Government of India. [Illustration: PLAN OF HERAT] [Illustration: A STREET SHRINE.] During this long pre-occupation with Afghan affairs Russia had made considerable improvement in her own position in Central Asia, where but little more than the final touches remained to be given. These appeared with the seizure of Merv in 1884 and the completion of the Central Asian railway between Krasnovodsk and Samarkand 1800-1888. The slow, yet faltering, steps with which Russia had maintained her advance towards Afghanistan, in contradiction of all treaties, in abuse of all frontiers and in contempt of our own inaction, at last forced home upon the British Government the fruits of its own miscalculations. In 1884 along the Afghan north-western frontier as also in 1896 on the Pamirs, Boundary Commissions were assembled to meet the exigencies of the situation. The former of these took the field under the leadership of Sir Peter Lumsden, with whom were associated Colonel Sir West Ridgeway and numerous officers attached for political, survey, military, geological and medical duties, including Major E. L. Durand, Major C. E. Yate, Major T. H. Holdich, Captain St. George Gore, Captain Peacocke, Captain the Honourable M. C. Talbot, Captain Maitland, and Lieutenant A. C. Yate. The Pamirs Mission was under the presidency of Major-General M. G. Gerard, with whom were Colonel T. H. Holdich, Lieut.-Colonel R. A. Wahab, Captain E. F. H. McSwiney, and Surgeon-Captain A. W. Alcock. Russia was represented by Major-General Povalo Shveikovski, Colonel Galkin, Captain Krutorogin, Lieutenant Orakolow, Monsieur Panafidine, and Doctor Welman.[12]