showing Tonquin, Cambodia and other French possessions as also the " contested" territory. It has been compiled from French official sources and forms the last page of an illustrated Supplement, which we have purchased for our readers, of the "Petit Journal."

Palmam qui meruit ferat.

The authorities in Burma are at this present time considering the report of Mr. Bagley and his surveying party. Of the three alternate routes over the Shan plateau the line viâ Maymyo is said to have been selected as the most practicable. The distance between Mandalay and Thibaw has been detailed and sectioned as follows: 1st, Mandalay to Maymyo; 2nd, Maymyo to Gokteik gorge; 3rd, Gokteik including the gorge with the descent near Thabyinge and the ascent to Naungpine; 4th section, Naungpine to Thibaw. Total length of the railway line comes to 124 miles. With temporary bridges it is estimated that the cost will not exceed one lakh of Rupees per mile.

COW-KILLING AND GREASED CARTRIDGES.

The recent riots throughout India which have temporarily subsided in Bombay, where a recrudescence is expected on the return of the Seedees from the Persian Gulf, are solely due to the carelessness or to the ignorance of Government. Indeed, they are an inevitable and ever-recurring result of an Administration that will insist on being a foreign rule, instead of being based on indigenous sympathies and on a thorough knowledge of the languages, the religions, the historical and other associations of an Oriental country. Dr. Forrest has proved to demonstration that the mutiny of 1857 was due to "the greased cartridges," the introduction of which must have been deliberate, unless we accuse the old and experienced Ordnance Department of wilful ignorance. The eventual loss of India to Great Britain is inevitable unless its rulers learn to subordinate English views to Oriental necessities.

Whenever Parsis or Muhammadans sought refuge or hospitality in Hindu territories, their Rajas always made it the sine quâ non condition of their admission that they should not slaughter kine. In Kashmir, where the bulk of the population is Muhammadan, the killing of a cow used to be punished by starvation to death, and several Europeans, suspected of the deed, were accidentally drowned. In Lhassa the Buddhist Lamas tolerate large settled colonies of Muhammadans, but will not allow the visit of omnivorous Europeans. In some parts even of British India, the wild Nilgai, or so-called “blue cow" is protected from the sportsman. In the "India of the Rajas " the killing of cattle is prohibited. In British India it is allowed, but wise officials try to prevent its ostentatious exhibition. Pieces of beef are not hung out of Muhammadan butchers' shops, the carrying of that meat is concealed under a cloth and the shambles are generally outside the city in a walled enclosure. Where the British Gallio of the place is careless, the Hindu population is in a constant state of alarm. Ignorant or mischievous Muhammadans of the lower classes are apt to push pieces of beef in the face of Hindu passers

by with the observation, "This is your God;" and Muhammadan butchers are murdered en masse as at Amritsur, Raikot and elsewhere by revenging Hindu and Sikh fanatics.

Whether the sacredness of the cow is originally due to economical or purely religious reasons, the fact remains that it is the very basis of the peace and of the agricultural prosperity of India. There are instances to show that whatever invader will promise to prevent the slaughter of kine will at once secure the adhesion of the Hindu masses in any part of India. There are no Russian spies in India, for the Russian Foreign Office can ever obtain information from its British confrère that is denied to British officials; but there are, no doubt, Russian emissaries in India, some of whom are received with an overdue courtesy which the natives attribute to fear. It is understood that a Russian rule means the restoration of territories annexed from native chiefs and-old promise of every intending invader—the redress of grievances of every kind, the reduction of taxation especially of that on salt, as in Russia itself; and, above all, the prohibition of the slaughter of kine, and of all missionary interference or propagandas coupled with the perfect equality of all races in admission to civil, political and military offices, provided they are good Russians.

To Muhammadans these offers possess no attraction. It is true that the Shah of holy Bokhara still reigns, but he governs less than the Nizám of Hyderabad; it is admitted that there are Muhammadan regiments of the Emperor's Guards, in which from the general to the private, all belong to that faith, but everywhere "native troops" are the first food for powder. It is true that the members of whatever creed, except the Jews, are "hail fellows well met on the common ground of intoxication in the hospitable circles of Russia, but the orthodoxy of Muslim leaders objects to such fraternization and the "consensus fidelium" must follow. It is true that Iskandar Khan, one of the possible claimants to Herat if not Kabul, was a Colonel in the Russian Guards, but he was soon involved in a duel and had to leave. Colonel Alikhanoff governed Merv as long as he was wanted; he has since been displaced on an apparently trumped-up charge. Muhammadan officers are marched to the religious services of the Greek-orthodox church or are not allowed the use of Mullahs or Imáms of their own persuasions in their regiments, whereas British tolerance permits it. No doubt, the Russian Government has constructed several Mosques, which the English have never done, and has subsidized the public criers of the Ramazán, in newly-conquered territory, but then it has also attempted to hang up the Emperor's effigy in Mosques and it has revised the holy Koran in accordance with the rules of Russian Censorship. No Muhammadan can forgive this, however much in the regions of the haute politique of France and Russia, the conciliation of Muhammadans be laid down as an axiom. There is the stillness of death in native Russian Central Asia. Even the Kirghiz are being "Russianized." This means the loss of individuality, so apparent in the late Pamir expedition where the Kossacks could break the ground but were useless as scouts, for which the heavy and stupid Kirghiz shepherds had to be employed as "the Kirghiz militia." Above all, so long as the "Commander of the Faithful," the

Khalifa Sultan of Turkey has not thrown in his lot with Russia, so long will the Sunnis, who constitute the majority of Muhammadans all over the world, rather side with England, its natural foe.

NAWAB A'BDURRASHÎD.

THE DISTURBING EFFECT OF ENGLISH EDUCATION IN INDIA.

I have pointed out since 1865 that as so-called "English education" extended, on purely secular lines, without the previous discipline of Arabic and Sanscrit for Muhammadans and Hindus respectively, every Government School would become a centre of sedition. Indeed, even in villages, the people are now learning to attribute to the Authorities disasters that used to be patiently borne as the inflictions of a wise Providence and where they formerly looked for sympathy, if not redress, to the Deputy-Commissioner as "the father and mother" of the district, they now turn for advice to the local Babu, who knows English. The official, who is on his guard, is now not half so friendly to natives, even if a Radical, as the "Quy hay" of the olden days, and the consequence is mutual distrust. The weakening, moreover, of the village councils or Panchayets and even of the trade Panches, the harassing effect of English reforms and the growth of litigation, fostered by the decline of the authority of Caste and of the native religions, offer an opportunity to Babus of rising to power by availing themselves of the ever-existing elements of, hitherto, passive discontent, but they have not created these elements. The abolition of the Educational Department is the very first step to take, if we desire to develop in India a love of learning for its own sake, or for practical requirements, to be paid for by those that want it. The rest will keep to their traditional occupations and, within the range of their usefulness, will, at any rate, "think straight," which they cannot now do in a foreign language without its associations. M. Vambery, who has never been to India, may talk about the blessings of English education, but we who have never known a single original work of merit, and few good deeds emanate from those whom we have denationalized, would welcome back the strengthening, if narrowing, effects of old Oriental education, gradually adapting itself to modern requirements.

True India will then return to its Natural leaders. Local grievances will be redressed locally and there will be no imperium in imperio for the organised ventilation of some universal sorrow or reform, whether indigenous or imported. Above all, all public business should be conducted in the vernacular and not in English, if the heart of the people is to be reached and no Viceroy or Secretary of State should be appointed who has not at least a thorough knowledge of Urdu, the lingua franca of India. Indeed, an Oriental and aristocratic continent like India deserves a Regal Court and a permanent Head and cannot be governed for ever by fits and starts from over the seas, especially when a powerful arm is being stretched out over unbroken territories by land in order to snatch the finest Jewel in the British Crown. The Duke of Connaught, or, in his default, the Marquis of Lorne, would be the right Viceroy in an " India of Rajas."

A DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION.

THE COVERT INDIAN FRONTIER POLICY.

J. D. writes as follows:

That Russia is determined upon invading India whenever a chance of success offers itself, and that we should, therefore, put ourselves in a position to repel the intended attack-are propositions universally admitted. Opinions differ only as to the best mode of repelling such an attack, and as this question presumes an actual Russian advance through Afghanistan, it is unconnected with Central Asian politics in general, excepting so far as they involve our relations with the Afghans, whose attachments to our interests in the conjuncture would of course be of inestimable value.

Now, the Indian Govt. despatches of 1866-67 have fully discussed the question in its various aspects, and shown that our best plan is to attack the invading troops as they emerge from the mountain defiles of Afghanistan, before they have time to assemble in considerable bodies or recover from their march through the most inclement and difficult country in the world.

On the other hand, the Cabinet of 1876 initiated the "Forward" or "Scientific frontier" policy, which is still being pursued although its actual features have never been divulged, and the action taken on it has been marked by signal failure, by disasters and by humiliations.

Were these results generally known the nation would certainly stop the further prosecution of a policy obviously impracticable, and which has exhausted the resources of the Indian Exchequer without securing a single step towards the British occupation of Afghan citadels, which is said to be an important part of its programme. But the nation is in the dark; the results of our frontier expeditions and the cost of the military roads and railways constructed to facilitate the march of our troops into Afghanistan, are sedulously concealed from the public: whilst Parliament, where India has no representative, continues averse to the discussion of the subject.

Under these circumstances, I have been striving solely to induce inquiry into the above-mentioned facts, feeling convinced that the pressure of public opinion alone can compel Parliament to take up the question and do its duty. Referring now to Sir M. Durand's Mission to Cabul, I gather from the Pioneer of 8th August that the Mission relates chiefly to questions connected with the Indo-Afghan frontier.

You may remember that last year our situation in the Zhob valley, where our posts and communications were harassed by the Waziris, became so intolerable, that we earnestly requested the Amir to remove an officer whom he had stationed among that tribe and to whose influence we ascribed their active hostility. The Amir, in complying with our request, suggested a delimitation of our frontier, questioning thereby our right to place troops in the Waziri territory, beyond the boundary of India. The suggestion was ignored by us, and it now appears that the annoyance we complained of has continued unabated. You will see from the above-mentioned paper that the Waziris commit outrages on travellers to and from the Gumal Pass; that British patrols are ambuscaded, British officers attacked, our camp-followers cut up, and that a Ghazi has run amok in our encampment. The Pioneer adds:

"In the majority of cases the murderers escape. The usual punishment, when identity can be established, is to impose a fine on the clan. It is intended to impose a fine at once for the last murder [that of a non-commissioned officer and a trooper]. If the Waziri chiefs cannot restrain their bad characters, they must be plainly told that our troops will help them to keep the peace. Murder and robbery cannot be tolerated in districts through which our military roads run, and this the Waziris must be made to understand."

Can a more humiliating situation be imagined for the soldiers of a great nation? Is this all the protection that the Government can afford to British life and British property in time of peace? This miserable situation is, at all events, the outcome of that much vaunted "Forward policy" in the prosecution of which so much blood and treasure has been expended during the last sixteen years.

NEWS FROM CENTRAL ASIA.-The party in Central Asia who are in favour of the deposition of the Amir of Bokhara is a growing one, but it is not likely that they will see their hopes fulfilled for some time to come. When His Highness went to Europe, some of them were foolish enough to imagine that this was intended as a preliminary step towards deposition, but were mortified to discover that the Amir only consented to go in order to obtain a personal statement from the Tzar to the effect that his son should not be thwarted in the succession. Russia finds it very convenient to have such an amenable prince in her dominions, who is always ready to shower decorations and presents at the merest hint, and his deposition would give a great shock to those Indian princes who believe that Russia hopes to give them their liberty-some day. At the present moment he is having a severe struggle with a certain party in the Russian Government whose anxiety to oust Indian products has caused them to bring pressure upon the Amir to levy a prohibitive tariff upon Indian tea. This is a very unwise policy for the Russian Government to pursue, as General Kuropatkin, the Governor-General of Transcaspia, and several other authorities are telling them, because it will render the Russian name very odious in the State of Bokhara where the inhabitants have a partiality for the tea which comes from India. The opposition reply however, that if the Amir gives the order, the people will attach all blame to him, but the others see in this an attempt to weaken the power of Seid Abdul Ahad. Such is the present condition of affairs.

A high Customs' official recently arrived in Transcaspia in order to superintend the establishment of a better customs' chain between the Russian dominions and Persia and Afghanistan, as it has been found necessary to withhold the bounty on sugar exported from Askabad to Meshed owing to the discovery that some of it had come back four times in order to receive the pecuniary reward. Most of the sugar is therefore now going to Khorasan viâ Askabad where the bounty is still being paid. Lieutenant H. J. Coningham of the Leinster Regiment has recently been accorded a most enthusiastic reception in Transcaspia where he has been the guest of General Kuropatkin, the Governor-General, who was most kind in giving orders that everything was to be shown to the English officer that the latter might desire to see. General Kuropatkin personally conducted