It AW A L PINDI TO LUCKNOW. 479 
out and to avoid being on tbe bridge whilst a train was passing. The 
Ganges is crossed by a railway bridge, the battery marching along the 
permanent way and also, therefore, avoiding trains, whilst the railway 
bridge over the Jumna has a subway for traffic. The Ravee is crossed 
by a bridge of boats, which entails slight disquietude amongst some 
horses. The Chenab and Sutlej are crossed in ferry trains. These trains 
consist of a number of carriages closely locked to form one long carriage 
with a little lateral play for turning curves. They are end loaded, 
bullock carts being driven in without unhooking, but we took the 
horses out and ran the carriages on by hand. Four trains, each about 
150 yards long, carried the whole battery and transport. The Beas is 
crossed in boats. The battery transport and baggage was shipped in 
numerous flat bottomed boats, landed and marched across a strip of 
sand about half a mile broad in the middle of the river, shipped again 
in other boats, and so to the shore. The arrangements made by the 
civil authorities for this, and indeed at all times when their assistance 
was wanted, were excellent, and the march of eight miles, all included, 
was done in a little less than five hours. 
The officers had a double mess tent, which could be used as one or 
two, a great convenience, as one mess tent is then kept pitched till 
after breakfast, and then does a double march and the other is found 
ready pitched on arrival at the next camp. A doctor being attached 
for the march and, after Ghaziabad, an officer for transport duty 
ensured a rubber, even if one or two officers were away shooting—a 
great desideratum. The messing was done by contract and a man 
was engaged to accompany us with four cows for milk and butter. At 
the second camp out it was found he had no cows and was supplying 
us from the bazaar. He left. Milk was then got from the battery 
goat-man and butter from the capital Government dairy at Alighur, sent 
at intervals of two or three days to railway stations en route. Similar 
arrangements existed for the sergeants’ mess for which, of course, 
rations were drawn. The coffee-shop we gave to a contractor, but we 
soon found out that it was no use trying to save oneself trouble ; he 
was very unsatisfactory and on arrival at the practice camp was turned 
out and the coffee-shop was run by ourselves. The canteen was kept 
supplied by the Murree Brewery Company, the beer being sent at in¬ 
tervals to railway stations and carted on between whiles; the carriage 
was very expensive, but it paid its way well. A travelling soda-water 
machine supplied all sorts of aerated waters and was a great boon, but it 
did not improve the battery funds. A man with a herd of cattle marched 
with the battery the whole way. The milking was done under European 
supervision and sold from locked milk cans; this worked well. It is 
naturally, as a financial matter and the amount of trouble involved, a 
great drawback to a battery having to start all its institutions at the 
commencement of a march and give them all up again at the end, but 
this cannot be avoided when leaving and arriving at stations where 
there are more than one battery. 
On starting the battery marched in its usual state, having wheelers 
only shod behind. After three marches it was found necessary to begin 
to shoe others and a week after starting all the horses were shod up. 
Messes and 
institutions. 
Shoeing. 
