y's officer in India will concur with me in
thinking desirable to improve the good feeling of the native
soldiery--that is, an increase in the pay of the Jemadars. They are
commissioned officers, and seldom attain the rank in less than from
twenty-five to thirty years;[40] and they have to provide themselves
with clothes of the same costly description as those of the Subadar;
to be as well mounted, and in all respects to keep the same
respectability of appearance, while their pay is only twenty-four
rupees and a half a month; that is, ten rupees a month only more than
they had been receiving in the grade of Havildars, which is not
sufficient to meet the additional expenses to which they become
liable as commissioned officers. Their means of remittance to their
families are rather diminished than increased by promotion, and but
few of them can hope ever to reach the next grade of Subadar. Our
Government, which has of late been so liberal to its native civil
officers, will, I hope, soon take into consideration the claims of
this class, who are universally admitted to be the worst paid class
of native public officers in India. Ten rupees a month addition to
their pay would be of great importance; it would enable them to
impart some of the advantages of promotion to their families, and
improve the good feeling of the circles around them towards the
Government they serve.[41]

Notes:

1. This chapter and the following one were printed as a separate
tract at Calcutta in 1841 (see Bibliography). That small volume
included an Introduction and two statistical tables which the author
did not reprint. He has utilized extracts from the Introduction in
various parts of the _Rambles and Recollections_. I am not sure that
the tract was ever published, though it was printed; for the author
says in his Introduction: 'They (_scil._ these two essays) may never
be published; but I cannot deny myself the gratification of printing
them.'

2. This order is confined to the Indian Army.

3. The punishment of working on the roads is long obsolete.

4. The author spells this word 'sipahee'. I have thought it better to
use throughout the now familiar corruption.

5. The ordinary infantry pay was raised from seven to nine rupees in
1895.

6. General Orders by the Commander-in-Chief of the 5th of January,
1797, declare that no sepoy or trooper of our native army shall be
dismissed from the service by the sentence of any but a general cou