The efforts to control Afghanistan were further weakened by the British government in India. Dismayed at the costs of maintaining the large garrison in Kabul, it discontinued the periodic subsidies (essentially bribes) that had been paid to the various tribes in the region around Kabul and the Khyber Pass to keep the peace. Once these ended, the tribes saw no more reason to remain loyal to the British-supported regime. Macnaghten dismissed warnings from his officers, writing to his superiors in India that this is the usual state of Afghan society. As the spring and summer of 1841 progressed, British freedom of movement around Kabul became increasingly restricted.