But then it is to be remembered that this is their sickly season, from January to March, and that their healthy season will come in summer, when the whites break down.

Still my conviction of the physical superiority of more highly civilized races is strengthened on the whole, not weakened, by observing them.

As to availability for military drill and duty in other respects, the only question I ever hear debated among the officers is, whether they are equal or superior to whites.

I have never heard it suggested that they were inferior, although I expected frequently to hear such complaints from hasty or unsuccessful officers.
Of one thing I am sure, that their best qualities will be wasted by merely keeping them for garrison duty.

They seem peculiarly fitted for offensive operations, and especially for partisan warfare; they have so much dash and such abundant resources, combined with such an Indian-like knowledge of the country and its ways.