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Upper Mall, Lahore (on headed paper for Punjab Club, Lahore; Punjab Club crossed out). - Was very glad to get Trevelyan's letter and hear there was a chance of seeing him here. They hope he will give them 'the honour' of hosting him when he is in Lahore. Knows it might not suit him to 'separate from [Goldsworthy Lowes] Dickinson: unfortunately [Malcolm] Darling lives about three miles away, and they 'do not run to a motor'. But he and his wife will be very glad if Trevelyan can manage to stay with them for all or part of his time: 'Jos Sedley (as you were good enough to call me last time I met you [a reference to Thackeray's Vanity Fair]) will do all he can to show you whatever you think worthy of your notice in Lahore.

Asks Trevelyan jokingly if he is 'an agent of the Public Services Commission or of Mr Montagu [Under-Secretary of State for India]'; he will be welcome 'in any guise', and 'will be able to instruct us 'poor Indians in the up to day methods of the West'.

Trevelyan should send a wire from Bombay if he can stay with them and Stow will meet him on arrival, as their house is 'a new one and not known to all the cab drivers'.

Darjeeling. - They have been here three nights, and are leaving this afternoon; they have had fairly good weather, and have 'seen the mountains quite well'. Originally enclosing a photograph, though this gives 'very little idea'; the scenery is 'much vaster than anything in Europe'. They will be met at Sara [?] on the Ganges by 'young [Nagendranath?] Ganguli', son-in-law of one of the Tagores, who will take them in his steam launch to the Tagore country house, where he is an estate manager. They will spend a night there, the next in Calcutta, then start south on 8 January, reaching Madras on the 10th; they plan to stay about a week, before spending around three weeks seeing South India and Ceylon [Sri Lanka] and leaving Columbo for Java on 7 or 8 February. Very glad to hear his family are all well; expects his parents are still at Wallington, but that Julian has gone home. Is 'amusing' himself learning Persian in order to be able to read the poetry; it is 'not a difficult language, except for the alphabet'. Glad to hear that Robin Mayor is 'really married' [to Katherine Beatrice Meinertzhagen]. Does not seem to be much news lately from Europe; supposes that 'the Turks will come to terms soon' [First Balkan War]; the [British] government seems 'to be getting on quite well now'. They just missed 'Montague' [sic: Edwin Samuel Montagu, secretary of state for India] at Benares; he seems to have 'made a fairly good impression' at Calcutta, and at least 'seems anxious to learn'.

Hears the Christmas tree was 'a great success'. Bessie says Julian's Nannie is 'fairly cheerful', which is good; of course she thinks Booa [Mary Prestwich] 'spoils Julian'. Bessie thinks Julian is getting on well and is 'usually quite easy to manage'. He and Dickinson have had a 'very interesting time' at Calcutta; not likely to meet 'so many clever and entertaining Indians elsewhere'. Will be glad to leave India and get to Java. Their plans about China and Japan are still 'unsettled'. He wants to get back early in May if possible. Everyone in Calcutta has read George's 'Garibaldi books', but he doubts this 'will produce a Bengali Garabaldi [sic]'. 'Mazini [sic: Mazzini] is more of their kind... the young men seem to have a great admiration of him'.

Bankipore. - Received his mother's last letter at Benares, with one written by Bessie from the train to Wallington. They are stopping here for three nights on the way to Calcutta, staying with [Syed Ross] Masood, a 'young Mohammedan Barrister' whom he has met before several times in England, a friend of [E.M.] Forster's, and who is 'clever and artistic'. There is not much to see here; Patna, of which Bankipore is a suburb, is 'the most sordid, horrible and slummy place' they have seen yet in India, with little remaining to be seen of Pataliputra. They will go to Gaya for the day tomorrow, to see Buddha's Bo tree; tells his mother how to pronounce 'Buddha'. They will stay two or three weeks at Calcutta, perhaps visit Darjeeling for a few nights, then go south to Madras. Is very well, as is [Goldsworthy Lowes] Dickinson now; they parted company with Forster at Chhatarpur. Benares is a 'wonderful place', where they made friends with a mystic, 'a charming man, with a charming, but fantastic, philosophy'. Thanks his mother for all the news about Julian, who seems to be doing very well; it was good that he could stay so long at Wallington. Bessie seems to have had a very good time in the Netherlands; is glad that she is getting on so well with the Bottomleys and that the Shiffolds seems to be suiting them. Still quite cold here at nights; rather like Rome or Florence in December, except with no rain. They just missed seeing [Ekai] Kawaguchi, the Japanese traveller in Tibet, who lives in Benares learning Sanskrit but has gone away for a few days; Robert is 'very much disappointed'. Montagu [Edwin Montagu, British Secretary of State for India] arrived at Benares the day they left; they were invited to a party to meet him but could not stay. Politics seem to be going better now; hopes the [First Balkan] war can be settled soon. Always reads the "Manchester Guardian" and "Nation", which arrive weekly; the news is 'stale' but better than the 'very poor telegrams' in the Indian newspapers. Sends love to his father; supposes his parents will be at Welcombe by now.