368 PAY AND POSITION OF VETERINARY SURGEONS. 
a fee is expected. I myself hate the trouble, and prefer a 
quiet life in this confoundedly hot country. 
I will now give you a little insight into the way in which 
our money goes out. In the first place, a man’s mess bill, 
at an average, amounts to <£9 a month ; house rent averages 
£ 3 ; servants, twelve in number! cost £6; feeding and 
shoeing of two horses, twelve shillings ; and miscellaneous 
expenses about £5; thus £24 a month is accounted for, 
leaving £10 to replace uniform and other clothes, and out of 
which to lay by the “ Indian fortune” which we are expected 
to take home with us. However, we are not badly off after all. 
I am tolerably happy, and I fancy most of my professional 
brethren whom I have met out here are so too. 
I have just heard of one of our fraternity who is thinking 
of retiring, and W'ho, wdth his pension, and the interest of his 
“ hard-earned savings,” will have about £ 1200 a year ! There 
may be a good time coming for me, for I am not yet very 
old in the service. All must live and learn — and perhaps I 
may have £1200 to retire on some of these days. 
A veterinary surgeon is expected to keep two chargers, 
and these wall cost him about Rs. 1200 (£120). Just 
now horses are very scarce indeed — few^ good ones are to be 
bought in this part of the country. In ordinary times the 
duties of the veterinary surgeon out here are not very arduous. 
There are plenty of cases of colic, mange, and lameness ; a few 
of enteritis, pneumonia, strangles, and catarrh. Paraplegia 
(Kumree) is not uncommon, and hemiplegica occurs occa- 
sionally. Glanders and farcy are sometimes met with, though 
rarely in the upper provinces. Besides these v r e have that 
annoying disease “ bursauttee.” 
At present the veterinary surgeons of the army have plenty 
to do ; lots of w ounded and sick horses to attend to in the field. 
I have been on a committee for the last three months, assem- 
bled for the purpose of purchasing horses for the newly- 
arrived artillery and dragoons. We meet three times a week, 
and buy as many horses as w r e can get. During the three 
months, however, we have only succeeded in obtaining ISO 
fit for the service — all country-bred horses — at an average 
price of £30 each. I must have examined about 300 or 
600 altogether, out of which the 130 were passed as “ fit.” 
Some of the rejected were too young, others too old ; some 
were lame, and others undersized. I may here mention that 
I came across several old horses that had been “ Bishoped,” 
so you see the Asiatics are not far behind their European 
brethren in rascality. They also barbarously knock out four 
milk teeth in three-year- olds in order to pass them off as 
