to these come the men of Rohilkhand and Oudh, and the Maráthás. All these races possess a keener aptitude for military training and are usually of a better physique than the general population of the Peninsula. Of the actual value of Native troops, it is still more difficult to form a correct estimate; but it has been truly said by a distinguished military writer that the natives of India, both as friends and foes, have proved themselves gallant soldiers, not unworthy of being matched with Europeans. The ordinary Sepoy under the guidance of British officers has furnished many instances of heroism and devotion. A Bengal regiment successfully stood the brunt of a charge by the French at the battle of Porto Novo in 1781. The devoted courage of Clive's Sepoys at Arcot and Plassey has passed into a proverb. At the siege of Delhi, in 1857, Native regiments sustained losses which few European troops could have borne; while many of the men then in hospital, with wounds only partly healed, volunteered to join in the final assault.
Our present military position in India affords abundant evidence of the strenuous and successful efforts of Anglo-Indian administrators and commanders to bring the army and its establishments to the highest degree of efficiency attainable. With a view to protection of the country, both against commotions within and aggressive attacks from without, there have been in recent years many important modifications and developments of the reorganisation rendered necessary after the suppression of the Mutiny.
