DAY IN MADRAS 83 



Trichinopoly, the country round which swarms 

 with parrakeets, or love-birds as they are some- 

 times called. There were rows upon rows of them 

 sitting upon the telegraph wires just as the 

 swallows do at home, and as the train came up and 

 they flew off, they presented a succession of the 

 most brilliant emerald flashes. The effect was 

 very beautiful. I noticed in this neighbourhood, 

 what I have not seen anywhere else in India, 

 dead crows tied up by the wing and used as scare- 

 crows. The general aspect of the country and 

 the scarecrows gave an English atmosphere to 

 the country to a striking degree. 



I reached Madras at 3 o'clock on Saturday and 

 drove straight to Government House, but found 

 no one there but an extremely kind and helpful 

 A.D.C. 



I have little to note in connection with my visit 

 to Madras. Immediately after I arrived (on 

 October zgth) I attended a large party given by 

 the Sheriff of Madras to which all the principal 

 official and commercial notabilities of Madras, 

 both Indian and European, were asked to meet 

 me. I was shown marked kindness and con- 

 sideration by all with whom I came in contact. 

 The garden in which the party was given is 

 singularly beautiful, full of tropical plants, and 

 is the best garden of the kind to be seen in India. 



The same day I had interesting interviews with 

 the secretary of the Bank of Madras, and the 

 editor of the Madras Times, one of our very best 

 papers. I also interviewed some of my own 

 financial officials. 



Madras itself may seem somewhat uninteresting. 



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