The water of this river
is said to be excellent, though not quite equal to that of the
Ganges. There is good water in most of the wells, but in some it is
said to be brackish. The bridge requires repair.
_January_ 2, 1850.--We halted at Rae Bareilly, and I inspected the
bullocks belonging to the guns of Sobha Sing's regiment and some guns
belonging to the Nazim. The bullocks have been starved, are hardly
able to walk, and quite unfit for any work. Some of the carriages of
the guns are broken down, and those that are still entire are so
rotten that they could not bear a march. This regiment of Sobha
Sing's was as good as any of those commanded by Captains Magness,
Bunbury, and Barlow, while commanded by the late Captain Buckley;*
and the native officers and sipahees trained under him are all still
excellent, but they are not well provided. Like the others, this
regiment was to have had guns permanently attached to it, but the
want of Court influence has prevented this. They now have them only
when sent on service from one or other of the batteries at Lucknow,
and the consequence is that they are good for nothing. Sobha Sing is
at Court, in attendance on the minister; and his adjutant, Bhopaul
Sing, a near relative of the Rajah of Mynpooree, commands: he seems
to be a good soldier, and an honest and respectable man.
[* Captain Buckley was the son of Colonel Buckley, of the Honourable
Company's service, a good soldier and faithful servant of the Oude
Government.
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