that signal proof of Sikh bravery and boundless devotion to duty.
They give far more proportionately to the Indian army than any other class of the population of India, and pass far more into the reserve after a few years' service with the colours. They are to be found in about eighty regiments, including those wholly Sikh and those in which they form a part. As military material they are admirable. Possessing a strong individuality, inured to hard labour and exposure from their early youth,—leading a healthy open-air life in their hamlets and villages, for they do not affect towns,—their home training is one to develop physical powers and to fit them for the hardest service in the field as soldiers. They combine a fine physique with energy, due to climate, occupation, and the northern strain in their character, the legacy of the old stock from which they sprang. Freedom from the trammels of superstitious caste ceremonies as inculcated by their spiritual
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