ice.
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 from scarlet. My eyes are bright blue,
overshadowed by bushy eyebrows of the color of my hair, and a terrific
gash of the deepest purple, which goes over the forehead, the eyelid,
and the cheek, and finishes at the ear, gives my face a more strictly
military appearance than can be conceived. When I have been drinking (as
is pretty often the case) this gash becomes ruby bright, and as I have
another which took off a piece of my under-lip, and shows five of my
front teeth, I leave you to imagine that 'seldom lighted on the earth'
(as the monster Burke remarked of one of his unhappy victims), 'a more
extraordinary vision.' I improved these natural advantages; and, while
in cantonment during the hot winds at Chittybobbary, allowed my hair to
grow very long, as did my beard, which reached to my waist. It took
me two hours daily to curl my hair in ten thousand little cork-screw
ringlets, which waved over my shoulders, and to get my moustaches well
round to the corners of my eyelids. I dressed in loose scarlet trousers
and red morocco boots, a scarlet jacket, and a shawl of the same color
round my waist; a scarlet turban three feet high, and decorated with a
tuft of the scarlet feathers of the flamingo, formed my head-dress, and
I did not allow myself a single ornament, except a small silver skull
and crossbones in front of my turban. Two brace of pistols, a Malay
creese, and a tulwar, sharp on both sides, and very nearly six feet
in length, completed this elegant costume. My two flags were each
surmounted with a red skull and cross-bones, and ornamented, one with
a black, and the other with a red beard (of enormous length, taken from
men slain in battle by me). On on