Page:McCosh, John - Advice to Officers in India (1856).djvu/126

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
106
ADVICE TO OFFICERS

would be avoided; the roof would be a better non-conductor with such a series of air cells. It will be said that the rampart barracks of Fort William, with its arched roofs, are the least desirable quarters in the fort, the echo alone being an intolerable nuisance; but the echo might be easily avoided by facading the arches in the Moorish or Italian style, thus combining elegance with economy.

No barrack better adapted to India could be constructed than one with a centre line of archway and two side ones—a nave and two aisles, combining strength and elegance,light and ventilation, coolness and convenience, and no roof could be constructed, combining greater coolness and economy.

3. NATIVE BARRACKS.—These are of a very inferior description, being long lines of mud huts, covered with thatch or tiles, just high enough to stand in, and just long enough and broad enough for a bed either way. Being on a level with the ground, the floors and walls are excessively damp, and the unhealthiness is increased by exuberance of vegetation in the lines.

The penurious economy of the native character is carried to the utmost extent by the sepoys. Every pice is begrudged in the construction of their huts; and though Government, on every change of a regiment,grant what is called hutting