nearly fired upon as hostile The change from the dreary tribesmen. Never shall I for- discomfort of the high ground get the joy of getting into to this Indian scenery and the warm mess-hut of that climate struck me as very fine regiment, the 45th Sikhs. delightful." But meanwhile the servants and baggage had moved on, and we could not find them. They spent the whole night in the hills, and two of them were frost-bitten. Early in the morning they came in; but I was out searching for them, and, not knowing where I was, all but Gurdial very pluckily marched on to the next post, ten miles off, where at last I found them, to my immense relief. The next day's march was again trying-"more intensely cold than anything I ever experienced, a bitter north wind chilling one to the bones through a heavy posteen, and swirling the frozen snow round us in blinding showers." But the cold was our safety, for it kept the tribesmen under shelter. A little later they shot several of our people on this road. That afternoon, at a lonely spot on lower ground, I met my friend West Ridgeway,1 who was riding up to Kabul to take my place with General Roberts; and soon after dark I was in Gandamak, where our treaty of peace had been signed the year before. There it was still cold, but on the following day we came upon low ground, "with the crops springing up and the fly. catchers fluttering in the air. After this it was all plain sailing. Jagdalak and other points on the road had brought bitter memories of the disastrous retreat in 1842, and at Jellalabad I saw the place where Brydon came riding in alone to announce the destruction of our unhappy force. It was something to remember that there at least we beat off the triumphant enemy, and in some measure redeemed the honour of our arms. At Jellalabad I left my horses and baggage animals, which were worn out, to come on quietly to India, pushing on myself in a native ekka or cart with a light kit. At a place called Basawal I found camped by the roadside the headquarters of the Central India Horse, of which my brother 2 was then Adjutant. Inquiring for his tent, I found him at the doorway, writing at We had a camp table. not met for three years, and I had grown a heavy beard during the winter; so he did not know me. I stayed with him an hour or so, and was glad to see how well his newly-joined regiment looked. The cavalry regiments on the line higher up had been almost destroyed by hard work and exposure-a lesson to me as to the wear and tear of a 1 The Right Hon. Sir West Ridgeway, G. C.B., &c. On the 8th February I rode into Peshawar, and that night was dining again with the Waterfields, feeling quite smart with a white collar on under my khaki. Five more days of travel, and on the night of the 13th, the eve of my birthday, I was once more with my wife and child. There followed a few weeks in Calcutta, which were very interesting to me. On the 8th March my immediate chief, Alfred Lyall, started for Kabul, to look into the Afghan situation on the spot with General Roberts, leaving me in charge of the Foreign Office. Lord Lytton then asked me to go over to Government House and stay with him, as the work was very heavy and he wished to have me at hand. Though I had often met him during the last two years, I had never till then got to know him well. He was at this time much disturbed in mind by the state of affairs in Afghanistan, and the violent attacks which it had brought upon him in England. Personally I had not thought his measures right. I see in my Kabul diary of December an entry: "An unnecessary and costly war will have ended in our having less weight in Afghanistan than we had in 1878. . . . Never did two men more damage India than Lord Lytton and Colley." But now that I was in personal contact with him, I could not help recognising his courage in adversity, or the streak of genius which ran through even the least practical of his schemes; and some of these-for example, his determination to get a firm grip on the northern and southern ends of our long frontier line at Gilgit and Quetta-turned out to be thoroughly sound. Colonel Brackenbury,1 a very clever man, who had succeeded the brave and ill-fated Colley as his Private Secretary, explained to me much that I had not understood, and showed me that some of the charges brought against Lord Lytton and his policy were most unjust. Lord Lytton's methods of work were peculiar, and to a hard-driven office man rather trying. On my first night with him, I had arrived in time for dinner. After dinner he kept me playing whist in the south verandah till past midnight, while the telegrams were accumulating on a little table by my side. Then he said: "Come along, Durand, let us open the telegrams," and we paced the verandah for five hours discussing the messages and drafting replies verbally. At last, to my great relief, when all was done, and I thought done very well, he went to bed. I had then to put the whole into writing, and my night's rest consisted of a bath before breakfast. I got more or less accustomed to these these methods in time, but when the Calcutta season 1 Afterwards General Sir Henry Brackenbury, G.C.B. was over I was very short of sleep. Before we left for Simla the result of the General Election of 1880 became known, and was a great surprise to him. For some time after the unfavourable telegrams began coming in he remained confident that later contests would turn the scale, but one evening, after going through the figures, I came to the conclusion that this was no longer possible, and brought him my calculation written down. At first he would not believe it, but the figures were decisive, and he then said that he would not serve a day under the Liberals. I tried to argue that the Viceroyalty of India ought not to depend upon the vicissitudes of party politics at home; but he would not listen to this for a moment, and certainly it would have been very difficult for him to remain after the attacks which had been made upon him. In any case he did not remain. Then followed the advent of Lord Ripon, and immediately afterwards the defeat at Maiwand, and the march of General Roberts from Kabul to Kandahar. I telegraphed to congratulate him on his selection for this command, and I find in my diary his telegram in reply: "Best thanks. Wish you were coming. But though I was to visit Kabul again some years later, and to see much of Lord Roberts in other circumstances, my days of service under him in Afghanistan They had been a deeply interesting part of my life. were over. AN AIRMAN'S OUTINGS.—III. SPYING OUT THE LAND. FOR thirty hours the flight had "stood by " for a long reconnaissance. We were dragged from bed at 4.30 A.M., only to return gratefully beneath the blankets three-quarters of an hour later, when a slight but steady rain washed away all ohance of an immediate job. The drizzle continued until after sundown, and our only occupations throughout the day were to wade from mess to aerodrome, aerodrome to mess, and overhaul in detail machines, maps, guns, and consciences. Next morning we again dressed in the half-light, and again went back to bed in the daylight. This time the show had been postponed because of low clouds and a thick ground-mist that hung over the reeking earth. It was a depressing dawn clammy, moist, and sticky. By early afternoon the mist had congealed, and the sheet of clouds had been torn to shreds by a strong south-west wind. The four craft detailed for the reconnaissance were therefore lined outside their shed, while their crews waited for flying orders. I was to be in the leading bus, for when C.'s death left vacant the command of A Flight, the good work of my pilot had brought him a flight commandership, a three- pipped tunic, and a sense of responsi bility which, to my relief, checked his tendency to overrecklessness. He now came from the squadron office with news of a changed course. "To get the wind behind us,' he explained, "we shall cross well to the south of Peronne. Next, we go to Boislens. After that we pass by Nimporte, over the Forêt de Charbon to Siègecourt; then up to Le Recul and back by Princebourg, St Guillaume, and Fleurogne. "As regards the observers, don't forget to use your fieldglasses on the rolling stock; don't forget the precise direction of trains and motor transport; don't forget the railways and roads on every side; don't forget the canals; and for the Lord's and everybody else's sake, don't be surprised by Hun aircraft. As regards the pilots -keep in close formation when possible; don't straggle and don't climb above the proper height." The pilots ran their engines once more, and the observers exchanged information about items such as Hun aerodromes and the number of railway stations at each large town. An air reconnaissance is essentially the observer's show; its main object is to supply the "I" people at headquarters with private bulletins from the back of the German front. The collection of reconnaissance re I made a A nos moutons. long list in my notebook of the places where something useful was likely to be observed, and tested my gun by firing a few shots into the ground. We hung around, impatient at the long delay. ports is work of a highly the detective problems are skilled nature, or ought to be. somewhat different. This deSpying out the land is much partment deals with hidden more than a search of rail- saps and battery positions, ways, roads, and the terrain and draws and photographs generally. The experienced ob- conclusions from clues such as server must know the Boche a muzzle-blast, fresh tracks, or area over which he works an artificial cluster of trees. rather better than he knows All reconnaissance observers Salisbury Plain. The approxi- must carry out a simultaneous mate position of railway juno- search of the earth for movetions and stations, aerodromes, ment and the sky for foes, factories, and depots should be and in addition keep their familiar to him, so that he guns ready for instant use. can without difficulty spot any And should anything happen new features. Also he must to their machines, and a forced be something of a sleuth, par- landing seem likely, they must ticularly when using smoke as sit tight and carry on so long a olue. In the early morn- as there is the slightest hope ing a thin layer of smoke above of a safe return. a wood may mean a bivouac. If it be only a mile or two behind the lines, it can evidence heavy artillery. A narrow stream of smoke near a railway will make an observer scan the line closely for a stationary train, as the Boche engine - drivers usually try to avoid detection by shutting off steam. The Huns have many other dodges to avoid publicity. When Allied aircraft appear, motor and horse transport remain immobile at the roadside or under trees. Artillery and infantry are packed under cover; though, for that matter, the enemy very rarely move troops in the daytime, preferring the night or early morning, when there are no troublesome eyes in the air. To foil these attempts at concealment is the business of the observers who gather information for Army Headquarters. For observers on corps work VOL. CCI.-NO. MCCXIX. "Get into your machines," called the the Squadron Commander at last, when a telephone message had reported that the weather conditions toward the east were no longer unfavourable. We took to the air and set off. V. led his covey beyond Albert and well south of the river before he turned to the left. Then, with the strong wind behind us, we raced north-east and crossed the strip of trenches. pilot of the emergency machine, which had come thus far to join the party if one of the other four dropped out, waved his hand in farewell and left for home. 3 E The |