250 SIR WILLIAM RAMSAY 



The railway was so very new (it had not been opened 

 a week) that things were always going wrong, and long 

 stops were frequent, often in lonely places. This was 

 interesting, for they saw something of the wild life of the 

 jungle, though the hoped for tigers never appeared. 

 The train being hours behind time, the Christmas dinner 

 would have been altogether missing but for the fore- 

 sight of the faithful Fonseca, who, distrusting new 

 railways and their commissariat arrangements, had 

 provided stores which he cooked in ways known only 

 to himself. A lean little chicken served as turkey and 

 was followed by a plum pudding, begged from Mrs. 

 Atkinson ; so all was well. 



In Calcutta the Ramsays stayed with their cousins 

 .and intimate friends Mr. and Mrs. No well Watkins. 

 After such constant travelling, to settle down for 

 ten days or so in such sympathetic surroundings 

 was a great rest. They came in for the height of the 

 Calcutta winter season. Everything centres round 

 Government House and they lunched and dined there 

 and attended a Drawing-room, one of the most brilliant 

 sights they saw. Lord Curzon was Viceroy at that 

 time, and he and his lovely wife did everything to give 

 splendour and dignity to the great position. 



The days were filled with work, meetings with heads 

 of departments, where the Tata scheme, in all its bearings, 

 was discussed. There were colleges and schools to visit, 

 so the time passed very quickly away. There was one 

 lovely morning on a yacht on the Hooghly, and Ramsay 



