52 MAJOR W. HODSON. 



you can understand that there is not much to 

 encourage one in the somewhat noisy companionship 

 of a number of fellows nearly all one's juniors by 

 some years. Ladies' society there is none : there 

 are a few who call themselves such, but with very 

 little reason, save that they are not nien. 



"There is much in India to interest one, much 

 worthy of all one's efforts, many most important 

 duties and influences, but nothing to call forth one's 

 afi'ections or any of the softer and more delightful 

 feelings of youth and life. In fact, one's life is a 

 harsh reality ; nothing is left to the imagination ; 

 no amenities ; no poetry ; no music ; nothing 

 elegant ; nothing refined. There is nothing left 

 but to be iq^ and doing, to be active and ener- 

 getic while you can, and look forward to a happier 

 state either here or hereafter. I certainly have 

 commenced my Indian career under more favourable 

 circumstances than often falls to the lot of a man 

 on his first introduction : both in my own line 

 and in the opportunities I have had of becoming 

 initiated into the ' native mind ' and principles of 

 action during my sojourn with Colonel Lawrence." 



As early as August 1846 Hodson and two Engin- 

 eer officers had set out with Lawrence in search of 

 a fitting site for the asylum which Lawrence had 

 long been eager to erect among the Himalayan 

 pines and cedars for the benefit of the children of 

 our European soldiers. " We nearly fixed," wrote 

 Lawrence, " on a spur of the Kussowlie Hill, but 

 eventually selected the hill of Sanawar as com- 

 bining most of the requisites for an asylum — viz., 

 isolation, with ample space and plenty of water, at 

 a good height, in a healthy locality not far from 



