Walmer Castle was for long the official residence of the lord warden, but has, since the resignation of Lord Curzon in 1903, ceased to be so used, and those portions of it which are of historic interest are now open to the public. George, prince of Wales (lord warden, 1903-1907), was the first lord warden of royal blood since the office was held by George, prince of Denmark, consort of Queen Anne.
Woodthorpe was followed into Burmese fields by many others; and amongst the earliest travellers to those mysterious mountains which hide the sources of the Irrawaddy, the Salween and the Mekong, was Prince Henri d'Orleans Burma was rapidly brought under survey; Siam was already in the 'mapmaking hands of James M'Carthy, whilst Curzon and Warrington Smyth added much to our knowledge of its picturesque coast districts.
When Lord Curzon reorganized the frontier in 1900, British garrisons were withdrawn from the Samana forts, which are now held by a corps of tribal police 450 strong, called the Samana Rifles.
As the Hindu Kush strikes westwards, after first rounding the head of an Oxus tributary (the Ab-i-Panja, which Curzon considers to be the true source of the Oxus), it closely overlooks the trough of that glacier-fed stream under its northern spurs, its crest at the nearest point being separated from the river by a distance which cannot much exceed io m.
Curzon as to whether the account given in this book might be taken as correct.