His position as adjutant of the regiment afforded him the best opportunities of becoming acquainted with the personal character of the men. He was brought into daily contact with them; had to listen to all their grievances; had to receive the complaints made against defaulters; and, in minor cases, to decide the punishments to be awarded. Unswerving firmness and impartial justice are the two qualities most requisite to enable one to obtain a powerful hold on the Oriental mind, and these two qualities Lieutenant Kerr possessed in the highest perfection. He knew his men, and his men knew him; they could, therefore, trust one another in the hour of danger. He at once volunteered to lead a party of the South Mahratta Horse to the rescue; all the assistance that could be spared was fifty men. Small as that number was for such an undertaking, he did not hesitate to take the command. No time was consumed in needless preparation; in half an hour he was in the saddle and on the road. We use the expression “road” in a figurative sense; literally speaking, there was no road at all, merely a rough path leading through the cotton-fields, where the horses sank to the fetlocks, often to the knees, in the mud. The distance to be travelled was only seventy-five miles: a short distance to those accustomed to railways and steamers, but those familiar with the roads in India will appreciate the difficulties which Kerr and his gallant little party had to surmount. It was the middle of the monsoon season; the rain descended in torrents; the country was half flooded; the smallest streams were converted into dangerous rivers. But the gallant band went on; swam their horses over three large and two smaller rivers, besides seven nullahs, all swollen with the heavy rains, and reached Kolapore within twenty-six hours. We have all heard of Dick Turpin’s ride to York; but the rapid advance of Lieutenant Kerr and his party, in such a country, and at such a season, was scarcely less wonderful.