After addressing a variety of remarks upon the various interests in Kabul to his guests, Habib Ullah opened a general conversation in Persian, as that tongue is the language of the Court. Habib Ullah reads and speaks English, Arabic, Hindustani and Persian, but considers the employment of English as undignified. At the beginning of the audience the Amir seemed preoccupied; but as he had just come from giving orders in connection with the welcome and entertainment of the Dane Mission, he presently talked of that event. He began by a graceful allusion to the Viceroy, Lord Curzon, and a complimentary reference to Lord Kitchener, in acknowledgment of the great interest these distinguished people took in the welfare of his state. Gradually he brought the conversation closer to his subject, likening Afghanistan to the position of a shield held at arm’s length against the enemies of India. “If such a shield were thin as parchment,” said Habib Ullah, “a child could tear it. But if thick and strong were the shield it would resist all attempts; and it is my object to make this shield strong--so strong that it cannot be broken,” adding with parting reflection that he would discuss further the means of strengthening the shield when the Mission from India had arrived. At this point in the interview Inayat Ullah Khan, the little prince who at a later date visited India, entered the chamber. Salaaming to his father he stood with the pages until given permission to be seated. Habib Ullah now turned the conversation to his gun accident, finding in the quick recovery that he had made under the skilful attention of Major Bird--physician to the late Viceroy and specially despatched in response to an urgent message from Kabul--a direct manifestation of the grace of Allah. In order that his guests should be in a position to inspect the injured limb the Amir rested his hand upon a table, which he himself drew up. Removing the glove the effects of the operation became apparent. At the moment that Major Bird had arrived in Kabul the hand had become very swollen. There was, also, a great accumulation of pus in the wounds, which it had been necessary to incise; while the terminal phalanx of the index finger, and part of the second phalanx of the middle finger of the left hand, had been removed. At the time of this audience Major Bird had returned to India. The wounds had healed; and the hand was perfectly healthy, although the joints were still stiff. The accident, which has made him look with greater toleration upon the wisdom of establishing in Kabul a permanent branch of the Indian medical system, had been caused through the bursting of a sixty guinea, hammerless, 12-bore, double-barrel gun of English make. The Amir, on March 28, 1904, was snipe-shooting near the village of Khudadad and had shot twenty brace, when, as he was firing, the right barrel burst, a fragment an inch and a half in length being blown out.