he found, as he says in a letter to a friend, "that the second Lieutenant-Colonel wanted leave and wished to be relieved from the command of the regiment, and as I was so soon to oust him at any rate, I made up my mind to indulge him," and throwing up his own plans, he determined to go home with the Cameronians.

He reached Fort William early in 1843. Preparations were rapidly made to embark the men, and in three weeks they were ready to sail.

During this interval, Sir Hugh Gough heard privately from England that he was to be nominated Commander-in-Chief in India. He immediately pro

posed, in the most flattering manner, that, if this report proved true, Colonel Mountain should become his Military Secretary.

This appointment was in every way suited to Colonel Mountain, and his personal attachment to Sir Hugh would have made it very agreeable to him; but the previous evening a nephew of Sir Hugh Gough's had confided to him his desire to fill this situation, and Colonel Mountain, ever considering the interest of others before his own, thanked the General for his kindness, but declined his offer on the grounds that he did not wish to interfere with his nephew's prospects.

Sir Hugh kindly replied, "Well, there's time enough to decide; I am not Commander-in-Chief yet."

The next mail from England brought the Gazette

appointing Colonel Mountain Deputy Adjutant-General at Madras.

Sir Hugh Gough strongly urged his acceptance of this appointment, renewing his offer of the Military Secretaryship in the event of his own nomination to the command of the army in India.

But as Colonel Mountain had resolved to refuse Sir Hugh's offer for the reasons already mentioned, he had no wish to remain in India in a less influential position; and, again gratefully declining the General's kindness, he embarked with the head-quarters of the 26th regiment for England.

On reaching St. Helena, a newspaper, containing a notice of the sudden death of his sister, Mrs. Arabin, was put into Colonel Mountain's hand. He had not seen this sister for fourteen years, but his was not a mind on which absence had any effect in lessening affection. He had looked forward to meeting his sister as one of the pleasures left for him in England, and the announcement of her death, as with his own blighted hopes, he was approaching his own country, was a heavy blow, and, as he said, "a further bitter lesson of the vanity of all human hopes and plans."

CHAPTER IX.

IN June, 1843, the "Queen" arrived at Chatham with the head-quarters of the Cameronians.

Colonel Mountain's great desire now was to see his men quietly settled in their barracks, and prevent the excesses which might naturally arise on the return to their own country of a regiment fresh from active service and composed chiefly of very young men, who, hurriedly levied, had been sent out, almost entirely undisciplined, to fill the vacancies caused by the ravages of disease and the casualties of war.

war.

His next aim was to secure for the men such trifling memorials of their visit to China and presents to their friends, as they had brought from the seat of He obtained an order that the soldiers' baggage should pass, untouched and free, through the Custom House; and, leaving his own property to the mercy of the officials, by which he suffered considerable loss, he saw these orders fulfilled, and then went to London in the hope of securing a good quarter for his regiment.

Colonel Mountain still held the situation of Deputy Adjutant-General at Madras, to which the Duke of Wellington had appointed him; and a most kind letter from Sir Hugh Gough again renewed the offer

of the Military Secretaryship; but he had made up his mind not to stand in the way of his friend, and for the third time declined Sir Hugh's kind offer; and, throwing up his appointment at Madras, he determined to devote himself to the command of his regiment.

It may here be mentioned that the Duke of Wellington, on looking over the list of officers who had served in China, put his finger on Colonel Mountain's name, saying, "This man has done his work remarkably well; I should like to do something for him."

When the Brevet for the China War was published, an officer of the 26th was staying with friends who were totally unacquainted with Colonel Mountain. A gentleman, who afterwards became closely connected with him, entered the room, saying: "The Brevet is out, here it is." "Oh!" exclaimed the officer, "what has Mountain got? Of course he is at the head of all."

His name was not mentioned in the Gazette, and great was the disappointment to all who had served with him in China, and who had witnessed his unwearied energy in the midst of sorrow and sickness, his unceasing labour, his care for the welfare of the army, and his calm undaunted bravery in the field.

An officer of high rank, writing two years after this time, mentions being in company with a large number of military men, who one and all spoke of their great disappointment that Mountain had not received for China the reward he so justly merited;

P

and they said this was the feeling of the whole

army.

The only reason assigned for the omission of his name in the list of promotions was that he had only lately attained the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, and that it was not in accordance with the custom of the service to give the rank of full Colonel so soon; it not being considered that he had been thirteen years a Major.

That he himself keenly felt the omission, none, who knew his acutely sensitive nature, will for a moment doubt. He had worked zealously and well, had sacrificed health and strength in the service of his country; and when heartbroken by domestic affliction, and worn down by illness and the want of proper food, he had toiled, by night as well as by day, to secure the success of the expedition; and he had looked, as a chivalrous soldier must do, for some acknowledgment from his sovereign and his country, that his conduct was approved. But he would not sue for what he felt he had justly earned, and no one ever heard him utter a complaint, though to some of his trusted friends he occasionally spoke of his disappointment.

He took this, as he uniformly did every trial, as overruled by a higher hand, and patiently submitted to the mortification.

His time was now much occupied; and when the order came for the Cameronians to proceed to Edin