It was necessary to make immediate arrangements for their rations and for renewing their clothing, equipment, and ammunition; and also for the medical treatment of the men. The principal medical officer of the field force kindly undertook to organize the medical service, and Captain Davis was engaged in working out the details. Captain S. C. F. Peile, who, in 1885, had accompanied the Bengal Brigade of the field force as executive commissariat officer, had been selected to organize the supply business of the police force. He was ready to commence work early in April. The rains in Burma begin in May. Large numbers of the police were stationed in the Eastern Division, where cart traffic would soon become impossible, and also in the Ruby Mines and other districts, which would soon be cut off altogether. I had found at several places that the military police at outposts were not properly rationed and depended on the military commissariat, which might at any time be moved away. The question arose as to the best method of supplying our men. One of the conditions under which they had taken service was that they should, as in the army, get money compensation for dearness of provisions at a rate varying with the price of flour. The men of the Indian army, when not on active service, ration themselves, and are paid on this principle. But this system presupposes that the necessary provisions are procurable in the local markets. The Burman markets afford everything that a Burman needs--Burman caviare, a dainty that one has to be brought up to; tinned milk, biscuits, sardines, and other delicacies; but wheat flour, _ghi_ (clarified butter), and various pulses are not to be had. It is on such things that the fighting man from Northern India lives. After discussing the question carefully with Captain Peile, it was determined, with the consent of the men, to give no compensation and to serve out rations to all at a fixed monthly charge. The Central Direction undertook to deliver sufficient supplies at the headquarters of each battalion. The distribution to the outposts was to be managed by the battalion officers with the battalion transport. I was able to say at the end of the year that the Supply Department had worked well, and that without its aid the organization of the military police could not have been effected. The system has stood the trial of more than twenty years, and it is doubtful whether any cheaper or better system could have been devised for the supply of a large force in similar circumstances. The same establishment under Captain Peile provided for the supply and renewal of clothing, arms, and ammunition. These matters and the work connected with the many parts of the administrative machine of the province gave me ample occupation in Rangoon for some weeks. FOOTNOTES: [9] "Legend of Gaudama," vol. ii., p. 319. (Trübner, 1880.) [10] _Ibid._, p. 242. [11] _Ibid._, p. 303. [12] "Legend of Gaudama," vol. ii., p. 303.