60 Memoir of Capt las. Forsyth, by the Rev. Jas. Forsyth. 



With such an ardent passion for sport, and this directed to 

 India for its freest and highest gratification by the sporting ad- 

 ventures depicted in such works as the " Old Forest Ranger," I 

 am persuaded that the main attraction of India lay in the splen- 

 did field it offered for the highest and noblest order of sport, in 

 the pursuit of the wild and savage denizens of its forests and 

 jungles, its mountain gorges and plateaux ; and the main induce- 

 ment to his preference of the military to civil life there, would be 

 found less in any ambition of military distinction, than in the 

 more ample leisure and opportunity which life in cantonments 

 was likely, under the peaceful and steady sway of British rule, to 

 afford for the forays of the sportsman. Feeling now secure of 

 the object on which he had set his heart, James applied with re- 

 doubled zeal to the work of preparation. He resumed with 

 greater steadiness his practice and study of the rifle. He after- 

 wards made an excursion of some weeks to the rocky shores and 

 inlets of Shetland, the resort of the seal, the osprey, and the 

 larger sea birds, to test his skill and success in the use of his 

 weapon. He attended for a session at the Military Academy in 

 Edinburgh, to ' qualify himself in field surveying and fortifica- 

 tion, in sword exercise, in fencing, drill, and riding. Trusting 

 to his facility in acquiring languages, he deferred the more es- 

 pecial study of those of India until he should be resident there, 

 and he devoted his private reading to acquainting himself with 

 the history, the physical aspects, the races, religions, and the 

 general character of the country in which he expected to spend 

 the future of his life. 



Being now in his 1 8 fch year, he became naturally impatient for 

 his summons to the India House. It came at length, and he was 

 ordered to attend for examination for a cadetship at Addiscombe, 

 a few weeks after. He did not apprehend the examination 

 would prove a very formidable one, but, lest it might possibly 

 take a turn, which he could not anticipate, he attended for a 

 short time a qualified instructor of candidates, and became a 

 pupil of Mr Ryde, at Croydon. He passed all his examinations 

 with eclat, and was nominated, at his own request, to a cadetship 

 in Bengal Presidency. 



My son arrived in Calcutta in the beginning of April, 1857, 

 and was forthwith appointed to do duty with the 37th Bengal 

 Native Infantry at Benares. He did not remain long, however, 



