he conditions which had held when Colonel Harman was appointed.
This officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Baker, was as much surprised as anybody
when I arrived to take up the duties which he naturally thought would
devolve upon himself. My position therefore was not a very pleasant one,
but I saw no reason why, with tact and care, the unpleasantness should
not be removed. I was right in my forecast, and, before two months had
passed, my official relations with all concerned became quite
satisfactory.

There is no need, nor would it be of any special interest, to enter into
details of the many and varied duties which appertained to the
appointment. I had to buy anything, from a submarine or destroyer to
brass instruments for bands, and from the largest of guns to carbines and
bayonets and officers' whistles. The question of advising the Government
on making inquiries as to inventions was not part of my duties, but yet
hardly a week or a fortnight passed that some persistent inventor did not
find his way into my offices. The question of getting new inventions
fully considered and tested by the War Office was always a difficult one
to those who did not know the ropes, and there seemed to be a general
idea amongst these clever gentlemen that, if they could get some of the
Colonies to accept what they had to offer, it would be an easy road to
the War Office. During my time in London, however, I must say that while
several clever and very ingenious devices were brought to me, none proved
good enough to enable me to recommend their adoption.

It had been decreed by the War Office that manoeuvres on a much larger
scale than had as yet been held in England should take place during the
summer, and I looked forward with a great deal of interest to being
present thereat. There appeared to be three principal objects in carrying
them out, to give senior officers an opportunity of handling large bodies
of men actually in the field; secondly, to test the departmental
services; and thirdly, to test the possibilities and reliability of a
system of hired transport.

The invited visiting officers were quartered at the Counties Hotel,
Salisbury. Its situation was fairly convenient and it was quite a
comfortable hotel. There were to be two armies, the Northern and the
Southern, the two together numbering somewhere between 80,000 and 100,000
men and commanded respectively by the Duke of Connaught and General Sir
Redvers Buller. The period of manoeu