On May 8th, the General, having appointed Colonel Harrison, R.E., Assistant-Quartermaster-General of the army, and Lieutenant Carey, 98th Regiment, Deputy-Assistant-Quartermaster-General, requested the former “to give some work to the Prince Imperial, as he was anxious for it, and did not find enough to do in the duties of an extra aide-de-camp.” This request was a verbal one, and the words used may not be letter for letter, but of the purport there is no doubt; and such a request from the Commander-in-Chief was, of course, an order which was immediately carried out. The Prince was directed to collect and record information respecting the distribution of troops, location of depôts, and the like, and he worked hard at this for some days. Lord Chelmsford shortly afterwards left for Newcastle, but before his departure Colonel Harrison suggested that it would be advisable, during his lordship’s absence, to make a reconnaissance into Zululand, on the borders of which they had been hovering so long, so as to determine the exact line of route which the columns ought to take in the impending invasion. Lord Chelmsford accepted the suggestion, asking Colonel Harrison to take the Prince with him on the expedition, and appointing an intelligent officer to accompany them. The reconnoitring party started with a strong escort, and reached Conference Hill on May 13th. Here they were joined by Colonel Buller and 200 horsemen, and were engaged on their reconnaissance till May 17th, bivouacking at night with horses saddled and bridled, and marching at dawn, scouring the country, and sweeping Zulu scouts before them. The Prince was delighted with the life, the simple fare of the officers—his comrades—cooked by themselves at their camp-fire, the strange country, the sight of the enemy, the exhilarating gallops over the grass up hill and down dale after fleet Zulu spies, the bivouac under the star-lit heavens. All this pleased him immensely; as he told Colonel Harrison: “Made him feel that he was really doing soldiers’ work such as he had never done before.” Always anxious to be of use, he made most careful and copious notes and observations on all they saw or did.