work they had to do. They were small, but thick-set men, averaging about five feet six inches in height, fair in complexion, thoroughly European in appearance, and resembling very much our English country labourers. They were clothed in khaki jackets, tight pantaloons, and high boots reaching above the knee ; over this they wore a long brown great-coat, and at night a heavy sheepskin coat reaching to the ankles. The arms consisted of a rifle and sword. On the whole, the term " rough and ready " would summarize the general impressions left upon me by them.
Captain Grombtchevsky expressed his opinions freely on many subjects, and was enthusiastic in his description of the Russian army. He said that the Russian soldier went wherever he was ordered to go, and did not think about such things ; that he looked upon the general of an army as his father, who would provide all that was possible, and if at the end of a hard day's march he found neither water to drink nor food to eat, he would still not complain, but would go on cheerfully till he died, and when he died there were many more Russians to take his place. Grombtchevsky quoted many instances from the Central Asian campaigns to illustrate this statement, and it is undoubtedly true that the Russian soldier is brave, enduring, cheerful, and uncomplaining; but it is equally true that Russian generals and their staffs have often shown themselves incapable of organizing large forces properly, and that the knowledge that there are always plenty of men behind has caused them to be so negligent that many a Russian soldier's life has been sacrificed through want of necessary arrangements. This may matter little in wars close at home ; but in an expedition where each man has to be transported for hundreds of miles through countries where nearly all the food for him has also to be transported, a general cannot afford to have his men dropping off from neglect.
In the afternoon Captain Grombtchevsky asked for an
IIIFカラー高解像度
