LETTER V. KASHMIR 



SIMLA, October 4th, 1909. 



A BAD hand and arm from the bite of a wild 

 monkey and strained muscles of my back, thanks 

 to my pony bucking more than usual, made me feel 

 so sorry for myself that I was advised to take 

 a couple of weeks off. I have not stirred from 

 Simla since April and not missed a day at the 

 office since then, and I felt I needed a change. I 

 hardened my heart and started for the Rawalpindi 

 frontier and Kashmir. I knew Lady Young- 

 husband as a girl, and she has often asked me to 

 visit them. I left Simla at 12 on September 26th, 

 and had the usual weary six hours' journey to 

 Kalka, which I have already done four times. 



At Dharampore we passed a Sikh regiment on 

 the march on trek, as one used to say in South 

 Africa. It was a picturesque sight, and the only 

 one except a covey of wild peacocks disturbed by 

 the train. 



I got to Umballa at night and to Lahore in the 

 early morning. The heat was severe, and by me 

 quite unexpected. I felt it acutely, as I was 

 autumn dressed. I travel in great luxury, but 

 even a Finance Minister cannot lay the dust, and 

 the dust is awful. 



From Lahore onwards for hours and hours I 

 travelled through the most magnificent crops. 



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