第29章

"Oh! all this we are obliged to have off by heart in the General Staff College, if we are not to be miserably ploughed in examination.In November, 1878, we were rather weak in Central Asia through having to devote all our resources to bringing the war with Turkey to a close, and so the English again entered Afghanistan.They meant to take advantage of our embarrassments to bring the country entirely under their suzerainty.They advanced in three columns by way of the Bolan Pass, the Kuram Valley, and the Khyber Pass.But on this occasion too they were unable to stand their ground, and had to retire with great loss.No Power will ever be able to establish itself in Afghanistan without the sympathies of the natives on its side.And the sympathies of the Afghans are on our side.We understand how to manage these people;the English are solely infidels in their eyes.""Do you believe that Russia merely covets the buffer-state Afghanistan, or do its intentions go further?""Oh, my dear comrade, at present we mean India.For more than a hundred years past we have had our eye on this rich country.The final aim of all our conquests in Central Asia has been India.As early as 1801 the Emperor Paul commanded the Hetman of the army of the Don, Orlov, to march upon the Ganges with 22,000 Cossacks.It is true that the campaign at that time was considered a far simpler matter than it really is.The Emperor died, and his venturesome plan was not proceeded with.During the Crimea General Kauffmann offered to conquer India with 25,000 men.But nothing came of this project.Since then ideas have changed.We have seen that only a gradual advance can lead us to our objective.And we have not lost time.In the west we have approached Herat, until now we are only about sixty miles away, and in the east, in the Pamirs, we have pushed much nearer still to India.""It is most interesting to hear all this.I have done my best to get at the lie of the land, but till now the Pamir frontiers have always been a mystery to me.""They mystify most people, you will find.Only a person who has been there can understand the situation.And he who has been there does not know the frontier line either, for there is, in fact, no exact boundary.The Pamir plateau lies to the north of Peshawar, and is bounded in the south by the Hindu-Kush range.The territorial spheres of government are extremely complicated.The Ameer of the neighbouring country of Afghanistan claims the sovereignty over the khanates Shugnan and Roshan, which form the larger portion of the Pamirs.Moreover, he likewise raises pretensions to the province of Seistan, which is also claimed by Persia.Now this province is of peculiar importance, because the English could seize it from Baluchistan without much difficulty, and, if so, they would obtain a strong flank position to the south of our line of march, Merv-Herat, by way of Kandahar-Quetta.""The conditions are, certainly, very complicated.""So complicated, indeed, that for many years past we have had differences with the English touching the frontier question.Our British friends have over and over again forced the Ameer of Afghanistan to send troops thither; an English expedition for the purpose of frontier delimitation has been frequently camped on the Pamir Mountains.Of course, in this respect, we have not been behindhand either.I myself have before now taken part in such a scientific expedition.""And it really was merely a scientific expedition?""Let us call it a military scientific excursion!" replied the Prince, smiling."We had 2,000 Cossacks with us, and got as far as the Hindu-Kush--the Baragil Pass and another, unnamed, which we called, in honour of our colonel, the Yonov Pass.There we were confronted by Afghan troops, and defeated them at Somatash.By order of the English, who were paying him subsidies, Ameer Abdur-Rahman was obliged to resent this and petition their assistance.

An English envoy arrived in Cabul, and negotiations were entered into, which we contrived to spin out sufficiently to gain time for the erection of small forts in the Pamirs.Finally an arrangement was arrived at in London to the effect that the Pench should be the boundary between Russia and Afghanistan in the Pamir territory.Afew months later we were met by an English expedition on the Sarykul; we were to determine the exact boundary-line together.It was great fun; our English comrades tried hard not to let us see that they had orders to be complacent.We had soon discovered it, and drew the line just as we pleased.The upshot was that only a very narrow strip of land between Bukhara and the Indian border remained to the Ameer, and that he had to undertake neither to station troops there nor to erect fortifications.Our territory had been pushed forward up to within about twelve miles of English territory.It is there that we are closest to India, and we can, if we choose, at any time descend from the passes of the Hindu-Kush to the Chitral Valley, within the British sphere of influence."A servant, bringing an invitation to Heideck from Mrs.Baird to dine with them that evening, interrupted the conversation.The Captain was scarcely able to disguise his pleasure; he had no doubt that this invitation was due to Edith, and was happy in the prospect of seeing her again.

"You are on good terms with the Colonel," said the Prince, as soon as the servant had left with Heideck's letter of acceptance."This can be of the greatest assistance to you under present circumstances.Do make him give you a passport and come with me.""I am sorry, Prince! I should be delighted to travel in such pleasant company, but business keeps me here a little longer for the present.""Well--as you please--I must not try to over-persuade you; but Iwill not abandon the hope that we shall meet again, and it is unnecessary to assure you that you can count upon me in any situation in which you may find yourself."