1-150-173 - The Cartoon Collector/Heritage Images

"Save Me from my Friends!", 1878. The Ameer of Afghanistan stands between the Russian bear, jaws dripping with saliva, and the British lion with teeth bared. The quote from the "Times" newspaper below reads: 'At this moment it has been decided to invade the Ameer's territory, we are acting in pursuance of a policy which in its intention has been uniformly friendly to Afghanistan'. The Ameer had recently turned the British envoy Charles Chamberlain away from the entrance to the Khyber Pass but had admitted the Russians to Kabul. He was asked to apologise and permit a permanent British mission which he refused to do, and so war began in November. From "Punch, or the London Charivari", November 30, 1878.