M2 TEM 30NGK*S GENERAL VIEW OP THE DUTCH 
H: composed of conscripts, who, according to fundamental law, are 
not bound to serve in India, it has been necessary to have recourse 
to voluntary recruitment. The officers are volunteers who request 
to quit their corps to pass into service in the colonies, or aspirants 
specially trained for this service at the military academy of Breda 
or sub-officers who have served with distinction in the colonies. To 
obtain the rank of officer in the army of India an irreproachable con¬ 
duct is indispensible. The old practice of sending only the refuse 
of the Netherlands army no longer exists. From motives of econo¬ 
my the recruits are forwarded in isolated detachments. The tran¬ 
sport of corps organized in Europe only takes place in times of war. 
The army of India is composed of regular and irregular troops. 
The first are Europeans or Natives. Some battalions of infantry, as 
well as a regiment of cavalry, are exclusively of Europeans. The 
other battalions have two companies of Europeans to four of natives . 
The regular army in time of peace is composed of fifteen battalions 
of infantry, of a very numerous general depot serving to keep fully 
supplied all the detached garrisons, of a regiment of cavalry, and of 
a battalion of sappers*. 
The irregular army is composed of moveable columns which many 
Princes are hound to hold in readiness to march at the order of Go¬ 
vernment ; of a corps of marechaussee (djajang sehar, flower of vic¬ 
tory), and of local militia (barisan) who are commanded by native 
officers and who have European instructors. To complete this view 
of the defensive means the burgher guards (schuttsrijen) deserve 
honorable mention. At all places where a numerous body of Euro¬ 
peans is found, it has been deemed proper to organize them for mi¬ 
litary duties. When the war called the Five years broke out in 1825 
the town of Batavia alone promptly furnished two battalions of in¬ 
fantry, a squadron of cavalry, and a company of artillery. 
The native troops are principally furnished by the Moluccas, Ce¬ 
lebes and Madura; the cohorts of Gilolo, Ternate, and Tidore can 
also be put in requisition. An experiment tried on a great scale 
from 1837 to 1841 for enrolling Africans in our possessions on the 
coast of Guinea has not answered to the hopes which had been con¬ 
ceived respecting it. 
Before terminating this portion of our work we will pay a just tri¬ 
bute of eulogium and acknowledgement to the intrepidity and patience 
of this brave army of the land and sea, which has known how to main- 
flan by its perseverance the national power in the Indian Archipela* 
