entitled 'Adventures of an Officer in the service of Ranjít Singh,' usually known as 'The Adventurer in the Punjab.'
Kaithal and Nepál.
After the termination of the Afghán war Lawrence held a succession of desultory appointments for more or less brief periods; but it was in one of these posts — the charge of the Kaithal State — that, having to make a summary revenue settlement, he carried it out so successfully that in six months the number of ploughs increased by fifty per cent. Eventually, however, he was appointed, in November, 1843, to the high diplomatic post of Resident at the Court of Nepál.
His tenure of this appointment lasted for two years, to the close of 1845, and was a period of comparative rest, during which he was exceptionally busy with his pen, and wrote, besides other articles, his defence of Sir William Macnaghten. These contributions to literature will be referred to at length further on[1], in connexion with those periods of his career when his remarks and suggestions were most pertinent to the state of affairs actually in force.
His career at the Court of Nepál was free from any incidents or questions of high importance. But he studied the military character and proclivities of the people, and came to the conclusion that they possessed no power for invasion or aggression; and that the only room for anxiety or need for watch-
- ↑ See p. 144.
