"
The rajah saw the force of this argument, and at once ordered five
thousand suits of white uniforms, similar to those worn by the Sepoys
in the English and French service, to be made and stored up in the
magazines.
While his lieutenants were drilling the main body, Charlie himself
took in hand a party of forty picked men, and instructed them in the
use of field guns. The superiority of Europeans in artillery was one
of the reasons which gave to them such easy victory, in their early
battles with the native forces in India. The latter possessed a very
powerful artillery, in point of numbers, but there was no regular
drill nor manner of loading. They were in the habit, too, of allowing
each gun to cool after it was fired, before being loaded again. It was
thought, therefore, good practice if a gun were discharged once in a
quarter of an hour. They were, then, utterly astounded and dismayed at
the effects of the European guns, each of which could be loaded and
fired twice, or even three times, a minute.
So month passed after month, until Rajah Boorhau was in a position to
put, if necessary, five battalions of Sepoys, each seven hundred
strong, into the field; with thirty guns, served by trained
artillerymen.
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