In August 1878 he is involved in a train crash, and his wife recovers somewhat from her stroke. He goes to Paris to discuss the building of a Panama Canal, in which Stokes declined to be involved.

In January 1875, I was appointed Commanding Engineer at Chatham. The Foreign Office, considering that my sole attention to the Suez Canal work was no longer necessary, and that, at such a short distance from London as Chatham, I could give immediate attention to any questions that might arise, H.R.H. the Duke of Cambridge consented to my uniting my functions at the Foreign of five to those of a military nature.

I made all the arrangements for giving up Poyston and moving my family to Chatham, and went down in the middle of February to superintend the move. Unhappily, my dear wife was taken very ill and it was impossible for her to travel. We did not really move till the end of the second week in March, furniture waggons having been waiting for four weeks.

There is not much to be said about these early months at Chatham. They were full of the duties of the Engineer office, and the life there was always bright, and to me, especially agreeable, as I was living so near to all my old friends at Rochester and about Cobham. My poor wife's health was a great anxiety but, after a stay at Ventnor, she returned home considerably better. This illness was the beginning of the dreadful attack which she had two years later. During August I took the children for a fortnight's stay at Cliftonville, near Margate, where they much enjoyed the finest air in England.

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There was considerable discussion among the Engineers at that time as to who was to succeed Col. Callwey as Commandant of the School of Military Engineering. My old friend, Sir Lintorn Simmons, was now Inspector General of Fortifications, and as Commanding Engineer at Chatham, I had frequently to see him on business. One day I said to him "Who are we to have to succeed Gallwey?" He kindly said "That would suit you down to the ground, wouldn't it?" I said "Yes, it would, certainly". He replied that he thought it could be managed, and to my great joy, I was appointed.

I always consider this appointment the best in the Corps. It is a most interesting one, as the Commandant has under his supervision the training of all the young officers who, for the first two years of their service, remain at Chatham in order to be instructed in all the various branches of military engineering. The Commandant therefore, has under his eye all this mass of rising talent and sees much of the young of fixers who, in the future, are to maintain the honour of the Corps and increase its distinction. He also has under his orders in this interesting task, some of the brightest men of the Corps, who carry on the instruction in all its various branches. To me it has a peculiar charm in its connection with the past, as well as its interest in the future, as I had known well the of ficer who originally induced the Government to found the School, namely General Sir Charles Pasley, whose son had been one of my greatest friends. Moreover, this appointment kept me in touch for several years with all the old families in which lay the friendships of my childhood and youth.

It was a great surprise to me to reach this eminent post, which had never entered my wildest dreams.

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I took up the appointment on the 1st November 1875, but, by a singular combination of circumstances, was not left quiet very long in my new berth, for, on the 17th., having been to Woolwich on duty, I was met at Strood on my return by an urgent messenger from the Foreign Office, and I at once went back to London to see Lord Tenterden, the Permanent Under Secretary.

A very important telegram had been received from General Stanton, stating that the financial difficulties of the Khedive had become so pressing that he was negotiating with various French capitalists for the sale of his 177,642 Suez Canal Shares, this being about two-fifths of the whole share capital of the Company. The Government were averse to the idea of the whole control of the Canal falling into French hands, Lord Tenterden told me that they wished to consult me on the advisability of purchasing these shares from the Khedive, and that I was to attend a meeting of the Cabinet next day. On the 18th. accordingly I was ushered into the presence of all Her Majesty's Ministers presided over by Mr. Disraeli, and was called upon to give an opinion as to whether a purchase should be made. I strongly advocated this course, and on the next day, 19th. Novr. I put in a strong Memorandum giving full particulars of the Canal Company and of the Khedive's financial needs, and his endeavours to raise money to meet them. In reply I received the following despatch from the Foreign of fice.

(Signed) Tenterden.

The same day (24th.) Lord Derby telegraphed to General Stanton that H.M.'s Government agreed to purchase the Khedive's shares for four millions sterling.

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The Prime Minister had, through his influence with the House of Rothschild, such means of carrying this bargain into effect, as hardly any other English Statesman could have possessed, and also the courage to use those means. He engaged the Rothschilds to advance the money in the required instalments pending the meeting of Parliament, which could not take place for two or three months.

The actual purchase of the Canal shares was hailed throughout Europe as a most statesmanlike step, and the only people who disapproved were, probably, the French Government and the Radical party in England. It will always be a matter of pride and satisfaction to me that I was, so far, instrumental in confirming Mr. Disraeli in his statesmanlike view of the matter, for, no doubt, he had in his own mind determined upon the measure, but wished to have his judgment fortified by the opinion of his technical adviser. It must be recollected that I had been acting to the Government in that capacity for over two years in all matters connected with the Suez Canal. It was rather a formidable position in which to find myself - to be cross-examined by such a body of able men as composed the Cabinet, but my opinion was so strong on the subject that I did not flinch for a moment from tendering the decisive advice. This led to a detachment of my services from the S.M.E. for some months, as the Government, at the same time that they were making this important purchase, had decided to accede to the request of the Khedive, Ismail Pasha, that they would send out a Confidential Agent to Egypt to examine his financial position. The Agent chosen for this purpose was the Rt. Hon. Stephen Cave, at that time Paymaster-General to the Forces.

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On the 25th. Novr. I was summoned to the Foreign Office and saw the Secretary to the Treasury, the Chancellor of the Exchequer and Lord Tenterden. The object of my summons had been to ascertain whether I was willing to accompany Mr. Cave to Egypt to "assist and advise him in his duties as Envoy, and that he might have the benefit of my experience of the country and people" to quote my letter of appointment received on the Ist. Decr. The next day I met Lord Derby, Lord Cairns and Sir Stafford Northcote. I had to get permission from the Inspector General of Fortifications and, through him, from the Commander-in-Chief, to undertake this duty, and, before starting from London, arrangements were made for the Assistant Commandant and the BrigadeMajor at the S.M.E. to carry on my duties in my absence.

On the 8th. December I left for Paris and Brindisi. As good luck would have it, I again had my friend Col. Brooke as a travelling companion. At Turin I joined Mr. Stephen Cave and at Brindisi we embarked on board the P. and O. steamer with the mails. We reached Alexandria on the 16th. and were met by General Stanton who took us up in a special train to Cairo, where we found that a fine palace - the Kasr-el-Nusr - had been prepared for us. The next day the 1 7th. we were received in audience by the Khedive. Mr. Cave had been very anxious that we should live at an hotel, thinking that we should be more independent in the enquiry we had to make. The Khedive, however, insisted urgently that, as Mr. Cave had gone out at his request to examine into the financial affairs of the country it was but right that we should be his guests.

He assured us that everything in his power should be done to furnish us with the fullest information on all points, and he hoped that we should find our entertainment at the palace all that we could desire. He had appointed his Chamberlain, Sami Bey, to be constantly in attendance and our entertainments were most sumptuous.

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We had the run of the Khedive's stables for riding horses and carriages, and a large staff of servants, who supplied us in the most luxurious manner, with such extravagance that we felt bound to remonstrate against the waste of costly wines &c. which they served at every meal. We had a box at the Opera whenever we required it and in fact, we felt that we were living in clover. The Kasr-el-Nusr, which was situated on the Shubra Road, just outside Cairo, had a charming garden attached to it, and, altogether, was a most delightful residence.

Our first audience of the Khedive was naturally a formal one, but we very soon in our subsequent audiences proceeded with the business for which we had come to Egypt. Of course also, we had to exchange visits with all the principal people in Cairo, as Princes Tewfik, Hussein, and Hassan and the principal Pashas---lsmail Pasha, the Finance Minister, Cherif Pasha and Nubar Pasha, as well as many others; as also with the various Consuls-General.

We had a long conference with General Stanton, whose intimate acquaintance with everything connected with Egyptian administration was most useful to us. It was on the 20th. of December that we had our first business audience of the Khedive followed by a grand dejeuner of some thirty to forty people. These audiences of the Khedive were necessarily very arduous to myself, because Mr. Cave spoke but little French, consequently, the burden of the conversation always fell upon me. I endeavoured to explain Mr. Cave's views and the Khedive's replies as well as I could, but also, as I was not a mere interpreter, I felt bound to put forward my own views as well. My real position as far as concerned the Egyptian finance was that of "ad latus" to Mr. Cave, which gave me an influential part in all this work. After our audiences I used to make a resume of the interview, giving, as nearly as possible, the substance of the conversations held.

I had also, my own special work in this expedition, the treatment of all the Suez Canal questions and, especially, had to report to the Government everything bearing upon these questions and upon the purchase of the shares by H.M. Government. My notes show that this took up a very great deal of time when I was not occupied with the Khedive and Mr. Cave.

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We soon perceived, in our dealings with his Highness, that he was hardly prepared for the very searching manner in which we proposed to deal with the state of his finances; and he rather took alarm at the exposition of our views which was made in our first long interview with him. However, we had to calm him down and show that, although our researches were to be very minute, they involved no immediate action by us. our enquiries entirely depended on the good will of the Khedive and his Finance Minister as their books were all kept in Arabic. It was therefore impossible for us to verify the truth of any assertion they made. We called for various statements which were furnished to us with sufficient promptitude, but we could not feel absolutely certain of the amounts laid before us. The Khedive of that day was a very able, clever man, who had great facility in stating his views in French, but the expression of his face prevented our feeling absolute confidence in what he said. We met with all sorts and conditions of men, English and foreign, who were all ready with their advice as to what we ought and ought not to do, and with warnings against the Egyptians with whom we had dealings. All of which we naturally accepted with a proper amount of reserve. Generally, at first, the Khedive himself put into our hands the various statements of account prepared in the Finance Ministry. Some of the most interesting and lengthy conversations which we had with His Highness related to the various loans which he had made; the most ruinous of which had been that of 1873, negotiated by the Oppenheims.

This loan of £30 million sterling, was so dealt with that, of the enormous capital which appears as part of the indebtedness of the State, barely eight millions reached his coffers. This was the most destructive of all his financial operations, and was that which really brought him to his knees, and compelled him to appeal to the English Government for advice.

A topic of great interest with which the Khedive entertained us in our numerous audiences was that of the expeditions sent by him to Abyssinia, one of which was at that time going on, and was a source of very heavy expenditure of an unremunerative character. We urged upon him in the most pressing manner the advisability of giving up these military expeditions, in which his troops were generally worsted and the resources of his country ruinously affected. Shortly after we left Egypt the utter defeat of the expedition then on hand, upon which we more particularly remonstrated with him, confirmed the soundness of our advice.

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One of the sources of outlay which might have been productive, but which became very ruinous to him through the unwisdom of the mode in which it was conducted, was the sugar cultivation which he had started on his properties. He had converted a fine estate into a sugar plantation and set up proper machinery for refining. This answered remarkably well, and he thereupon launched out into an enormous extension of the work, establishing some 14 other plantations for which he ordered the necessary plant from England. The French, thereupon, assailed him with a charge of favouritism. To satisfy them, he ordered duplicate machinery from France. One of our very interesting expeditions was to inspect these sugar plantations and in many places, we saw Iying alongside the road, the duplicate French machinery, not put up, but thrown away. The result of all this sudden and great expansion of the business and of the extravagant way in which it was carried out, was that, although the first plantation had been successful, as a commercial business, it had been found impossible to make so many properties answer equally well; he had not got the experienced men and the attentive supervision necessary to prevent fraud, and make of each a paying concern. No doubt, if he had gone on by degrees, adding a plantation one year, and two or three years later another, he would have formed a valuable property and have found sugar cultivation very remunerative. The few factories that we saw were admirably managed and turned out excellent sugar of all kinds.

It was early in February that we made our expedition to Minieh and other places in order to inspect these plantations. On our way we visited the Pyramids and the tombs of Sakhara. We left the train at about seven miles from the Pyramids and covered the distance on donkeys. We visited the tombs of the Bulls, which are very perfect and, after a thorough examination of them, we began to think we should like to lunch, and were very sorry that we had not insisted upon taking sandwiches with us. But the Khedive, having learned our intention of visiting these tombs, had ordered a sumptuous repast to be sent out, and, after waiting for some time, we saw the camels coming. A grand feast was spread for us in the house of M. Marriette, the French antiquarian, who has done so much in exhuming and collecting the various antiquities of the country. We sat down to a dejeuner of the most excellent dishes and wines which might have been served to us in Paris, and then started again for our station. The last half mile of the road back found the little bit of a donkey I was riding so willing that, although my feet almost touched the ground, he nearly ran away with me. We then visited the sugar factories at Minieh, Rhoda, and Abou Kokaz, and the barrage for distributing the Nile water at Darima, returning to dinner at the Palace of Minieh where we put up. The next day we returned North, visiting Samalod, Beni Muzar, and Feshn, reaching Cairo late at night. This visit, in which we gathered the details of the sugar industry given above, was a very interesting one and instructive as to the methods of administration in Egypt.

I must now go back a little to Suez Canal matters. In the first week of January we went down to Ismailia where M. de Lesseps, who had arrived from France, received us very well. The old man, though still maintaining his protests, against all the world, over the settlement of the tonnage question had, with his usual perspicacity, realized the importance to his Company of the purchase of the Suez Canal shares by Her Majesty's Government. He had, at once, called upon Lord Lyons in Paris to offer his congratulations upon their acquisition, and had spoken in most friendly terms of the Government. I had been advised of this before I went down to Ismailia and endeavoured to improve the relations between the English Government and M. de Lesseps. Naturally he was still sore at the effect which the recommendation of the International Tonnage Commission had had upon his revenue. It appeared to me that an improvement might be made in the compromise which I had carried into effect two years before, by substituting for the sliding scale of reduction of the surtax according to tonnage, a gradual reduction of the same at fixed periods. It seemed to me that this would be an advantage both to the Suez Canal Company and to shipowners, because the latter knowing that on a certain date the reduction in the dues would occur could make their arrangements accordingly, while for the Suez Canal Company, it gave a greater certainty as to what their receipts were likely to be from time to time. I opened the question with M. de Lesseps, always putting in the foreground that any concession which we made for his advantage must be preceded by an absolute renunciation on his part of the protests which he was continually making against the Porte and the Egyptian Government, and that any re-arrangement must be made on a basis of complete peace between all parties. M. de Lesseps seemed inclined to a consideration of this matter but I could see he was very much dissuaded from it by the people about him. In this visit I did no more than just broach the subject and put the idea into his head of the possibility of ending a state of things which was bad both for him and for us. Later M. de Lesseps came up to Cairo, and there I put forward more definitely and strongly the proposals at which he had hinted at Ismailia. I at last arrived at such a point with him that we came to an agreement which I could submit in the rough to H.M. Government. This I did by telegraph, and received permission to follow up my negotiations with him on the lines I had indicated.

On the 3rd. February I took special train to Ismailia to discuss matters with M. de Lesseps and signed a provisional agreement which was to be the basis of our subsequent one. This rough agreement having been sent home, I was finally authorized to sign a Convention embodying it, which I did on the 22nd. February. Under this M. de Lesseps withdrew all his protests against the Powers, on condition that H.M. Government got the present agreement accepted by them; and the surtax compromise was re-cast in the sense of reductions of tariff being made at fixed dates, so that the surtax would come to an end in 1883, and from I st. January 1884 the maximum dues to be levied would come down teethe 10 francs a ton of the Concession. One of the conditions H.M. Government had demanded and which M. de Lesseps conceded, was that three of the Directors of the Suez Canal Company should be named by H.M. Government.

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This Convention gave very great satisfaction both at home and to the Egyptian Government, and I received the warmest congratulations all round for having placed Suez Canal matters on such a satisfactory footing. The Sublime Porte in the first instance, and the remaining Powers which had been represented on the International Commission, entirely accepted the new scheme.

This, to me, was a very satisfactory termination to the special duties entrusted to me with regard to the Suez Canal, apart from Mr. Cave's mission.

As regards the Egyptian financial question, upon which I have touched here, it appeared to me that the method of extricating the Khedive from his financial embarrassment was to be found in the redemption of his heavy loan liabilities by consolidating them, and raising a loan on moderate terms, by which they could be paid off, and the eventual burden of the country be very much reduced. I worked out schemes to this effect, which met with Mr. Cave's concurrence, and we sent the substance of them home. The Government rather took alarm at this, as it did not enter into their ideas to propound a scheme to improve the Egyptian finance, our mission being only intended for gaining full information. We were therefore instructed to return home as soon as we had information, without putting forward any such scheme as we had indicated, and we were told that Mr. Rivers Wilson was being sent out to act as financial adviser to the Khedive.

In the course of our enquiries we had obtained an immense mass of information, whether trustworthy or not we could not form an opinion and we now set to work to prepare a report of all that we had seen and heard. Mr. Cave started on his return journey on the 19th. of February, while I remained behind to conclude my business with M. de Lesseps. Before Mr. Cave left, the Finance Minister, Ismail Pasha, invited us to go down to the estate at Tanta in the Delta, to see his property. We took train, and had to ride four or five miles on very rough ponies and jogged back again to the train thoroughly well shaken up. The consequence was that the next day I had a bad bilious attack, and on his arrival at Alexandria, Mr. Cave was far from well.

The report, of course, got about that we had been poisoned at the Minister's house!

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Before I left Cairo the Duke of Sutherland arrived there and took a great interest in our affairs, and subsequently we travelled home together.

Among my acquaintances at Cairo were Sir Louis and Lady Mallet and General Sir Douglas Mc.Dougall. Sir Louis I had met in Vienna in 1867, when I was pushing the Danube loan question. He was then at the Board of Trade, took an interest in my work, and helped me. It was pleasant to meet him again, just as I was once more successfully advancing English trade interests.

The Egyptian mission had been, on the whole, very satisfactory to me. I did not leave Cairo till the 27th. Febr. after pleasant audiences of the Khedive, and farewell visits all round.

I overtook the Caves at Turin, my travelling companions being the Duke of Sutherland and the Mallets, and thence we all journeyed together. The Duke went on from Paris, but we stopped at the Hotel Bristol where we met Mr. Rivers Wilson. I saw Lord Lyons, and Lord Lytton, then on his way to India as Viceroy. I also made the acquaintance of M. Charles de Lesseps, but I could see that he did not quite approve of the Convention which I had made with his father. He thought I had got too good terms; but he was most loyal to his father and we soon became good friends. Lord Lyons was very well pleased with the work I had done. He was an old friend to me when he was Ambassador at Constantinople in my Danube time, and he knew of the interest which his father, the Admiral, had taken in the work there in 1856.

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We stayed four days in Paris writing our report, which embodied the results of our work, and which could not be completed till then, as I had obtained further details from the Finance Minister after Mr. Cave left. On my way through Paris I also saw M. Ie Baron d'Avril who had been a former colleague both on the Danube Commission and the Constantinople Commission, and who was interested to hear of the modifications introduced into the arrangement with M. de Lesseps.

On our arrival in England we, of course, had many interviews with Ministers, including Mr. Disraeli, Lord Derby, and Sir Stafford Northcote, and I had the gratification of having my services mentioned in Parliament in flattering terms.

It has been a great satisfaction to know from Sir Rivers Wilson, who remained in Egypt for some time, as Financial Adviser to the Khedive, that the returns of income and expenditure given to us by the Khedive and his Ministers proved to be substantially correct, and that therefore our report was accurate, and formed the basis for measures which were adopted for the development of the country. It was also satisfactory to me to know that the reform of Egyptian finance really followed out the suggestion which we had made (although we were not allowed to put it forward) of reducing Egyptian liabilities by consolidating the debt, a suggestion the details of which I had worked out.

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As soon as I returned home I had to take up my military duties, which had been very carefully attended to in my absence by Col. Cox and Major Keith, but there was a great deal for me to study, in order to get again into the swing of the command, the details of which I had hardly had time to master when I left. My time, therefore, was very fully occupied between these duties and the constant attendances I had to make at the Foreign Office and the Treasury in connection with the Egyptian work.

Mr. Cave's report (which I speak of as his, though in reality I had a very large share in its composition), was well received by our Government and anxiously awaited by the Khedive, though it was some time before the Government thought fit to communicate it to him. The double character of my mission to Egypt, seeing that it was connected with the Suez Canal, though I was there principally to assist Mr. Cave in his investigation into Egyptian finance, left me with a double feeling in the matter.

As regarded the Suez Canal work I had unmitigated satisfaction; as regarded the finance business both Mr. Cave and myself felt that we had been rather misapprehended, and obliged to leave more hurriedly than we should otherwise have done. However, the general result may be described as satisfactory to us, though, of course, a thorny question such as Egyptian finance, in which numbers of people were interested, was sure to expose us to a good deal of criticism. It remained, for a long time, a subject on which the Foreign of fine frequently referred to me for an opinion.

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The immediate consequence of my Suez Canal Convention was that I was in constant correspondence with the Foreign Office and was often consulted about obtaining from the several Powers who had taken part in the International Tonnage Commission at Constantinople in 1873, their concurrence in the new arrangement which I had made with M. de Lesseps. This concurrence was finally obtained towards the end of May, and M. de Lesseps then prepared to carry out his part of the agreement arrived at in the Convention of the 22nd. February.

M. Charles de Lesseps came over to England early in June, and I had several conferences with him, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and the Foreign Office, which lasted over a week, settling details of the election of Directors in the Suez Canal Council on behalf of the English Government. Mr. Riley, the legal adviser of the Treasury, was called very much into council in all this business.

I was the first of the three Directors whom the Government fixed upon for this purpose, and Mr. Rivers Wilson was named by the Treasury to represent financial interests. I strongly recommended to the Foreign Office my friend, Mr. Standen, who had for 17 years been with me, first at Kertch, and afterwards a,s my private secretary for nearly the whole of the time that I was a Commissioner on the Danube. The technical knowledge which he had acquired on all matters connected with the Danube works during his long service with me and his acquaintance with the French language pointed him out as a valuable man to name as Director to reside in Paris and look constantly and closely into all matters of the Suez Canal Company. It had been decided that, of the three Directors, one should live in Paris, it being only necessary for Mr. Rivers Wilson and myself to go over to the monthly meetings of the Board.

To fix finally all these points I paid a visit to Paris in the third week of June and arranged everything with M. Ferdinand de Lesseps, and the following week at the General Meeting of the shareholders, I and my two colleagues were formally elected Directors. Both M. de Lesseps and his son have always carried out with the greatest loyalty the arrangements to which they then agreed. It was a matter requiring some delicacy of treatment-to persuade a body of French shareholders to elect Directors to represent the Government which they had always been taught to look upon as their great enemy: but M. de Lesseps recognized that I had been a true friend to the Company, and was able to render my name agreeable to the body of Shareholders; and I think I may fairly claim that the influence which I had acquired over him facilitated my election and that of the two other members.

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This has been an important step in my career, as I have now, for more than 25 years, represented H.M. Government on the Suez Canal Council, and, as will be seen from what follows, I have had to treat many difficulties which have arisen at different times. The remainder of the year 1876 was much taken up with these matters and the important military duties of my position at Chatham.

One of the interesting incidents of this year was a visit from Lord Napier of Magdala and his son and daughters, when we had the opportunity of showing him the Engineer Establishment which had grown vastly since he had passed through it as a young Engineer Officer from Addiscombe.

This summer, too, I had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of some of my wife's cousins in Worcestershire. I took my daughter Edith down to Droitwich that she might derive benefit from the baths there for a rheumatic attack from which she was suffering, and I then went over to Salwarpe to see the William Douglases, who were doubly connected with us, Mrs. Douglas being a half-sister of my wife's cousin, Walsham How, afterwards Bishop of Wakefield, and William Douglas, her husband, being first cousin to my dear brother Edward's widow.

Another interesting visit I paid was to Sir Thomas Farrar at Abinger Hall, near Wootten, where I had much discussion with Mr. Cave, whom I met there, on the subject of the Order of the Bath, the Government still desiring to confer upon me some token of Her Majesty's satisfaction with the duties I had performed in connection with the Suez Canal. As previously stated, I had been considered deserving of the K.C.B. on my return in 1874, and my record of services had been strengthened and added to by the work I had done in Egypt during the previous winter. There was again talk of knighthood, but I steadfastly declined anything short of the Order of the Bath. I pointed out to Mr. Cave that the Order of the Bath had been enlarged for Military purposes, but not for Civil. Considering the large increase in the Ciyil Service of the country and the much larger number of individuals whom the Government consequently wished to recognize, the simple plan would be to enlarge the Order of the Civil Division, and when the Civil Division of the Order was enlarged in the course of a few months, I was one of the first recipients.

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My life at this time was a constant round of duties of all sorts, rather interfered with by frequent attacks of severe headache, to which I had been subject for some years, and which the rather excessive work I was now going through, had somewhat increased. In the autumn of the year we had the pleasure of moving into the new house that had been built for the Commandant of the School of Military Engineering, in the grounds of the R.E. Institute. The furnishing and fitting up of this house occupied very pleasantly some of our time. It was a matter in which my wife took great interest and, as the house had been building under my personal directions, while I was Commanding Engineer, and was subsequently finished while I had the opportunity of constantly overlooking it, it had been made more like a private house than most military quarters. There was a nice piece of ground, with good trees, which had the makings of a flower garden, and there we built a greenhouse. We retained the garden of the old Commandant's house as our vegetable garden.

While I had been in Cairo the previous winter I had bought Persian carpets with a view to this change. We were able to make our house very nice, as one of the points I had secured was the laying of a parquet floor in the drawing-room which enabled us to have the young officers in for a dance without very much trouble. We had several housewarming entertainments, as the rooms were of sufficient size to enable us to receive. It was naturally a great pleasure to me, having been born in that neighbourhood, with all my county friends around me, to be able to entertain them, which it was my duty as Commandant to do.

The early part of 1877 passed in the same way - constant work and frequent drives to see our friends round about.

But, unhappily, in the month of June, a serious misfortune befell us. My poor wife was struck down with paralysis on the 28th of the month and from that day onward for sixteen years, she lingered, a confirmed invalid. As it happened, when this sad attack came I had no one in the house with me but my son, Frank, as the two elder girls were away visiting, and the youngest was at school; he was however a great help and support to me, and my two daughters of course returned at once.

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It had been the custom at Chatham for a few years to have a great display of siege operations. As some time had elapsed since the last, we decided to have one in the summer of 1877. For that purpose it was necessary to carry out the instructional field works with a view to a sham attack. The trenches were designed as against the fortress and mining and counter-mining operations were prepared. This was going on all through the months of May and June, with a view to having a great display early in July. Unfortunately the glare of the hot sun on the chalk thrown up in these works and on the water in preparing certain submarine operations brought on a return of the opthalmic attack from which I had suffered so much at Constantinople six years before, and, towards the end of June, I had to lie up for several days. Of course my private misfortune could not be allowed to interfere with the great function which had been preparing so long, and on the 27th of July we had a great day. H.R.H. the Duke of Cambridge and other military authorities came down, and we had a most successful review.

On the 10th of July whilst sitting at the Horse Guards on a Committee of Siege Operations generally, (not our Chatham display) I received a note from Mr. Disraeli offering me a Knight-Commandership of the Bath, which Her Majesty was graciously pleased to confer. I accepted it, and during the day called upon Mr. Disraeli, Lord Derby, and Sir Stafford Northcote to express my sense of the honour. On the 14th. August I went down to Osborne to receive Knighthood at the hand of Her Majesty, and the Insignia of the Order. We had a special train from Victoria to Portsmouth where the "Fairy Queen" took us across to Cowes, and carriages were waiting to take us to Osborne. There were many old friends in the same carriage; Sir Frederick Chapman was going to receive his Grand Cross, and Edmund du Cane, like myself, to receive the Commandership. This event gave rise to much hearty congratulation from all my friends and I have a rich budget of letters expressing affection and pleasure at the distinction conferred upon me.

The great drawback on obtaining this distinction was my dear wife's condition. The honour would have been doubly pleasant to me if it could have been shared by her, but she was fated never to derive much pleasure or satisfaction from it, except the dimmed feeling for my sake of which her clouded brain was alone capable.

Our life at home was very much changed by the sad illness of my wife. We could not of course, continue the entertainment of the officers and friends, to which we had looked forward, and had already begun, and we naturally had to lead a very quiet life for a long time afterwards.

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During the remainder of 1877, and for the greater part of 1878, my life was a constant round of duties at Chatham, and I began at that time my visits to Paris every month on Suez Canal affairs.

In the course of this period I was able to effect a great change in the class of music played by the R.E. string band. We all took great delight in hearing it: the Bandmaster, Herr Sawerthal, was a great favourite and a very successful leader and conductor. It was suggested to me by Major Hale R.E. that under such a capable man we might train them to play classical music in addition to operatic and dance music. I entered very fully into this proposal and gave the necessary instructions, which have resulted in the Engineer Band becoming so excellent that it takes its place with the finest bands in the country. Among the amusements which served to enliven my life was that of shooting with my friends round Cobham. I also took to playing lawn-tennis, a game of which I became very fond, having been a racquet player in my youth.

I had with me at Chatham, at this time, several officers whom I had trained when instructing the practical class of cadets at Woolwich in 1852-5, notably Major Maquay, whom I had taken out to the Crimea in '55, Majors Percy-Smith, and Hale. Other officers whom I had not so trained, but to whom I became much attached were Captains Armstrong and R.G.Scott, Majors Warren, Martin, and Keith, Colonels Cox, Akers and Harvey, and many others. It was a delight to be living amongst so many of my brotherofficers from whom, for the long period of my Danube Service, I had been entirely separated, and I feel that many friendships were formed with them which will last through my life.

Note - it is sad to think that since these days - Maquay, Percy-Smith, R.G. Scott, Armstrong, Keith, Akers and Harvey have all preceded me to that other world where there will be no more partings.

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In looking back upon the last thirty years, during fifteen of which I was in close touch with the Corps, it is very gratifying to me to meet with so many men who speak gratefully of the good turns I was able to do them at times when I held positions of authority. From some of the younger ones who were with me at Chatham I have had most touching reminiscences of past times. The dear old Corps lies always close to my heart and I follow the achievements of these young officers with a tender anxiety for their welfare and deepest interest in the work which I see so many of them accomplishing in different parts of the world, especially in the South African War which is going on as I write.

During the year 1878, my daughter, Edith, who had been suffering much from rheumatism, had an invitation from my brother Frank in South Australia to go out there for a thorough change, and he suggested that she might travel with Sir William Jervois and his family. Sir William, who was going out as Governor of that Colony, was an old friend of mine; we had served in South Africa in the early forties, and had been intimate ever since. He and his wife kindly undertook the charge of my dear child and in July I saw her embark at Gravesend on board the "Lusitania", to be joined by them at Plymouth.

In August 1878, I had a very narrow escape of my life. Having had a severe attack of lumbago I had gone to stay with an old friend, Capt. Robert Isacke. On our way back on the 31st. August, travelling in an express train that was to stop at Chatham, we had a fearful collision at Sittingbourne. As we were dashing into that station a man who was shunting empty trucks, by accident shunted three across the line along which we were approaching, instead of into a siding. Our driver saw these trucks 200 yards ahead of him and, though he endeavoured to reduce speed, dashed into them with great force. The first three or four carriages were completely telescoped, and the carriage in which I was sitting, reading with my back to the engine, opposite my daughter, was smashed. My only recollection was hearing a scream, and the next moment I found myself under the roof of the carriage, on a sloping bank. I had fallen in a most remarkable manner on my neck, as the mud showed, and turned a somersault, the roof at the same time falling on me and wedging me in an angle between itself and the sloping embankment alongside. On regaining consciousness I wriggled out of the angle and found the other passengers near me in a great state of alarm. A clergyman next to me, who had been in the same carriage, suggested our returning thanks; my heart was full of thankfulness, but my mind was also full of anxiety for my daughter, for whom I ran to look. I found that she had fallen as I had myself, - on her neck and back. I was very thankful to find her sitting up with no bones broken. She was only scratched on the face, and really had sustained less injury than I had. Naturally she was much shaken and, as we were only three or four hundred yards from the station, I told her to sit where she was till I could secure a cab, and got a little brandy and water to restore her shaken condition. At the same time I telegraphed to the station master at Chatham to send my carriage, which was waiting for me there, to meet us at Sittingbourne. When I got back to my daughter I picked up some of our things which were scattered about, and very soon restored her sufficiently to allow of her making her way to the station, as I had proposed. I thus spared her the shock of seeing many horrors. As it turned out afterwards, 6 people were killed and 40 injured. We soon met my carriage and sent back the cab. Reaching home I sent for a doctor, who examined us, but my child had really suffered no other injury than the fright and a few scratches. I was hurt severely across the loins, and my nervous system sustained a shock. Russell Reynolds told me to lie up for four months which I did. Happily my daughter's nerves had not been shaken to the same extent as mine, and she was soon able to go back to school. This accident, owing to the shock I had sustained, obliged me to abstain from much work for the remainder of the year. The collision itself made less sensation than it usually would have done, as the next day a frightful collision occurred on the Thames, in which the steamer "Princess Alice", was sunk. she was crowded with excursionists mostly women and children, 300 of whom were drowned, and this entirely effaced from people's minds the memory of the grievous collision at Sittingbourne.

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The year 1879, was spent much as the early part of 1878 had been. My dear wife recovered her mental powers so far as to be able to write letters, and her physical powers returned so that she was able to take walks and go to Church. These signs of improvement developed to such an extent that in the month of May I felt it would be good for my eldest daughter to get a rest. I therefore left my wife in the care of her sister Mrs. Hare, and took Gina to Paris where I was going to make a longer stay than usual, as in the year 1879 I had been requested to serve on the Panama Congress which M. de Lesseps was promoting at that time.

It was a very pleasant change for both of us after the long watch we had had for two years over her Mother, and we met with great kindness from everyone there, especially from Lord Lyons, H.M. Ambassador, and the de Lesseps - both the old man and his wife, and his son Charles and his wife. We also met Sir Charles Hartley, Sir John Hawkshaw, and many engineers of France and America who had come to Paris for the discussion of this great project.

M. de Lesseps was bent on having a canal through the Isthmus of Panama at the sea level: the American Engineers put forward a project by which the canal would pass through the Lake of Nicaragua, rising by nine locks from the Atlantic, and descending by eight locks to the Pacific; and there were various other schemes proposed. However, the great majority of the Congress, which was composed of members of various countries, sided with M. de Lesseps in his desire to have a sea-level canal. There were many committees formed, one was to work out the technical details, another to ascertain what statistic results were likely to be achieved, and another to consider the economical effect of the canal on various nations. The whole thing was very thoroughly gone into, and eventually M. de Lesseps argument prevailed, viz, that the sea-canal through the Panama Isthmus should be carried out.

The general scheme of this project was that the canal should ascend the valley of the Chagres River and that the Sierra should then be cut through, and the canal continue to the Pacific down the valley of the Rio Grande. The essential feature of this scheme was to be a huge dam which was to block the River Chagres at a point where it passed through a very narrow gorge. The river was to be held back behind this dam, forming a lake of vast area in the upper regions, the surplus waters being carried off by a small canal above the level of the sea-canal, which would furnish sufficient fresh water for all purposes of there shipping navigation below that point. It was recommended by the Congress that no work should be undertaken on the Chagres river until this dam had been constructed, as the river was subject to very heavy floods, the water rising as much as 24 feet in the spring of the year. Such floods would sweep away any works attempted in the river bed, which therefore had to be straightened to form the canal. The Panama railway ran parallel to the proposed canal, and therefore could be used for the transport of workmen and materials employed in cutting through the Sierra; the debris was to be thrown into the Chagres bed during the ten months that intervened between the floods of successive springs. This appeared to be feasible. The complete failure of those works would appear to have been due to the fact that the mode of construction proposed was not carried out.

On the strength of the report of this Congress, M. de Lesseps formed a Company for the purpose of raising the necessary funds and executing the work. He asked me to be one of the Directors, but I declined, H.M. Government not wishing to have anything to do with the project.

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On our return home we were sorry to find that my wife's condition was less favourable than when we left her. she had relapsed to the state in which she had been before showing so many signs of recovery. From that month of June, when we returned from Paris, she gradually went back.

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