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it may be said that a native of Hindustan if sent on service into Kabul should
have had as ample an allowance of body clothing and bedding as a European,
especially when the larger share of night duties falls to the lot of the former.
The peculiar feature of the climate is intense range of the thermometer, and
the most effective protection would be found in wool next to the skin. But
the reports show that many regiments from the plains of India, having hurried
to the seat of war in advance of the commissariat supplies, had not received,
when the severe cold set in, the supply of jerseys, suits, socks, and poshteens
which had been sanctioned for free issue ; and the great prevalence of agues,
especially on the route to Southern Afghanistan, was ascribed by medical
officers mainly to exposure to night air and extreme cold when insufficiently
clad. While several medical officers consider that the regulated 20 lbs. allowed
to each sepoy for baggage is too small, others give a distinct opinion as to its
sufficiency. On this subject it is desirable that a more definite report should be
issued ; the statements are inconsistent. In the 5th Goorkhas the carriage as-
- s i g n e d i s c o n s i d e r e d t o o l i t t l e f o r w a r m t h a n d h e a l t h ( S u r g e o n - M a j o r F a r r e l l ) ,
while the medical officer, 1st Sikh Infantry (Surgeon-Major A. P. Holmes), with
a very high rate of sickness and mortality, considers the "clothing ample, no
further improvement necessary." 27th Native Infantry, "Two blanketsneces
-sary." 7th Native Infantry, "Undress clothing insufficient." 23rd Native In-
fantry, "Great coats and caps exceptionally good, otherwise one blanket and one
durrie not sufficient" (Surgeon-Major E. Tayler). The conclusion which I
have come to, though it is one which I should expect modified by further evi
- d e n c e , i s t h i s , t h a t 1 0 s e e r s o f b a g g a g e f o r e a c h s e p o y i s a m p l e i n a l l c a v a l r y
regiments in the service, and in the infantry of the Punjab Frontier Force,
in which experience of climate and possibly a little help in regimental carriage,
enable the native soldier to add to his uniform a poshteen or a choga, to his
undress a wadded "meerzaie," and to his bedding a wadded "razaie." In
the regular infantry some regiments are better equipped than others, the great
coats are longer, the blankets are heavier, the carriage possibly is not closely
checked. If, however, the proportion of carriage laid down in Quarter Master
General's "Revised Cabul Scale" is rigidly observed, and the 10 seers include the
extra free clothing in G. O . C. C. of 1st October 1879, then I should certainly
consider the proportion available for bedding as too small for that climate. It
is a really important question, and one which has an especial significance in the
liability of the native troops to attacks of ague ; and the value of ample
and good clothing in keeping the men fit for duty has been nowhere more
thoroughly established than in the hospital records of the troops serving in
Afghanistan.
32. On the vexed question of boots much has been written, and opinions
are still widely at variance. It is indeed almost impossible that any single
pattern of boot should answer equally well in the jungle tracts of Assam, the
swamps of Bengal, the level roads of Hindustan, the sandy wastes of Belu
-chistan, or the rocky defiles and towering passes of Kabul. I notice that many
Commanding Officers are prompt to modify or change the boot as the service
varies, and in nearly all cases some useful hint in this respect may be learnt
from the people of the invaded country. The Guides Infantry use the Afghan
" chaplie" l a r g e l y , a n d " h a v e f e w e r a d m i s s i o n s f r o m s o r e f e e t t h a n a n y o t h e r
regiment in the service" (Surgeon J. Lewtas, M. B.). The native shoe, which
has so many advocates, was found to fill with sand at every step in the desert and
to cause cracks beneath the toes, across the heels, and where the edges brushed
the opposite ankles. The use of puttis is much advocated in preference to
gaiters. The long boots in the cavalry render them almost helpless when dis
-mounted in the hills and defiles of Kabul. The ammunition boot, with a broad
tongue and with strap and buckle, seems to have been most serviceable. There
is, a very general admission as to its superiority for all purposes if only socks are
worn with it ; but unfortunately this implies either frequent mending or per
i-odical replacement, and neither can be relied on. The drawbacks of the ammu
-nition boot are, its manufacture of inferior country leather, the bad cut, and its
rough hardness at first. If improvements could be effected in the tanning so as
to supply a soft and yet durable leather, and equal attention paid to the fit as to
a coat (the latter far less important of the two), and the soldier saved from rough
duty the first time they are worn, it is likely that no reasonable complaints