Page:McCosh, John - Advice to Officers in India (1856).djvu/22

 30 millions; its army at 400,000 men; its navy of ships equipped for war, at 40;and its officers nearly as follows:—

Its inhabitants are of all shades of colour from the sombre to the fair; of all stamina from the most slender to the most athletic; and of all features from the hideous to the most handsome specimens of human nature. At the extreme east—at Singapore—we find the coarse, rugged,bony features of the Chinese. Proceeding westwards, we find the countenance rounding off through the Malays, the Burmese, and the Assamese, till it arrives at the utmost pitch of elegant form and feature, and effeminacy in the Bengali. Turning to the north-west, we find the mould expanding, the stature lengthening by degrees, and attaining the very beau ideal of manly form and feature in the Rohilla. Crossing the Sutlej, we find in the Seikh, men of still further strength and stature, but with less polish; and on entering Afghanistan, still further development of muscle, though with reduced stature and less refinement; fit