herefore
invited to meet the Viceroy at Rawal Pindi, where a large standing
camp was prepared, and my wife and I were bidden amongst a numerous
company, including Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess
of Connaught, the Ruling Punjab Chiefs, and the high officers of
Government from various parts of India, to be the guests of His
Excellency and Lady Dufferin on the interesting occasion.

The meeting was fixed for the end of March, and as there was scarcely
time for us to return to Madras and get back again before then, we
proceeded leisurely up country, visiting different places and one or
two old friends on the way.

At Multan I received a cipher telegram from Sir Donald Stewart
informing me that it had been decided to mobilize two Army Corps, and
that I was to have command of the first. This was exciting news, and
we lost no time in making our way to Rawal Pindi, where we should be
in direct communication with Head-Quarters, and hoped to hear what had
taken place since we left Calcutta to make it necessary to prepare for
war.

I soon found out that this action on the part of the Government was
forced on them by the representatives of Russia on the Boundary
Commission, who were persistent in their attempts to encroach on
Afghan territory, in order that they might be in a position to control
the approaches to Herat, a Russian occupation of which fortress we
could not permit.

Abdur Rahman arrived at Rawal Pindi on the last day of March; he was
about forty-five years of age, and although he required a stick
to walk with, being a martyr to rheumatism, and very stout, his
appearance was decidedly dignified and imposing. He had a manly,
clever, and rather handsome face, marred only by the cruel expression
of the mouth, and his manner was sufficiently courteous though
somewhat abrupt.

Several semi-private meetings took place between the Viceroy and
the Amir, at the first of which His Highness, after expressing his
appreciation of the flattering and cordial reception he had met with,
reminded Lord Dufferin that he had consistently warned the British
Government of the approach of the Russians towards Afghanistan and of
the unsettling effect their advance was producing on the minds of
his countrymen; and he advocated the necessity for timely action. No
attention, he said, had been paid to his warnings, owing, probably, to
the strife of parties in England, and to the excessive caution of the
British Government.

L