559 
MARCHING THROUGH JUNGLE ACROSS INDIA. 
BY 
MAJOR P. H. ENTHOVEN, R.A. 
MAJOR COXHEAD last year gave some experiences of march¬ 
ing in India along roads. It has been suggested that some details 
of the march of the 55th Field battery from Ahmedabad to Saugor 
might be of interest, as nearly three-quarters of the 500 miles 
traversed lay over rough tracks or across country. 
The battery did not start till the end of January—late in the season 
for a move across Central India—-and we had already marched to 
Rajkot and back, a distance of 300 miles. There were no particular 
features nor difficulties on that road and the expedition can be dis¬ 
missed in a few words. 
Orders were received on 2nd November, only a week before we had March to 
to leave, though the climate of Ahmedabad till the middle of October aj 0 * 
does not lend itself to conditioning horses. The roads were at times 
moderately good; but for five days, of the fourteen occupied by the 
march, tracks only were available. The country is mostly flat and 
uninteresting, but sport was good, duck, snipe and an occasional buck 
overloading the larder. 
Arriving at Rajkot, we fired innumerable salutes ; the day H.E. Lord 
Sandhurst held the Durbar for the reception of the chiefs of Kathiawar, 
364 rounds were disposed of. 
Six clear days after our arrival we were again en route and reached 
Ahmedabad on 14th December. We added several cobras to our bag 
on the way back and enjoyed a week-end's sport with the Thakor 
Sahib of Sayela. 
We had to await the arrival of the 34th Field Battery from Meerut 
to exchange native establishments, but Christmas and a couple of in¬ 
spections filled in the six weeks interval till 27th January when the 
battery moved into camp. 
Line gear is still less durable here than at home and in three days Line gear, 
a complete new set of mauls, both heads and helves, were entirely 
destroyed. Others were made up by the wheeler which lasted ten 
times as long, but they were not of “ sealed" pattern. 
We were more fortunate than “B ” Battery in the Coffee Shop con- Coffee shop 
tractor. It was run by one Hassan, assisted by his brother Cassim, 
11, YOL. XXV, 
