From Elephant Khedder to Crocodile Tank 389 



that I feel highly willing to impart a Gujarati Tuition, 

 as a matter of interest, to such men of parts as your 

 Honours, with a sanguine hope that your Honours will 

 not fail to grant me my request, for I am very fain 

 to have a company of such gentlemen of merits as you. 

 In case your Honours grant my request, I shall of my 

 own accord spare an hour per diem for your Honours. 



" I remain," etc., etc. 



If any of my readers have waded thus far through 

 this multifarious correspondence, I owe it to them 

 to ask for their indulgence over a last and longest 

 epistle, which personifies " cringing " and " toady-ism" 

 is full of unconscious humour in fact, flattery is laid 

 on with creation's shovel. 



Letter written in English from a native subordinate 

 holding a responsible position, who was trying to 

 worm himself out of the Service to avoid being 

 dismissed. 



" MOST RESPECTED SIR, 



" I beg to open this letter by offering my 

 sincerest respects to you, with an apology for the 

 intrusion. 



u You may be aware that the Deputy Commissioner's 

 order to appear myself before him, left me no time to 

 follow my intentions, the first of which was to visit 

 you on my way hither. I regret I was not able to 

 wait on you on account of your absence at headquarters, 

 though it was my duty to have done so in token of 



