CHAPTER IV 



PROMOTION though generally only temporary was very 

 rapid in the new Police Service during the earlier years of 

 its creation, owing to the fact that most of the senior 

 officers were military men who had had no leave since 

 the Mutiny broke out. Hence as the juniors gradually 

 gained experience in their duties and became fit to take 

 charge of districts, many superintendents took advantage 

 of the leave which was now being freely granted. 



Thus it came about that shortly after Major C had 



come back and resumed charge I was appointed to act 



as Superintendent of J , a small district in the northern 



portion of the province, and ordered to join immediately 

 as the permanent incumbent had been granted leave, and 

 was waiting to be released. 



The District was one I had often heard spoken of as 

 the wildest and best shooting district in Lower Bengal 

 being off the beaten track and thinly populated, with miles 

 of dense jungle extending along its northern border, said 

 to be infested with every variety of big game, including 

 elephants and rhinoceros. 



I was naturally much pleased at my good fortune, for 

 had I been given my choice of districts, I could not have 

 selected one more to my taste ; consequently within three 

 days of receiving the order, I was on my way to join, and 

 forty-eight hours later, was duly installed as acting- super- 

 intendent of the district, and thenceforth known to its 

 inhabitants as the " Nya Cuptane Sahib," or the " New 

 Captain." 



But as this seemingly easy method of acquiring 

 military rank may puzzle non-Anglo-Indians, I must 

 arrest my narrative a moment to explain the curious 

 process by which I obtained it. As already stated, when 

 the constabulary was raised most of the superintendents 



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