Girishk is 75 miles from Kandahar; mid-way between there is Maiwand, mournfully signalised by one of those inglorious reverses which British arms have experienced in Afghanistan--in this instance the defeat of General Burrows at the hands of Ayub Khan in 1880. Their incidence, unfortunately, has given rise to very exaggerated ideas upon the practical utility of the Afghan rabble and its powers of resistance at the present day. Kandahar, the scene of one brilliant episode when the victorious Roberts relieved an ominous situation, has been the centre of many ill-fated risings and mis-shapen schemes, yet of all none more so than that injudicious and most pretentious plan of uniting Quetta with Kushkinski Post by a trans-Afghan railway _viâ_ Kandahar and Herat. No practical end can be served by such a line and, indeed upon the broadest grounds, there is absolutely nothing which can justify its construction. The policy of this country should be mistrustful of Russia always and our attitude should be actively suspicious. In Asia, High or Near, she is our inveterate opponent and the one element of danger which never can be removed from our path. We can neither believe in nor rely upon her bond, while her diplomatic morality no less than her most solemnly pledged word is instinctive with treachery. Whatever may be desirable for purposes of State at this moment, at least we should be mindful of our experiences at her hands and we should allow those lessons of past history to serve to-day as an active spur to our hostility. That she would stoop to any pretext, however infamous, to secure her ends is proven by the unctuous assurances which she tendered the Cabinet of the day in this country in respect of her campaigns in Central Asia. If this reminder be insufficient, let us reflect upon the manner in which she has excused to us, through long years, her nefarious designs against our interests in Persia and Manchuria. Therefore, remembering these things, it is necessary to repeat the warning to keep Russia at a distance. [Illustration: CONSTRUCTING THE QUETTA-NUSHKI LINE]