The five Highland regiments are the Black Watch (Royal Highlanders), the Seaforth, the Gordon, the Cameron, and the Argyll-and-Sutherland Highlanders. They wear the feather-bonnet and well-known Highland dress—plaid, kilt, hose, white gaiters, and shoes. The tartan, sporran, hose, and a few other details differ in the various regiments.
Officer, 6th Dragoon Guards
(Carbineers).
The remainder of the Infantry, whether Light Infantry or not, wear[9] black felt helmets with brass spike and fixings, the scarlet tunic aforesaid, and blue-black trousers. Their forage-cap is the “Glengarry.”
The West India Regiment consists of two battalions of negroes, officered by Englishmen. The battalions are quartered, turn and turn about, in the West Indies and in our possessions on the West Coast of Africa. The men are dressed in white jackets, with a red vest over them, loose blue Zouave knickerbockers, and yellow gaiters. The head-dress is a turban.
The Infantry, whose weapon for the last seventeen years has been the Martini-Henry rifle, will very shortly be all armed with the new magazine rifle, which has already been issued to a considerable number. The action is on the breech-loading bolt system; by it cartridges may be fired either singly or by means of the magazine, which is a black tin box, holding eight cartridges, and suspended immediately in front of the trigger-guard. The bore is extremely small, being only ·303 inches. The bullet is coated with a hard metal composition, for if it were of lead, it would “strip” in the grooves of the barrel, and by degrees choke it up. The powder is as yet not definitely fixed on, though numerous varieties have been tried with great success. It shoots point blank up to 300 yards, and is sighted on the back sight up to 2,000 yards. By a hanging foresight arrangement, it can be sighted up to 3,500 yards—nearly two miles! The cartridges are so small and light that more than twice the amount of ammunition can now be carried than was possible in the case of the late weapon.
The new bayonet is a much shorter implement than the late one, looking more like a large knife than a bayonet. The name of the new rifle is the Burton-Lee.
The equipment consists of a valise and canteen, suspended by leather braces to the belt, a havresack, wooden water-bottle, and bayonet-frog. Inside the valise is carried the great-coat (under the valise flap), and such articles as are necessary for the time being, such as boots, shirt, socks, hold-all, etc.
A new equipment, slightly different from the above, is now being issued.
Two pouches are attached to the belt in front, holding twenty rounds Martini-Henry ammunition each. Thirty more rounds are carried in the valise and havresack, making seventy in all. With the new rifle cartridges, however, and new pouches, it is expected that each man will be able to carry 150 rounds.