Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-05-16
A CAMP IN INDIA.
THE NATIVE TROOPS OF GEN. ROB-
ERTS' COMMAND NEAR DELHI.

The GhOorkas and Sikhs-Uniforms and
Other Features-An Elephant Battery
of Heavy Guns-Many Sports and En-
ercIses-A Picturesque Assembly.
The native troops struck me, and be
heve our accredited officers sre equally i'm
pressed, beiHg far in advance Of what
was loo%ei for, the GhOorkss and Sikhs
being especially noticeable, the latter from
their good height, fine ply sique, intelligence
and general fondness for the service They
wers among the last Of the native tribes to
yield to British rule, but have ever since
been the mfrst loyal Of her ma jesty's Indian
subjects They were thoroughly devoted
during the mutiny Of lsj1, and did good
service against the rebels Their stronghold
is about Ameritzer, q city near Lahore,
where they have one of their most sacred
temples, known as the Golden temple The
GhoOrkas come from Nipaul, in the Hima
layas, and show muCh more of the MOngolian
type of feature They are q rather short,
but na.ty looking set of men, armed in ad
dition TO their rife with a large curved
sheath knife, which is worn on the bet.
They are very unrelenting, and rarely
spare the life of even a fallen foe.
The field uniform OF all arms of the ser
vice Is made of a material called karkee Ii
il a species of American duck of q yellowish
clay color, and consists of jacket, short
trousers, and a pair Of leggings called put
ties, being a roll of cloth wound round the
leg in a spiral form from the ankle to the
knee, in a manner similar to that in which
race horses legs are bandaged
UNIFORMS OF NATIVES AND EUROPEANS.
For full dress the native well as the
European troops wear the tunic of various
cOlors and Of different ia, ings Red is still
the prevailing color, but in conversation
with officers gathered the impression that
the karkee cOor, or drsb, Is the one which
many favor, as it so nearly approac hes that
of the soil as to make the soidiers almost in
distinguishabie AMI | observed that when
III the field, except for the turban which the
natives wear at all times, it was iii hCult to
discover a body of ftroop-especially if they
were not on the march Tie European sol
der also weai bis topy or sun hat with the
karkee and Is less observable than the
tive The Ghoorkas are an exception, and
do not wear the turban, but in its stead a
species OF shell zap, not unlike the jaunty
hea lpiece Of the English soldier, with
whom, by tn by, he fraterni o, more than
any other OF the native troops
One OF the features OF this command that
is especially striking TO an American is its
elephant battery of heavy guns, wnich |
took the pains To examine quite minutely.
There were really two kinds Of d sught
the elephant ami the bullock, there Icing
eighteen Of the former and SUU o. the latter
The wheel elephant is placed IN pair of
wide shafts, and has a very large, heavy
and r-ng saddle, not unlike a huge cart
saddle This is attached by a heavy leath-
ern band and iToa ,hains to the shafts He
has also a strong breast strap and breech-
ing The lead elephant is hitchsd in a simi
lar manner to that in which the lead horse
is a tandem team would be lhs bulIOcks
accompany the battery not only for
draught purpose for which tLey use from
our to six yOkes for each gun, but be
cause they are Indispensable in time of
tion, as the elephant will not stand fire He,
realizing the danger, would be liable to
stampede the guns, and hence is detached
when the enemy is near, and bullocks yoked
in. There were some superb specimens OF
the latter attached TO the battery. There
were also two or three mountain batteries
in which the guns and parts of carriages
were on the backs Of mules