rms, similar to those worn by the Sepoys in the service of the
European powers, provided for the men; but Charlie strongly urged him
not to do so. He admitted that the troops would look immensely better,
if clad in regular uniform; than as a motley band, each dressed
according to his own fancy. He pointed out, however, that while the
news that the rajah was having some of his men drilled by European
deserters would attract but little attention among his neighbours, the
report that he was raising Sepoy battalions would certainly be
received by them in a hostile spirit.

"By all means," Charlie said, "get the uniforms made for the whole
force, and keep them by you in store. They can be at once served out
in case of war, and the sight of a number of Sepoy battalions, where
they expected only to meet an irregular force, will have an immense
effect upon any force opposed to you."

The rajah saw the force of this argument, and at once ordered five
thousand suits of white uniforms, similar to those worn by the Sepoys
in the English and French service, to be made and stored up in the
magazines.

While his lieutenants were drilling the main body, Charlie himself
took in hand a party of forty picked men, and instructed them in the
use of field guns. The superiority of Europeans in artillery was one
of the reasons which gave to them such easy victory, in their early
battles with the native forces in India. The latter possessed a very
powerful artillery, in point of numbers, but there was no regular
drill nor manner of loading. They were in the habit, too, of allowing
each gun to cool after it was fired, before being loaded again. It was
thought, therefore, good practice if a gun were discharged once in a
quarter of an hour. They were, then, utterly astounded and dismayed at
the effects of the European guns, each of which could be loaded and
fired twice, or even three times, a minute.

So month passed after month, until Rajah Boorhau was in a position to
put, if necessary, five battalions of Sepoys, each seven hundred
strong, into the field; with thirty guns, served by trained
artillerymen. So quietly had the work gone on, that it attracted no
attention among his neighbours. The mere rumour that the rajah had
some European deserters in his service, and that these were drilling
four or five hundred men, was considered of so little moment that it
passed altogether unheeded.

The accounts of the state of affairs in the Carnatic,