* * * * * From India we hear the good news that the British forces have captured the camp and village which formed the headquarters of the Haddah Mullah, and that the Mullah had to flee before the approach of the English. Some people think that this defeat of the Mullah will have the effect of bringing the insurrection to a close, but it is as well not to put too much faith in this idea. We had a report a few days ago that the rebellion was over, and the very next week the British met with a severe repulse. It is certain that the capture of the Mullah's camp has had a good effect on the natives. The British were so confident that good results would follow it, that they ordered a two-days' armistice; that is to say, they stopped fighting the rebels for two days, to give them an opportunity to submit. The Mohmands did take advantage of the chance offered them, and the British think they are entirely subdued. The Afridis and Orakzais are, however, as rebellious as ever. These tribes refused to submit to the British, and instead sent messengers to the Ameer of Afghanistan, asking him to help them. They have spread a report among the hill tribes that the Ameer has asked hostages from them, and will help them if the hostages are given. A hostage is a person given and held under the laws of war, as a pledge. For instance, if this report is true about the Ameer, it means that he has asked that they shall give into his hands certain important leaders of tribes, whose lives and liberty are very precious to the Afridis. These people to be held by him until the war is over, as a guarantee that he will receive his compensation for helping them to fight the British. [Illustration: NATIVE SOLDIERS IN INDIA.] Hostages are always persons of high rank, and persons whose lives are so precious that their people will not allow them to be sacrificed. The giving of hostages is therefore considered the most binding form of agreement between savage peoples. In this instance, however, the story that the Ameer demanded hostages does not appear to be true. A later despatch says that the messengers sent by the Afridis and Orakzais were turned back at Jelalabad, and ordered to leave the country. The principal request they had to make of the Ameer was that he would give them ammunition; bullets, gunpowder, and cartridges. The fact that the Ameer sent them back without granting them an audience has convinced the British that he is sincere in declaring himself friendly to that nation. The mullahs, or priests, have been persuading the people that the Ameer would help them as soon as the revolution was firmly established. It is these same mullahs who are responsible for the suspicions the English had of the Ameer. It is said that the tribesmen are just beginning to understand that the Ameer does not mean to help them, and that they have only themselves to look to, to support their rebellion against England.