Peking to Lhasa : vol.1 / Page 196 (Color Image)

0196	Peking to Lhasa : vol.1

148 PEKING TO LHASA

them. They were dressed in a variety of uni-

forms. Most had puttees and brown ammunition

boots of very poor quality made in Tibet. They

were a slovenly-looking lot and held themselves

badly. Several men were 5 feet 9 inches or

5 feet 10 inches in height, but most were shorter.

They had Lee-Metford rifles but with the sights

missing ; and the rifles were dirty, though they

did show some signs of having been oiled. The

instructor knew his English drill fairly well. He

pronounced his words of command clearly though

not sharp enough, and did not trouble to correct

errors. They did the manual squad drill, extend-

ing and closing, and practised snapping, standing,

kneeling, sitting and lying down. With a good

English instructor, drill for an hour twice a day,

care of arms and some shooting practice, they

might have been made a smart squad in a month,

Pereira thought. But their present practice was

to drill only two hours a week.

The bandmaster came from Darjiling and had

been ten years with the Tibetans. He spoke a

certain amount of English. The band consisted

of seven men. They had two bagpipes from

England (or perhaps Scotland !), bugles from

Shanghai and side drums. The bandmaster

assured Pereira that they had a thousand pieces

of music and could play " God Save the King ".

At Pereira's request the Indian sergeant and one

man marched up and down playing " High-

land Laddie " on the bagpipes. They played it

quite well and without any notes on the spur of

the moment.

Praying is the chief duty of the soldier in

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