The Mahdi's fortunes do not interest India. The talk in some of the papers about the necessity of smashing him, in order to avert the risk of some general Mahomedan uprising, is futile and imaginative. The Indians think the English rather mad to go crusading against him in the Soudan, and they may soon get irritated at the waste of Indian lives at Suakin, when we want our best men on the N.W. frontier; but, for the rest, they do not concern themselves about remote Arab tribes. Of course everyone sees that the English Government has now an excellent pretext for getting partially out of a hopeless mess by transferring most of our English troops from the Red Sea to the Punjab. * * * * * On April 9th news reached London that on March 30th the Russians, under General Komaroff, had attacked and carried the Affghan positions at Penjdeh, concerning which negotiations were going on. As our Government was pledged meanwhile to the support of the Amir, this action of Komaroff's was held to be a very aggravated insult to England. Explanations were demanded, but preparations for war were hurried on, and on April 27th, after an impassioned speech by Mr. Gladstone, a vote of credit for eleven millions was passed almost by acclamation. The negotiations, however, were continued; explanations were given: the Russians kept Penjdeh; the Affghans had lost their territory, their guns, and 500 men; and Mr. Gladstone expressed himself satisfied. Four days afterwards, May 8th, the Government was defeated on the budget, and resigned a few days later, the Marquis of Salisbury forming the new ministry. _From Sir Alfred Lyall_ _June 5th_.--Probably you know more in England than we do in India of the course of negotiations with Russia, It seems just now more smooth than satisfactory. I fear we have lost credit in India over that unlucky Penjdeh business. One would fancy that our representatives on the spot might have been wary enough to discern that where the Russians and the Affghans were drawing close to each other, there lay the risk and the strain of the situation. I have a very moderate trust in our ally the Amir, though he is a very able, if unscrupulous, ruler. I hope fervently he has sense enough not to use those breech-loaders we are sending in such quantities, and that he won't repeat the Penjdeh blunder by provoking some collision with the Russians on his border.... India is very quiet. The Russian scare of the spring has turned rather to our advantage, as I always prophesied it would, by bringing home to the natives their dependence on England for protection from foreign invasion. _From Sir Henry Taylor_