ies had met in battle in West Africa.

The story was not, however, believed, because the English Government had
given orders to her soldiers that they were to avoid any conflict with
the French, and the same directions had been given to the French by
their Government.

It is, however, felt that trouble is pretty sure to come ere long, and
so England has been sending more soldiers to the Niger territory, and
now has a force of four thousand men there.

A commission was appointed to examine into this vexed boundary question,
and it has been sitting in Paris for many weeks.

Unfortunately, neither party seems willing to wait until the commission
has finished its work.

The French, maintaining that they have a right to seize any city or land
that is not occupied by an armed force belonging to any other nation,
have been sending out armed parties to take possession of any territory
they can get. They have already taken possession of several places that
England has long looked upon as her property.

The British are naturally not going to submit to this, and so they, in
their turn, are trying to seize land wherever possible.

It is feared that in some of their various raids the British and French
may meet, and a serious conflict ensue.

* * * * *

From India it is reported that the Ameer of Afghanistan has refused to
listen to the envoys from the Afridi tribes, and that they are about to
submit to the English rule.

They will be forced to give up the rifles and plunder they have taken,
and hostages will be demanded of them as a guarantee of further good
behavior.

The allowance made by the English Government to the Afridis will be
stopped. The Khyber Pass, which was held by them, will be reopened, and
matters will proceed much the same as if no rising had occurred.

A state durbar will shortly be held, at which the chiefs of the Afridis
will do homage, and submit to the English rule.

A durbar is, as you no doubt remember, a levee or reception.

It is rumored that the results of this campaign are very unsatisfactory
to the English people. The hill-fighting, however, turned out to be so
much more severe than the English expected, and the tribesmen proved
such formidable foes, that they were glad to make peace on whatever
terms they could.

To punish the natives as they had intended would have taken such a large
sum of money, and employed such a number of troops, that the Governme