The Sun.
London, England, 1858-06-04 00:00:00

CAMP GROUPINGS.

Our camp, indeed, presents the most picturesque group-
ings in the world. At night when the camp fires light up
the swarty faces of the native followers, or the moonlight
falls on their motionless bodies, wrapped in shroud-like
folds of white, each lying by his camel, his bullock, his
elephant, or his master's tent, and so thickly that one can
scarcely step without rousing a slumbering Hindoo—in the
heat of the day, when the trees cast their dark shadows on
the parched yellow plains, and afford a shifting shelter to
the syces, bheesties, kelassies. and all the various tribes
dependent on the march of armies--at every hour, all
aroma l us, there are objects which possess that extraordi-
nary combination of form and colour which has induced so
many men to deceive themselves and others, and to tell
untruths about " tho gorgeous East,- that Orientalism
which begins in Turkey in Europe and ceases with Burman
and China. What it is I cannot describe, but I feel and
know that it exists. Just before my tent at this moment
there is a group which could not be met with in any part
of the world beyond the regions I have indicated. Suke-
ram, the syce, is superintending the shoeing of a horse. In
order to do so he has complicated himself with that ani-
mal's hind legs in a fantastic and traditional manner won-
derful to behold. He has seated himself on his haunches as
(ally an Oriental can, between the horse's legs, one of which
he has pulled over his shoulder so as to present the hoof to
the farrier ; while his disengaged arm is passed round the
other leg of the animal, which " accepts the situation" as
it has been handed down to him for thousands of years.
Sukeram is a grave, handsome fellow, with a white turban
on his head, one end of which floats over his shoulders,
and a white piece of cotton wrapped round his loins, leav-
ing his brown body and legs to shine in the blazing sun.
He looks as intelligent as most Englishmen, but in reality
he has no idea, or will not have one, of any earthly duty
beyond the care of that horse whose tail he has just
fastened to a strap passed round the fetlock. His wife—
for he has a faithful attendant in all his marches—whose
arms are covered with brass rings from wrist to elbow, and
on whose anclea jingling bands of metal make pleasant
music as she walks, is mixing up his rice and curry in a
bright brass pot, covered in one long fold of cotton, so
that only her arms and feet are visible, and on her hip a
small imp is perched, obstreperous for his meal, and see he
gets it, so delicately and decently that our ladies at home
might envy the process, for a fold of the robe is opened,
the tawny body disappears inside and is covered by the
robe, and only a pair of legs are left visible, which soon by
their easy modulations give tokens of the satisfaction of
the youthful proprietor with the treatment he is receiving
inside.

AN INDIAN 3311TH.
The smith, a brawny fellow in a short pair of drawers
and a yellow turban, whose muscles stand out like those
of a bronze• Hercules, is using the most extraordinary-
looking implements of farriery with great skill, but any
motion of the horse's heel must inevitable catch him right
on the bridge of the nose. A young man, who may be a
perpetual out-door apprentice of the smith, and whose
only business seems to be the abstraction of smoke from a
huge pipe, is seated on the ground watching the operation.
But, as watching is. an act on the due performance of
which ovary Oriental operation in a great measure depends,
it is not left to the apprentice alone— a tame monkey an•l
a parrot take an intense interest in it, and a great tall
Sikh, all black eyes and whiskers, moustaches and beard,
and shining white teeth, with a real awash-buckler swagger'
and stride, is coming over to join them.

AX IRREGULAR HORSMAN.
, Judging by his turban he is one of Wale's 'Torso. Light
limbed, sinewy, and active, the air of those fellows makes
us appreciate the valour of those Englishmen who crushed
the race in battle. I have never seen finer men, so far as
the look goes, than many of those Irregular Horsemen, or
the troopers of the Punjab Cavalry ; but if an anatomical,
though not an equestrian, object might be made to them,
it would be that their legs and thighs, though exceedingly
straight, are thin and.su3all, and that their calves are not
well developed. Many of-them are exceedingly handsome,
awl all have fine ayes and teeth ; they divide their beards
at the chin and plait them with their whiskers, which
they turn up and knot in a bunch on the top of the
heed under the turban to prevent the ends of the hair
splitting, and on state occasions they comb out these
masses of black hair, of which they are very proud.
Their shouhlere are broad and square, their arms mus-
cular, their hands and feet very small and well-shaped
The general dress and equipment of these irregulars are
large turban, the colour of which denotes their regiment ;
a tunic of carky, blue or gray, fastened at the waist by a
Lush and belt, from the latter of which depends a bread
curved
thigh
atsabea cut;r k etehne afsor
etra zboera,
bears
haitchlowaisltl
onelop poffi a
thole:al Li.;
over the shoulders is slung a carabine, or rifle and cal-
touch-bex. Their legs• are cased in jackboots, but son e
regiment still allow the men to wear their national trouset s
popular
at
ro
itnh et
heenhc loersa.e s
hOouct.:
fitting 'close to the skin from the
'esiulconcsoesstsoffu
which
h withi e til:eprpeast:nottl,y than(i
hwehSi
which
hh,ehiossvme
ovterhei
nafttsen:ipettsy.thot:wetaliknstooffe°,lltvaisnae"
jug circle, and afttetriejsao:ere
ny
c‘w%o-lilt,tehhrheacii
whereupon oftei‘lve rn ils
the Sikh is called many names (be-
hind h's back awl out of hearing), and becomes more un-
popular than ever.
MORNING MARCHES.
Oh, the monotony of these early morning marches, the
same tramp, tramp, tramp, dbanytaafltierhoduary.b e
fTo
rhee
thatfirst buglet
hr
e
goes at two tu the morning,
and bullock hack •
cult. Camels and elephants
fires el.] es
is such a hum and bustle in camp that sleep is very ditii-
crackle
withs are
lriainrpgiyloarodieidndoctannigplets, is spread
your t ebed,tents
awhich, equipage these h;
d
" and t:al,..Tlcs
,u,niudeardrti_lee,,,satanrds,,,asnadmi,rasauti,tsoscism, aonnd, Itaund,
ire:, ee_n l" and
s
:10-131:Inycesutrtubctkoanne,uielsoohmreinakg
tyooauprrsolculitgniboeur:c;,izy7t,hteenctalieti-
quie: now they aro loaded
k
away in long Wei to the to
ing hackeri's already throw up dense clouds of dust, in-
visible but palpable in the night; the horses are seddle:l,
is :retread creakstal
each with his seble attendant by his side, and by the light
of the camp lanterns the servants aro getting ready the
stirrup cup of tea for their masters ; shouts resound, ",Ire
you ready yet ?" " Who's that ?" "I'll meet you on the
road ;" and at last commences the slow, tedious, ineviteble
navigation of horse and man through the troubles of that
sea of carts, camels, and elephants, goats, oxen, and
human beings.

DEATH OF SIR WILLIAM PEEL. .
(From the Bombay Gazette.)
The latest news from Dinapore conveys the melancholy
intelligence of the death of Captain Sir William Peel.
He died at Cawnpore on the 27th of April.- Having passed
unscathed through the ordeal of the Sebastopol trenches
and through the siege of I.pcknow, without anything more
than a Revue wound, this brave and admirable officer
died of that fearful scourge of India, the stuall•poz.