With dis- 
mounted 
party. 
Supplies. 
Tents. 
572 MARCHING AT HOME AND ABROAD. 
A small dismounted party is allowed by rail daily some 12 to 20 
men. ‘The new guard, officers’ servants and grooms should go on with 
the officers’ baggage, where there is no railway they must of course 
ride or march. 
In conclusion, as an instance of a successful march, I may refer to 
that of 66th Field Battery from Christchurch to Okehampton, 3 weeks 
in camp, back to Christchurch, and on the next week to Newcastle-on- 
Tyne, roughly 680 miles ; all young soldiers and three 2nd Lieutenants, 
no horse was left out, only two men were sent sick, one to Sheffield, 
and one detained at York; there were no complaints from the police 
or landlords, not one regimental entry, and not one case of drunken- 
ness on the way, although at some of the places billeted at, a battery 
had not been seen for 20 years, and in some of the mining towns on 
Saturdays very nearly the only men sober in the public-houses were 
these young soldiers. What spoke also well for the subalterns, the 
Sergeant-Major, and the Nos. 1, was that the battery never once 
moved off parade more than 5 minutes after the time appointed to 
start, and nine days out of ten was ready to move off when the clock 
struck the hour. 
Marcuine in Iwnpia. 
Whereas in England, the men billet and are fed, the baggage going 
on by rail, in India on the contrary, the men are in tents, and all 
supplies, light baggage, cooks, servants, etc. accompany them on the 
road ; the preparations for a march in the latter country are thus more 
extensive, the details require thinking out before starting, tents 
have to be drawn, carriage requisitioned for, and notices sent to the civil 
authorities in the districts that your route takes you through, so as 
to ensure supplies being collected at the different camping grounds ; 
these grounds are all laid down in the route book; care must especially 
be taken to give due warning to the Durbar officials, when passing 
through native states, and a probable estimate for all the different 
supplies should be sent to them. A commissariat agent is sent with 
the regiment or battery to procure and arrange for all supplies, and to 
pay for all Government issues, he cannot always though get quite what 
is wanted, and it sometimes happens, especially in Native States, that 
the proper supplies are not forthcoming unless early and repeated 
warnings have been written on through the proper channels; this 
agent should report daily to the C.O. at each camp, that everything 
has been settled up for by him, and that he has the receipts, the 
head man of the village being present also so that the C.O. can per- 
sonally satisfy himself that such is the case. 
The best tents for the march are the I.P. General Service 160 lbs. 
single fly tents, to hold about 10 to 12 men; the H.P. takes too long 
to pitch, and is too heavy to pack and carry, though when once pitched 
it is more roomy, and being a double fly tent is much cooler, and 
decidedly better for a standing camp; in the Madras and Bombay 
Presidencies, the sun is hotter in the marching season and H.P. tents 
are more used, still for marching and camps of exercise the small 
handy tents are preferable in every way, for in case of rain it is im- 
a is 
