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City of Birmingham [ship: 'Port Said' written then crossed through]. - Will arrive in Bombay tomorrow morning, but have 'already seen a bit of India': some butterflies blown out to sea by the wind. They have had a good voyage since Messina, and have 'suffered very little from heat'. Is writing to Bessie at the Shiffolds, where she will be if the Bottomleys [Gordon and Emily] went there on the intended date, though she may be in the Netherlands by the time the letter arrives; heard from her at Port Said. He and his companions did not know then how serious 'the trouble in Turkey [the beginning of the First Balkan War] might be', only that Montenegro had declared war and Greece was likely to; will be interesting to see the newspapers in India. Hears the next mail to England will leave on Friday, so he will wait till they reach Bombay to finish this letter. Will be glad when the voyage ends, as he is 'heartily tired of most of [his] fellow-passengers', though some are interesting, like [Kenneth] Searight, a young officer they will see again at Peshawar.

Continues the letter on 24 October. They have been in Bombay two nights and leave tomorrow; the weather is 'good and not too hot'. [E.M.] Forster has gone to visit his Indian friend [Syed Ross] Masood in Alighur, and will meet them again at Lahore around 2 November. Is going to Ellora for a few days tomorrow, then to Ajanta, then on to Lahore; Robert will stay there with his Harrow friend Stow and [Goldsworthy Lowes] Dickinson with another friend. They will spend a week or more there and at Peshawar. Hard to say much about what he has seen of India so far, the 'people are always interesting, and the town usually so, though the show buildings are ugly'. Finds 'the scenery round the harbour' as 'fine as Naples', in a different way, and the light 'more beautiful than anything... in Europe, especially in the evening'. Only sees English people in 'Cook's [travel agency]... and the Army & Navy Stores', but 'plenty of Eurasians, and Parsees in odd-shaped black top-hats' who 'own most of Bombay' and are said to be 'generous and public-spirited'. They passed their 'burial-towers today' and saw the vultures in the trees nearby. Went to Elephanta Island this afternoon, which was well worth seeing.

Ajanta. - Describes their 'strenuous' time since leaving Bombay on 25 October, though they are 'none the worse for it': they went to Daulatabad then Ellora, where they saw a number of cave-temples; the situation was 'very impressive' though in general the sculpture was 'disappointing'; they also visited ruins of two ancient Moghul cities. In one, Roza [Rauzaa, now Khuldabad], they saw the 'plain and simple' tomb of Aurangzeb. Went by rail to Jalgaon on 28 October, then drove to Ajanta next day; they are staying in a small bungalow to which they had to bring their own provisions and bedding. The caves, four miles away, are in a 'most romantic gorge', and are 'far finer than those at Ellora and Elephanta'; the art would 'hold its own with the best Italian frescos'. They bathed in a 'wonderful' pool at the top of the gorge. Will start at midday on the drive back to Jalgaon, where they will catch the express train to Lahore; [Goldsworthy Lowes] Dickinson will stay there with a friend, and Robert with his old schoolmate Stowe, who is in the Indian Civil Service. After a week there and in Peshawar, they will go on to Delhi, then on to Rajputana. They made friends on the ship with a young officer stationed at Peshawar [Kenneth Searight] who will take them for a drive up the Khyber Pass.

So far, they have kept well and borne the heat easily. Heard from Bessie as they were leaving Bombay, and was glad that she, Julian, and everyone else at Wallington were well; expects she will now have gone South. Hopes his father's 'expedition to Stratford was a success'. Caught up with the English newspapers at Bombay and has seen Indian newspapers since; seems that Turkey is 'faring badly' [in the First Balkan War]; is 'not sorry, and hope[s] if the allies will they will be allowed to make whatever settlement of European Turkey they think best without interference from outside'. Did not sympathise with the Italians in their 'Tripoli adventure' [Italo-Turkish War] but does with the Balkan States. They have seen no snakes, tigers, or elephants, but saw three gazelles a couple of evenings ago, and have seen the 'tracks of a pantha' in the Ajanta gorge. Have enjoyed themselves so far, but he will be glad to get 'back to civilisation' at Lahore. Their Madras servant seems 'good and conscientious'.