LETTER XIII. MADRAS, PONDICHERRY, 

 TRAVANCORE ELEPHANT AND BISON 



CALCUTTA, December itfh, 1910. 



FOR my cold weather tour I undertook a pro- 

 longed and somewhat arduous journey in Southern 

 India, and I hope you will bear with me if I send 

 you a somewhat lengthy account of my doings. 



The adaptability of the human frame to violent 

 alternations of temperature presents an interesting 

 study in India. I left Simla on October 25th, 

 and it was so cold there that for a few days before 

 my departure I was sitting by the fire with a shawl 

 over my shoulders. By the time I had got well 

 into the plains I was shedding every garment I 

 could get rid of, and I was, as is usual with me, 

 covered with prickly heat. Calcutta is at that 

 time of year moist, enervating, and disagreeable, 

 but the sun was very hot, which was a great 

 comfort to me. 



A short while after leaving Calcutta, I found 

 myself in torrential rain, chilly weather, and a 

 very " sticky " atmosphere. Again, when I got 

 to the extreme South, the heat was intense; and 

 when I reached the high land in Travancore, it 

 was nearly as cold as it had been in Simla. In 

 Europe, if one went straight from England to the 

 South of Italy and from there to Siberia in mid- 

 winter, the chances are one would die of pneumonia. 



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