rs on first joining their
regiments. I have had ample opportunities of seeing the great value
of a regular course of instruction drill for at least six months.
When I joined my first regiment, which was about forty years ago, I
had the good fortune to be under a commandant and adjutant who,
happily for me and many others, attached great importance to this
very necessary course of instruction, I then acquired a thorough
knowledge of my duties, which led to my being appointed an adjutant
very early in life. When I attained the rank of lieutenant-colonel I
had, however, opportunities of observing how very much this essential
duty had been neglected in certain regiments, and made it a rule in
all that I commanded to keep all young officers on first joining at
the instruction drill till thoroughly grounded in their duties. Since
I ceased to command a regiment, I have taken advantage of every
opportunity to express to those commanding officers with whom I have
been in correspondence my conviction of the great advantages of this
system to the rising generation. In going from one regiment to
another I found many curious instances of ignorance on the part of
young officers who had been many years with their corps. It was by no
means an easy task to convince them that they really knew nothing, or
at least had a great deal to learn; but when they were made sensible
of it, they many of them turned out excellent officers, and now, I
believe, bless the day they were first put under me.'

The advantages of the System here mentioned cannot be questioned; and
it is much to be regretted that it is not strictly enforced in every
regiment in the service. Young officers may find it irksome at first;
but they soon become sensible of the advantages, and learn to applaud
the commandant who has had the firmness to consult their permanent
interests more than their present inclinations. [W. H. S.]

38. Among the many changes produced in India by the development of
the railway system and by other causes one of the most striking is
the abolition of small military stations. Almost all these have
disappeared, and the troops are now massed in large cantonments,
where they can be handled much more effectively than in out-stations.
The discipline of small detached bodies of troops is generally liable
to deterioration.

39. Many instances of semi-religious honour paid by natives to the
tombs of Europeans have been noticed.

40. There are, I believe,