t be made on short notice,
and every rupee spent upon them now will repay us tenfold hereafter.
Nothing will tend to secure the safety of the frontier so much as the
power of rapidly concentrating troops on any threatened point, and
nothing will strengthen our military position more than to open out
the country and improve our relations with the frontier tribes. There
are no better civilizers than roads and railways; and although some
of those recommended to be made may never be required for military
purposes, they will be of the greatest assistance to the civil power
in the administration of the country.'

Accompanying this paper was a statement of the defensive works which,
in my opinion, should be taken in hand without delay; also of the
positions which required careful study, and the roads and railways
which should be constructed, to make the scheme of defence complete.

Seven years later, when I gave up my command of the Army in India, I
had the supreme satisfaction of knowing that I left our North-West
Frontier secure, so far as it was possible to make it so, hampered
as we were by want of money. The necessary fortifications had been
completed, schemes for the defence of the various less important
positions had been prepared, and the roads and railways, in my
estimation of such vast importance, had either been finished or were
well advanced.

Moreover, our position with regard to the border tribes had gradually
come to be better understood, and it had been realized that they would
be a powerful support to whichever side might be able to count upon
their aid; the policy of keeping them at arm's length had been
abandoned, and the advantages of reciprocal communication were
becoming more appreciated by them and by us.

It was not to be expected that these results could be achieved without
a considerable amount of opposition, owing partly to the majority of
our countrymen (even amongst those who had spent the greater part of
their lives in India) failing to recognize the change that had taken
place in the relative positions of Great Britain and Russia in Asia,
and to their disbelief in the steady advance of Russia towards
Afghanistan being in any way connected with India, or in Russia's wish
or power to threaten our Eastern Empire.[8] The idea was very common,
too, amongst people who had not deeply considered the subject, that
all proposals for gaining control over our troublesome neighbours
on the border, or for