NOTES ON TRAVEL 251 



even went to the Baligunj races, where as usual his 

 chief interest was in the native crowd. They would have 

 liked to attend the state ball, but the stay in Calcutta 

 had been longer than they had intended and they left 

 that night for Patna. Ramsay found two of his old 

 students on the staff of the college, and they brought 

 their wives and babies to exhibit them to him and Mrs. 

 Ramsay. The call was somewhat difficult, as the ladies 

 only spoke Urdu, and it bade fair to be a lengthy one, 

 as the Ramsays had not yet learned to use the formula 

 " It is now permitted to depart." The visitors would 

 not have felt justified in going without it, but fortunately 

 a baby cried, and a remark that probably he wanted to 

 be taken home seemed to give the required suggestion, 

 and the call ended satisfactorily to all concerned. 



Allahabad was the next stop, and there they were 

 the guests of Mr. Fred Balfour, a very dear young friend, 

 now alas dead ! Their visit fell at a very interesting 

 time. In January a great " me]a " (religious festival) 

 is held there where the Jumna joins the Ganges, and 

 tens of thousands of devout Hindus gather and 

 settle for some weeks on the wedge of low-lying land 

 between the two rivers. The Civil Service has to see 

 to arrangements for sanitation and for keeping order 

 in the vast multitude, and the Ramsays spent some time 

 in the temporary Government office watching the strange 

 spectacle. 



There were fakirs lying on boards covered with nails, 

 point uppermost, others with their arms held up till 



