LETTER XIV. BAY OF BENGAL AND 

 TIGER-DRIVING 



CALCUTTA, December sist, 1910. 



I KNOW of nothing more annoying than to be 

 unable to attribute to others blame which properly 

 attaches to oneself. I have for some weeks been 

 suffering acutely from neuritis. I should much 

 like to attribute it to the topographical configura- 

 tion of my official or private abode, to the care- 

 lessness of my servants, or, better still, to the 

 very detestable electric fans which shorten life 

 in India, and which my friends and enemies persist 

 in letting loose in the neighbourhood of my hair- 

 less head. I am compelled in lieu thereof to admit 

 that the pain I have been suffering is solely and 

 entirely attributable to the exposure and fatigue 

 which I underwent in Travancore. // faut 

 souffrir pour Hre the possessor of tusks and horns. 

 Neuritis plus the loss of that prince of tiger-shoot 

 bandobasters , Meyer (who has had to devote this 

 cold weather to organising sport for Ashby St. 

 Leger), induced me, for once, to consider my 

 health. Accordingly I decided to indulge in a 

 mild yachting trip and shut my eyes when I glanced 

 in the direction of my rifles. Sir Edward Baker 

 had most kindly placed a Forest Department 

 launch, the Hawk, at my disposal, and in it I have 

 been cruising about the Bay of Bengal. It has 



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