dilapidated condition, it remains an emphatic link between the present time and those past centuries. The city extends a mile and a half from east to west and a mile from north to south. Hemmed in by the mountains, there is little room for a capital of any size, except in a northerly direction towards the Shirpur cantonment. It is the intention of the present ruler of Afghanistan to lay down the lines of a new city, which, in size and in the importance of its defences, shall be worthy of the growing dignity of the state. The late Amir, Abdur Rahman, had planned the site of another capital in the fertile Chahardeh valley to the west of Shere Darwaza and Asmai, and between them and the Paghman hills, when death interrupted his labours. Nevertheless he bequeathed his policy to his successor, Habib Ullah, who has not yet moved in the matter. Shir Ali, disgusted with the unpleasant condition of his city, began a new one at Shirpur--the city of Shir Ali--but circumstances prevented him from completing more than three walls, these relics of a self-imposed task subsequently affording much assistance to the British when the Shirpur cantonment was built. In its present state Kabul affords a curious and interesting study in contrasts between the old and the new conditions. It is still a dirty city, its mean appearance emphasised by the neglected condition of its rambling lanes and the ramshackle character of its houses. Yet it boasts the possession of several buildings more or less imposing, their existence striking a very welcome note of relief after any close acquaintance with the narrow, ill-paved streets and their unusually sordid environment. Still, accumulations of dirt and the neglect of ages cannot conceal in the general complexion of the capital a certain tawdry magnificence, constantly illustrated by the erection of elaborate edifices that pass into neglect within a short space of their construction. In this way there are quite a number of so-called palaces in Kabul, as well as various buildings which, erected under the spur of that conspicuous vanity that distinguishes the Afghan Court and vaguely intended for industrial enterprises, have been abandoned entirely or put to other uses.