIy sap
in them Indiaward is the Khyber. Ioward
Afghanistan there are three or four, one
of them being the Khoord-Cabul, Wnefe
Elnhinstone was overwhelmed. FROM re-
shawur to Jellalabad is eighty mites
From Jellalabad through another noun
tain gateway westward ninety niles
brings one to Cabul. the Afghan capital
So the line of the three points Is com
pleted. Peshawur, the seat or BRUSH I'M
perial authority; Cabul. the centre OF lhe
Ameer's autocratic rule. and JellaiaDad
midway between them, in the heart OF the
land of those wild mountain tribesmen,
who obey neither Empress nor hmeer.
on either flank of the Khyber for many
a mile the same conditions exist Wazirl
ut the south and Swat and Chitrali at
the north. are in a ferment of fanatclsm,
raising the futile standard OF revolt
Whether the Ameer speaks truth In de-
claring his innocence, or not, Is yet 10
he ascertained. If he does. the screw
guns and the Sikhs and Ghoorkas should
make short work of the obstreperous "a
thans Even the 10000 Afridis can make
ONLY a brief stand before the might OF
India. But If he is playing false, the
talked-of railroad through the khyDer
NAV have 10 be built. and the "scientlnc
frontier be made to march with Persia
and Bokhara.