Lord Dufferin, whose interest in the efficiency of the army induced him to come all the way from Calcutta to witness the last two days’ manoeuvres, was present—­with the twelve ’foreign officers’[5] from the principal armies of Europe and America, who had been invited to attend the camp—­at a march-past of the whole force of 35,000 men on the 18th.  It was a fine sight, though marred by a heavy thunderstorm and a perfect deluge of rain, and was really a greater test of what the troops could do than if we had had the perfect weather we had hoped for.  The ‘foreign officers’ were, apparently, somewhat surprised at the fine physique and efficiency of our Native soldiers, but they all remarked on the paucity of British officers with the Indian regiments, which I could not but acknowledge was, as it still is, a weak point in our military organization.

When the camp was broken up, I accompanied the Viceroy to Burma, where we arrived early in February, 1886.  Lord Dufferin must, I think, have been pleased at the reception he met with at Rangoon.  The people generally tried in every possible way to show their gratitude to the Viceroy, under whose auspices the annexation of Upper Burma had been carried out, and each nationality had erected a triumphal arch in its own particular quarter of the town.

From Rangoon we went to Mandalay, where Lord Dufferin formally announced the annexation by England of all that part of Upper Burma over which King Thebaw had held sway.  We then proceeded to Madras, where I parted from the Viceregal party and travelled to Bombay to meet my wife.  Leaving her at Simla to arrange our house, which had been considerably altered and added to, I proceeded to the North-West Frontier, for the question of its defence was one which interested me very deeply, and I hoped that, from the position I now held as a member of the Government of India, I should be able to get my ideas on this, to India, all-important subject listened to, if not altogether carried out.

The defence of the frontier had been considered under the orders of my predecessor by a Committee, the members of which had recorded their several opinions as to the means which should be adopted to make India secure.  But Sir Donald Stewart relinquished his command before anything could be done to give effect to the measures they advised.

The matter had therefore to be taken up afresh by me, and I carefully studied the recommendations of the ‘Defence Committee’ before visiting the frontier to refresh my memory by personal inspection as to the points to be defended.

It seemed to me that none of the members, with the exception of Sir Charles Macgregor and the secretary, Major W.G.  Nicholson, at all appreciated the great change which had taken place in our position since the near approach of Russia, and our consequent promise to the Amir to preserve the integrity of his kingdom, had widened the limit of our responsibilities from the southern to the northern boundary of Afghanistan.