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HAUNTS AND HOBBIES OF 

 AN INDIAN OFFICIAL 



CHAPTER I. 



ANTS 



OME few years after the Mutiny, I was appointed 

 to a station up the country. The station stood on 

 e bank of the Ganges. In the early days of our 

 le it had been to some extent a seat of government, 

 was the headquarters of several of the chief civil 

 fifices, and a strong military force was maintained 

 t it, but as time passed the importance of the station 

 d declined. One by one the great offices had been 

 moved elsewhere, and the number of the troops had 

 een reduced. Just previous to the Mutiny they con- 

 sisted only of a portion of a native regiment. The 

 station, however, was still a tolerably large one ; but 

 the many unoccupied houses and uncared-for gardens 

 gave to it a rather deserted and melancholy appearance. 

 I arrived at the station about the middle of the 

 month of May, the very hottest period of the year. 

 Some few days were occupied in selecting a house and 

 settling myself in it ; and then one afternoon, when 

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