nd feeble; but
these were the only faults perceptible, and I came to the conclusion
that the great majority of the 18,000 men were quite as good as the
Gurkhas we enlist; and I could not help thinking that they would be a
valuable addition to our strength in the event of war.

General Chandra Shamsher is a very red-hot soldier. He said to my
wife: 'Lady Roberts, when are the Russians coming? I wish they would
make haste. We have 40,000 soldiers in Nepal ready for war, and there
is no one to fight!'

The next day a grand durbar was held, at which the King (the Maharaja
Dhiraj, as he is called) presided; he was an unusually handsome lad
of about eighteen years of age, fairer than most Nepalese, and very
refined looking. As on all previous occasions, everyone wore uniform
except the King, who had on a perfectly plain dress of spotless white.
Great deference is outwardly paid to the Dhiraj, but he has no power,
and is never consulted in matters of State, being considered too
sacred to be troubled with mundane affairs. Although a mere boy, he
had four wives, two of them daughters of the Maharaja Bir Shamsher
Jung.

After the durbar, I was shown over the principal school and hospital;
both appeared to be well conducted, and evidently no expense was
spared upon them. I was then taken to a magazine, in which were a
number of guns of various calibre and any amount of ammunition. I was
told there were several other magazines, which I had not time to see,
and a few miles from Khatmandu extensive workshops, where all kinds of
munitions of war were manufactured.

That evening, accompanied by Colonel and Mrs. Wylie, we attended a
reception at the Maharaja's palace. The durbar hall, which was filled
with men in uniform, was of beautiful proportions, and very handsomely
decorated and furnished. After the usual introductions and some
conversation with the chief officers, we were invited to visit the
Maharani in her own apartments, and having ascended a flight of steps
and passed through numerous corridors and luxuriously furnished rooms,
we were shown into a spacious apartment, the prevailing colour of
which was rose, lighted by lamps of the same colour. The Maharani
was sitting on a sofa at the further end of the room, gorgeously
apparelled in rose-coloured gauze dotted over with golden spangles;
her skirts were very voluminous, and she wore magnificent jewels on
her head and about her person. Two Maids of Honour stood behind her,