The Commander-in-Chief had decided to pass the winter in marching through the Punjab, and inspecting the different stations for troops in the north of India.  The Head-Quarters camp had, therefore, been formed at Jullundur, and thither we proceeded when the gathering at Allahabad had dispersed.  We had but just arrived, when we were shocked and grieved beyond measure to hear of Lady Canning’s death.  Instead of accompanying the Viceroy to Allahabad she had gone to Darjeeling, and on her return, anxious to make sketches of the beautiful jungle scenery, she arranged, alas! contrary to the advice of those with her, to spend one night in the terai,[4] where she contracted jungle-fever, to which she succumbed ten days after her return to Calcutta.  Her death was a real personal sorrow to all who had the privilege of knowing her; what must it have been to her husband, returning to England without the helpmate who had shared and lightened the burden of his anxieties, and gloried in the success which crowned his eventful career in India.

The Commander-in-Chief arrived in the middle of November, and all the officers of the Head-Quarters camp went out to meet him.  I was mounted on a spirited nutmeg-gray Arab, a present from Allgood.  Sir Hugh greatly fancied Arabian horses, and immediately noticed mine.  He called me up to him, and asked me where I got him, and of what caste he was.  From that moment he never varied in the kindness and consideration with which he treated me, and I always fancied I owed his being well disposed towards me from the very first to the fact that I was riding my handsome little Arab that day; he loved a good horse, and liked his staff to be well mounted.  A few days afterwards he told me he wished me to accompany him on the flying tours he proposed to make from time to time, in order to see more of the country and troops than would be possible if he marched altogether with the big camp.

We went to Umritsar, Mian Mir, and Sialkot; at each place there were the usual inspections, mess dinners, and entertainments.  The Chief’s visit made a break in the ordinary life of a cantonment, and the residents were glad to take advantage of it to get up various festivities; Sir Hugh, too, was most hospitably inclined, so that there was always a great deal to do besides actual duty when we arrived at a station.

Jamu, where the Ruler of Kashmir resides during the winter, is not far from Sialkot, so Sir Hugh was tempted to accept an invitation from the Maharaja to pay him a visit and enjoy some good pig-sticking, to my mind the finest sport in the world.  His Highness entertained us right royally, and gave us excellent sport, but our pleasure was marred by the Chief having a bad fall:  he had got the first spear off a fine boar, who, feeling himself wounded, turned and charged, knocking over Sir Hugh’s horse.  All three lay in a heap together; the pig was dead, the horse was badly ripped up, and the Chief showed no signs of life.  We carried him back to Jamu on a charpoy[5] and when he regained consciousness we found that no great harm was done beyond a severely bruised face and a badly sprained leg, which, though still very painful two or three days later, did not prevent the plucky old fellow from riding over the battle-field of Chilianwalla.