All Auckland’s information on Afghanistan came through Macnaghten and Wade, neither of whom had ever visited the country. The advice of Burnes, whose despatches from Kabul gave a more accurate assessment of the real balance of power in the country, could only reach the Governor General heavily filtered through the double distorting lens of Macnaghten’s summaries and Wade’s patronising commentaries, both of which tended to undermine all that Burnes was suggesting.
