. There are no hereditary Chiefs or
Nobles in Burma, the _Poonghies_ being the advisers of the people and
the centre round which Native society revolves.

Our occupation of Upper Burma was necessarily a great blow to the
Buddhist priesthood, for many of the monasteries[4] were kept up
entirely by the King, Queen, and Ministers of State; and, as it was
most advisable to have the influence of the monks in our favour, I
recommended that a monthly stipend should be paid to the Archbishop
and two senior Bishops of Mandalay. They showed their gratitude by
doing all they could to help me, and when I was leaving the country
the old _Thathanabain_ (Archbishop) accompanied me as far as Rangoon.
We corresponded till his death, and I still hear occasionally from one
or other of my _Poonghie_ friends.

I remained only a short time in Calcutta on my return to India, and
then started off again for the North-West Frontier, in company with
General Chesney, who had previously expressed his general concurrence
in my defence proposals, but was anxious to see the several positions
and judge for himself, from an Engineer's point of view, of their
suitability to be treated as I suggested. It was a great source of
contentment to me to find that the sites chosen and the style of
entrenchments I had advocated commended themselves to my expert
companion.

Simla was more than usually gay during the summer of 1887, in
consequence of the numerous entertainments given in celebration of Her
Majesty's Jubilee. We had just added a ballroom to 'Snowdon,' and we
inaugurated its opening by a fancy ball on the 21st June, in honour of
the auspicious anniversary.

My name appeared in the Jubilee _Gazette_ as having been given the
Grand Cross of the Indian Empire, but what I valued still more was the
acceptance by the Government of India of my strong recommendation for
the establishment of a Club or Institute in every British regiment and
battery in India. In urging that this measure should be favourably
considered, I had said that the British Army in India could have no
better or more generally beneficial memorial of the Queen's Jubilee
than the abolition of that relic of barbarism, the canteen, and its
supersession by an Institute, in which the soldier would have under
the same roof a reading-room, recreation room, and a decently-managed
refreshment-room.

Lord Dufferin's Government met my views in the most liberal spirit,
and with the sanction of Lor