Show THE CITY OF HE11AT The Gate of India and the Object orE or-E Cupidity The city of Herat possesses a peculiar interest at present as being the goal toward which all the advances of Rum in Central Asia are tending the prize which the paw of the Russian bear is outstretched out-stretched to grasp But why this deSire de-sire this eager striving for the possession of a city neither wealthy nor commercially important The reason is that Herat is the key to Afghanistan and the Gale of India It must not however be sun posed that it is anything of a fortun Although looked upon by the Afghans as the bulwark of Afghanistan against their heretical neighbors the Persians it could < offer little resistance to modern artillery Its ramparts which have time and again hurled back the tide of Persian invasion and preserved inviolate the heritage of Mahmpud of Ghuzin were with the exception of the citadel only earthworks which have crumbled into decay and it i derives its importance not from any supposed sup-posed impregnability but from the position po-sition which it occupies Lying in that fertile valley of the her which has been called the Granary of Central Asia it commands the mouth of the only pass by which a fully equipped army can cross the might ranges of the HinduRush while the surrounding sur-rounding district fertile and healthy and inhabited by a hardy and docile race can not be surpassed as a base of operations In its present almost defenseless de-fenseless condition Herat could easily be seized by a small force advancing from Merv and would then act as a tetede pont covering the passage of a Russian army across the HinduRush Besides commanding the passage through the mountains Herat is strategetically important im-portant for another reason There arc two great roads running through Afghanistan Afghan-istan which form the only lines of operation opera-tion against India for a full equipped army The first of these leads through Cabul Jelalabad and the Khyber Pass to Peshawur in the Punjaub the other by Candehar Qaettah and the Bolan Pass to Shikarpur on the Lower Indus These are the only routes by which a forc with guns could move on India and they meet at Herat By seizing Herat Russia would gain the following advantages A safe passage pas-sage across the mountains into Afghanistan Afghan-istan an abundant supply of all things necessary for an army and the choice ol two lines of advance whenever she chose to attack India The possession ol India would also insure to her the active support of all of Afghanistan All Asiatics the Afghans included are already contrasting the vigorous policy pursued by the Russians in Central Asia with the Hiipineness and suicidal indifference indiffer-ence displayed by the British Government Govern-ment From this comparison they infer thai while Russia is strong enough to overcome over-come any resistance that can be offered England feels too weak to oppose her and the wild Afghan mountaineers long for the timeto arrive when they may obtain ob-tain an opportunity of sweeping down on the rich cities and fertile plains of Hin iostan On the other hand a British I force in Herat would prevent a Russian I army from passing the mountains and would insure the support of Persia who has hitherto from fear of Russia been decidedly hostile to England Then again Herat would be a fine bae 3f operations against Men if it should be deemed advisable to operate to the north of the mountains while tIe occupation occu-pation of the district would go far to restore re-store British prestage in Asia The fertile valley which forms the entice teirilory is a checkerwork of ornfields vineyards and gardens dotted here and there wth little fortified villages vil-lages and watered by a number of small rivulets which empty into the Ileri In the midst of these t like a gem in its setting set-ting is the city itself presenting at a distance dis-tance a very picturesque appearance while a few miles to the west stands Gthorian a rock fortress belonging to lerat formerly a place of some importance im-portance and still the chief stronghold of western Afghanistan its surroundings are But charming as he city itself has few charms to our admiration ad-miration It is nearly square the length of each side being about a mile and is lurrounded by mud walls and a wide ditch It has the narrow gloomy streets common to all Eastern towns and is onetIme of one-tIme dirtiest cities in the world The two mars which cross each other at right ingles and divide the town into four quarters were formerly very fine but are low in a ruinous condition like every U ing else Mosques and caravansaries public baths and mud hovels are jumbled together to-gether as if they had been mixed up in a sack and poured out The number of inhabitants varies considerably i iderably but is in the neighborhood of 0000 The majority of them belong toe to-e Sheeah sect but there are a large lumber of Afghans of the Suni sect with a sprinkling of Hindoos Armenians and Jews Herat contains no buildings worthy of mention and in fact owes its importance to its position at the junction of the great roads and at the mouth of the pass |