On August 3d Abdurrahman and Mr Griffin at length met, about sixteen miles north of Cabul. His adherents were still full of excitement and suspicion; but the Ameer himself was calm, cheerful, and dignified. The conference between him and Mr Griffin lasted for three hours and was renewed on the following day. 'He appeared,' wrote Mr Griffin, 'animated by a sincere desire to be on cordial terms with the British Government, and although his expectations were larger than the Government was prepared to satisfy, yet he did not press them with any discourteous insistence, and the result of the interview may be considered on the whole to be highly satisfactory.' The tidings of the Maiwand disaster had reached Sherpur by telegraph, and the Ameer was informed that a necessity might occur for marching a force from Cabul to Candahar. His reply was that the tribes might be hostile, but that if no long halts were made by the way he would have no objections to such a march. In this he showed his astuteness, since the defeat of Ayoub Khan by a British army would obviously save him a contest. So willing to be of service on this matter was he that when the march was decided on he sent influential persons of his party in advance to arrange with the local maliks to have supplies collected for the column. The arrangements made with him were that he was to fall heir to the thirty guns of Shere Ali's manufacture which the out-marching army was to leave in Sherpur, and was to receive 19-1/2 lakhs of rupees (£190,500); ten lakhs of which were given as an earnest of British friendship, and the balance was money belonging to the Afghan State, which had gone into the commissariat chest and was now restored. At the Ameer's earnest and repeated request the forts which had been built around Cabul by the British army, were not destroyed as had been intended, but were handed over intact to the new Ameer. It seemed that Sir Donald Stewart, who was to evacuate Sherpur on the 11th August, would leave Cabul without seeing Abdurrahman. But at the last moment Mr Griffin succeeded in arranging an interview. It was held early in the morning of the evacuation, in a tent just outside the Sherpur cantonment, was quite public, and lasted only for quarter of an hour. Abdurrahman was frank and cordial. He said that his heart was full of gratitude to the British, and desired that his best thanks should be communicated to the Viceroy. At the close of the interview he shook hands with all 'who cared to wish him good-bye and good luck,' and sent his principal officer to accompany the General on his first day's march, which began immediately after the parting with Abdurrahman. Sir Donald Stewart's march down the passes was accomplished without incident, quite unmolested by the tribes. Small garrisons were temporarily left in the Khyber posts, and the war-worn regiments were dispersed through the stations of North-Western India. CHAPTER VIII: MAIWAND AND THE GREAT MARCH