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Page:McCosh, John - Advice to Officers in India (1856).djvu/22

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ADVICE TO OFFICERS

30 millions; its army at 400,000 men; its navy of ships equipped for war, at 40;and its Euro- pean officers nearly as follows:—

Officers of the Line . . . . 6000
Civilians . . . . . . . . 800
Chaplains . . . . . . . . 160
Surgeons . . . . . . . . 862
Indian Navy . . . . . . 260
8082

Its inhabitants are of all shades of colour from the sombre to the fair; of all stamina from the most slender to the most athletic; and of all features from the hideous to the most handsome specimens of human nature. At the extreme east—at Singapore—we find the coarse, rugged,bony features of the Chinese. Proceeding westwards, we find the countenance rounding off through the Malays, the Burmese, and the Assamese, till it arrives at the utmost pitch of elegant form and feature, and effeminacy in the Bengali. Turning to the north-west, we find the mould expanding, the stature lengthening by degrees, and attaining the very beau ideal of manly form and feature in the Rohilla. Crossing the Sutlej, we find in the Seikh, men of still further strength and stature, but with less polish; and on entering Afghanistan, still further development of muscle, though with reduced stature and less refinement; fit com-