AGES MOST sriTABLE FOR RECRUITS. 261 



landing, are oftea in time of war under the necessity of 

 marchniiT from morning till night, at a season when perhaps 

 the thermometer is as high as 80° or 90^ in the shade at 

 noon ; sleeping, moreover, on the damp ground, and rismg 

 half-refreshed to toil on through an unhealthy district,— 

 perchance to encounter the enemy. At all times, however, 

 when their armies are not in the tield, and when stern ne- 

 cessity does not demand the imposition of such hardships, 

 the ditferent governments of India invariably evince the most 

 humane consideration for voung soldiers on their first arnval. 

 It is to be observed, also, that the king's and company's 

 officers, and the civil servants, feel few of the mconve- 

 niences just mentioned, because their circumstances procure 

 exemption from them. Carried about in palanqums, during 

 the hot hours, for the first few months they are in the 

 country, exposed neither to great fatigue nor to the noxious 

 niffht-dews, they become gradually habituated to the fervid 

 atmosphere, and in due time are able to endure all weathers. 

 With such advantages, accordingly, these gentlemen might 

 safely venture to India at an earUer age ; nineteen would 

 not be premature. To engage them so soon in active duties 

 micrht, indeed, entail upon them the disadvantage of an un- 

 perfect education, which is a consideration of great import- 

 ance ; but it is merely in regard to the ability of the bodily 

 frame to encounter the inconveniences of climate that we 

 speak in this place. As those of a superior rank, then, 

 may without hazard proceed to the East sooner than people 

 of inferior stations, they may, for similar reasons, with 

 greater safety visit Asia at a more advanced age. In proof 

 of this we have only to refer to our governors, judges, and 

 commanders-m-chief, many of whom were in the decline 

 of life before they stepped on Indian soil, and who, without 

 having previously been in the torrid zone, enjoyed excellent 

 health and spirits in a country which to them was like a 

 new world. 



We shall now proceed to a few observations regarding 

 the description of men, in point of natural constitution best 

 fitted for the ser\-ice in question. Taking it for granted 

 that the recruits are in the first place examined in the usual 

 wav, in order to ascertain their ability to perform all mus- 

 cular motions, we should think it advisable, considermg the 

 nature of the country for which they are destined, that par- 



