THE SITUATION IN INDIA.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 9835, 18 September 1897, Page 7

THE SITUATION IN INDIA.

ADVANCE OP THE BRITISH FORGES. SOME SEVEEE FIGHTING. A NEW ZEALANDER KILLED. Press Association—By.Telegvaph—Copyright. Calcutta, September 16. The advance of the column under Brigadier-General Sir Bindon Blood upon Nawagai and the march of a detachment under the command of Brigadier-General Elles upon the Krappa Pass met with no opposition. A great force of Oiiakzais had gathered four hundred yards from Fort Gulistan, and the tribesmen were making preparations to 'st&rln the fort when Brigadier - General Yeatman Biggs opened five with the long range artillery, whioh dispersed the rebels. It is expgdiied that this movement on the part of the British forces will have the effect of preventing the tribesmen molesting the posts in the Samana range until Lieut;-General Sir W. Lockhart, Commander-in-Chief of the Forces in the Punjaub, arrives from England to conduct the expedition to Tirah, the stronghold of the AMciis. The details of the relief of Fort Gulistan show that the fort was heroically defended by the garrison, and that the tribesmen were repeatedly repulsed at the point of the bayonet. A night attack had been made on Colonel P. D. Jeffreys' camp ab Rahbat. Lieutenants W. E. Tor_kins and A. W. Bailey, of the 88th Bengal infantry, were amongst those killed. September i7. Brigadier-Geuei'al Elles is making a steady advance into the Mohmand country, and the force under his command has occupied Fort Gundab unopposed, after a toilsome march through barren, hilly country, devoid of roads, and impracticable for artillery. He lost thirty killed in the recent fighting on the Samana range. The Orakzais and Afridis. have dispersed and returned to their homes. Later reports show that Fort Gulistan was relieved by Brigadier General Briggs's force, afber three days' continuous fighting. The commandant's wife aud four children were living in the fort and underwent the siege along with the garrison. Lieutenant Bailey was killed on the the night of the attack by Jeffreys' s camp on Rahbat Pass. He was a New Zealander, and, along with Lieutenant Tomkins, exposed himself in directing the infantry against the attack. The light from the camp fire and the bright moonlight enabled the tribesmen to aim from behind rocks. The British casualties totalled ten men.

Tehbean, September Iβ. It is reported that Sir Mortimer Durand, the British Minister, will head a mission to the Ameer, with the object of settling the disturbed relations between India and Afghanistan.