Meerut. 269 



public favouritism went. The last time I met Partisan 

 was in 1880, when I went down to my old brother 

 officers at Shorncliffe to help to celebrate the 307th 

 anniversary of the regiment : he was looking then as 

 fresh and well as when I saw him, eight years previously, 

 win his big race. 



I have never been in any Indian station I liked so 

 much as Meerut. The duration of the hot weather 

 there is singularly short for the plains, as the excessive 

 heat seldom lasts more than two months ; while at 

 Cawnpore and Allahabad it is usually double, and at 

 Meean Meer treble, that extent. The station itself 

 is really pretty, and is well wooded. The bungalows 

 are picturesquely and centrally arranged, and the roads 

 are broad and well shaded with trees. The presence of 

 a Horse Artillery battery, an English and a Native 

 Cavalry regiment, and a Line and a Native Infantry 

 regiment, with various staff officers and civilians, pro- 

 vides abundance of pleasant society. There is an 

 admirably-managed club, where whist, billiards, good 

 dinners, and the best of liquor can be obtained ; 

 although, unlike similar institutions at Allahabad, 

 Lucknow, and Cawnpore, the Wheeler Club does not 

 extend its hospitality to ladies by giving them a room 



