A remarkable circumstance, connected with the movements of the SEVENTEENTH Light Dragoons is shown by the following statement, viz:--the celebration of the birth-day of His Majesty by the regiment in the four different quarters of the world in four successive years; viz., in 1806 in _Europe_, in England; in 1807 in _America_, at Monte Video; in 1808 in _Africa_, at the Cape of Good Hope; and in 1809 in _Asia_, at Surat, in the East Indies. From the Cape of Good Hope the regiment sailed for Calcutta. On approaching the Ganges a fire broke out in one of the ships, the Hugh Inglis, through the carelessness of a petty officer; the magazine was instantly inundated, and the engines from the other ships assisting, the fire was extinguished without serious damage. On the following day the three top-masts were carried over the side of the ship by a squall, and with them fourteen or fifteen men; but the wind speedily subsiding, and the boats of the fleet rendering assistance, all the men were saved except one. On arriving at Diamond Harbour, the regiment was removed on board of small vessels, and it landed at Calcutta on the 25th of August,--mustering seven hundred and ninety men. The regiment performed garrison duty at Fort William from August to December, during which time Major Cotton, the regimental quarter-master, and sixty-two non-commissioned officers and soldiers died. [Sidenote: 1809] Having been placed on the Bombay establishment, the regiment embarked from Calcutta under Lieutenant-Colonel Lloyd, and arrived at Bombay on the 1st of February, 1809. It was destined to occupy quarters in the province of Guzerat,--a peninsula formed by the Arabian sea and the gulfs of Cambay and Cutch, and proceeding to Surat,--a city situate on a fertile plain, on the left bank of the Tappi river,--it was there mounted on horses of a superior description, furnished by an eminent native dealer, named Soonderjie, for 450 and 500 rupees each. [Sidenote: 1810]