I was much surprised and amused by the circumstance of my host smoking a _hookah_ even at meals, for he was one of the few Englishmen who still indulged in that luxury, as it was then considered.

The sole duty of one servant, called the _hookah-bardar_, was to prepare the pipe for his master, and to have it ready at all times.
My next resting-place was Cawnpore, my birthplace, where I remained a few days.

The Cawnpore division was at that time commanded by an officer of the name of Palmer, who had only recently attained the rank of Brigadier-General, though he could not have been less than sixty-eight years of age, being of the same standing as my father.
From Cawnpore I went to Meerut, and there came across, for the first time, the far-famed Bengal Horse Artillery, and made the acquaintance of a set of officers who more than realized my expectations regarding the wearers of the much-coveted jacket, association with whom created in me a fixed resolve to leave no stone unturned in the endeavour to become a horse gunner.

Like the Cavalry and Infantry of the East India Company's service, the Artillery suffered somewhat from the employment of many of its best officers on the staff and in civil appointments; the officers selected were not seconded or replaced in their regiments.

This was the case in a less degree, no doubt, in the Horse Artillery than in the other branches, for its _esprit_ was great, and officers were proud to belong to this _corps d'elite_.