Barlow travelled to the subcontinent in 1863, visiting India and Ceylon, before travelling to Burma to obtain a concession for a railway through Burma to China. By his own later account, he was introduced to the Burmese king, Mindon Min, who took an instant liking to him. According to Barlow, he was then appointed as the commander-in-chief of the Burmese army and made the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. After leaving Burma, he travelled to Abyssinia where he claimed to have become a major general in the Abyssinian Army. What is certain was his presence in Egypt in 1877, where he was captured and imprisoned by the Mahdist forces after landing on the Egyptian coast on a dhow which flew the Ottoman flag. His imprisonment raised questions in the Parliament of the United Kingdom regarding his treatment at the hands of the Mahdists. He later tried to accompany General Gordon on his ill-fated journey to Khartoum in 1885, but he was refused.