* There is some trifling inconsistency on the Major’s part. 
     Shah Allum was notoriously blind:  how, then, could he have
     seen Gahagan?  The thing is manifestly impossible.

“Lord Lake whispered to him my exploits, and the old man was so delighted with the account of my victory over the elephant (whose trunk I use to this day), that he said, ‘Let him be called Gujputi,’ or the lord of elephants; and Gujputi was the name by which I was afterwards familiarly known among the natives,—­the men, that is.  The women had a softer appellation for me, and called me ‘Mushook,’ or charmer.

“Well, I shall not describe Delhi, which is doubtless well known to the reader; nor the siege of Agra, to which place we went from Delhi; nor the terrible day at Laswaree, which went nigh to finish the war.  Suffice it to say that we were victorious, and that I was wounded; as I have invariably been in the two hundred and four occasions when I have found myself in action.  One point, however, became in the course of this campaign quite evident—­that something must be done for Gahagan.  The country cried shame, the King’s troops grumbled, the sepoys openly murmured that their Gujputi was only a lieutenant, when he had performed such signal services.  What was to be done?  Lord Wellesley was in an evident quandary.  ‘Gahagan,’ wrote he, ’to be a subaltern is evidently not your fate—­you were born for command; but Lake and General Wellesley are good officers, they cannot be turned out—­I must make a post for you.  What say you, my dear fellow, to a corps of irregular horse?’

“It was thus that the famous corps of Ahmednuggar irregulars had its origin; a guerilla force, it is true, but one which will long be remembered in the annals of our Indian campaigns.

*****

“As the commander of this regiment, I was allowed to settle the uniform of the corps, as well as to select recruits.  These were not wanting as soon as my appointment was made known, but came flocking to my standard a great deal faster than to the regular corps in the Company’s service.  I had European officers, of course, to command them, and a few of my countrymen as sergeants; the rest were all natives, whom I chose of the strongest and bravest men in India; chiefly Pitans, Afghans, Hurrumzadehs, and Calliawns:  for these are well known to be the most warlike districts of our Indian territory.

“When on parade and in full uniform we made a singular and noble appearance.  I was always fond of dress; and, in this instance, gave a carte blanche to my taste, and invented the most splendid costume that ever perhaps decorated a soldier.  I am, as I have stated already, six feet four inches in height, and of matchless symmetry and proportion.  My hair and beard are of the most brilliant auburn, so bright as scarcely to be distinguished at a distance