On the 4th January, 1869, having said good-bye to those dear to us, two of whom I was never to see again, my wife and I, with a baby girl who was born the previous July, embarked at Portsmouth on board the s.s. Helvetia, which had been taken up for the conveyance of troops to Bombay, the vessel of the Royal Navy in which we were to have sailed having suddenly broken down.  The Helvetia proved most unsuitable as a transport, and uncomfortable to the last degree for passengers, besides which it blew a gale the whole way to Alexandria.  We were all horribly ill, and our child caught a fatal cold.  We thoroughly appreciated a change at Suez to the Indian trooper, the Malabar, where everything possible was done for our comfort by our kind captain (Rich, R.N.), and, indeed, by everyone on board; but, alas! our beautiful little girl never recovered the cruel experience of the Helvetia, and we had the terrible grief of losing her soon after we passed Aden.  She was buried at sea.

It was a very sad journey after that.  There were several nice, kind people amongst our fellow-passengers; but life on board ship at such a time, surrounded by absolute strangers, was a terrible trial to us both, and, what with the effects of the voyage and the anxiety and sorrow she had gone through, my wife was thoroughly ill when we arrived at Simla towards the end of February.

[Footnote 1:  The numbers actually despatched from India were 13,548, of whom 3,786 were Europeans.  In addition, a company of Royal Engineers was sent from England.]

[Footnote 2:  At first it was thought that 10,000 mules, with a coolie corps 3,000 strong, would suffice, but before the expedition was over, it was found necessary to purchase 18,000 mules, 1,500 ponies, 1,800 donkeys, 12,000 camels, and 8,400 bullocks.]

[Footnote 3:  Fresh water was obtained by condensing the sea-water; there were few condensors, and no means of aerating the water.]

[Footnote 4:  The late Admiral Sir George Tryon, K.C.B.]

[Footnote 5:  Now Admiral Sir Leonid Heath, K.C.B.]

[Footnote 6:  He is said to have killed in one month, or burnt alive, more than 3,000 people.  He pillaged and burnt the churches at Gondur, and had many priests and young girls cast alive into the flames.]

* * * * *

CHAPTER XXXVIII. 1869

  Afzal Khan ousts Sher Ali—­Sher Ali regains the Amirship
  —­Foresight of Sir Henry Rawlinson—­The Umballa Durbar

In January, 1869, Sir John Lawrence, after a career which was altogether unique, he having risen from the junior grades of the Bengal Civil Service to the almost regal position of Governor-General,[1] left India for good.  He was succeeded as Viceroy by Lord Mayo, one of whose first official acts was to hold a durbar at Umballa for the reception of the Amir Sher Ali, who, after five years of civil war, had succeeded in establishing himself on the throne of Afghanistan, to which he had been nominated by his father, Dost Mahomed Khan.[2]