454 
MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS OF 
Commissariat. 
The Commissariat of the Indian army is stated by all competent officers 
to be much better than the English one. Yet its organisation was not 
sufficiently elastic for such a variety of circumstances—from what cause I 
am unable to say ; perhaps it was short in numbers, or perhaps the Civil 
Government of Bombay wished purposely to cut down the materiel with 
which the Commander-in-Chief had to carry out this difficult task; but 
there is no doubt that the personnel and materiel were too small for such 
a gigantic undertaking. 
The whole had the character of great looseness. It was often difficult to 
decide where the desirable independence ceased and the w r ant of organisation 
began. The want of a regulated administration and organisation was 
perceptible, like that which caused the unfortunate results which happened 
in the Crimean v r ar. 
Sanitary Arrangements. 
The arrangements of the hospital ships could not be called good. They 
w r ere old wooden boxes, with bad ventilation and defective arrangements, 
and how r ever wonderful this may sound of English ships, much was to be 
desired in the w f ay of cleanliness. 
Postal and Courier Arrangements. 
Altogether it cannot be said that these were sufficient. One of the most 
important defects was, that no Post-Masters were sent out from England, who 
would at least have set it all in good working order in a short time. Another 
evil was, that the packets of letters were allowed to be opened at every 
station. At the Post Office at Zoulla all letters should have been sorted 
and divided, and so sent direct to their proper stations. 
