CHAPTER XXIII 1862-1864. DEVONPORT--CALCUTTA 201 CHAPTER XXIV 1865-1868. CALCUTTA--PORTSMOUTH 213 CHAPTER XXV 1868-1870. PORTSMOUTH 227 CHAPTER XXVI 1870. JULY-SEPTEMBER. FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR--SIEGE OF PARIS 231 CHAPTER XXVII 1870. SEPTEMBER. SIEGE OF PARIS 242 CHAPTER XXVIII 1870. OCTOBER. SIEGE OF PARIS 248 CHAPTER XXIX 1870. NOVEMBER. SIEGE OF PARIS 259 CHAPTER XXX 1870. DECEMBER. SIEGE CONTINUED 265 CHAPTER XXXI 1871. JANUARY. SIEGE--BOMBARDMENT--CAPITULATION OF PARIS 272 CHAPTER XXXII 1871. FEBRUARY. PARIS AFTER CAPITULATION 282 CHAPTER XXXIII 1871. MARCH. ENEMIES WITHIN PARIS 289 CHAPTER XXXIV 1871-1874. DOVER--ALDERSHOT 293 CHAPTER XXXV 1874-1875. BURMAH 297 CHAPTER XXXVI 1875-1880. MADRAS PRESIDENCY--FINALE 306 INDEX 315 THIRTY-NINE YEARS IN THE ARMY CHAPTER I _1841-1842. GAZETTED TO THE BUFFS. ARRIVE IN INDIA_ First Affghan War--Chatham--Fort Pitt--Supernumeraries--How appointed--Gazetted--Breaking in--Orders of readiness--Ship inspected--Embark--First days on board--Typical characters-- Warmth--Our “tub”--Reduced allowances--Conditions on board-- Amusements for men--For officers--“Speaking” ships--A dismasted vessel--First sense of responsibility--Indiscipline--Neptune--On board--Table Bay--Shore boats--Cape Town--Vicinity--Official duties--The ship _Lloyds_--An “old friend”--The 25th Regiment-- The contractor--Botanic Garden--Eastward--Mutinous crew--Land ahoy--Terrible news--The Hooghly. In 1841 British and Indian troops occupied Cabul; but throughout Affghanistan the aspect of things political was alarming. In Scinde the Ameers were defiant and hostile. The Punjab in a state of disturbance and convulsion; law and order had ceased; isolated murders and massacres instigated by opposing claimants to the throne left vacant in 1839, and since that time occupied by a prince against whom the insurrectionary movement was now directed by chiefs, some of whom were inimical to British interests. Military reinforcements on a large scale were dispatched from England. Great, accordingly, the activity at Chatham, then the only depot whence recruits and young officers were sent to regiments serving in India. The depot then at Warley was for soldiers of the Honourable Company’s service.