My Experiences in Manipur and the Naga HillsJohnstone, James, Sir
History
My Experiences in Manipur and the Naga Hills
Johnstone, James, Sir
Manipur (India) -- Description and travel; Naga Hills (India) -- Description and travel
Malaria, and all the evils that follow in its train, are more easily
acquired than got rid of. Possibly two years in England, including
four visits to Carlsbad, which high medical authorities seem to
consider, and very justly, a sine quâ non, might give a man a good
chance if he never again visited a malarious district, otherwise,
my own experience shows me that two years are nothing. Every time I
have gone before a Medical Board in London, preparatory to returning
to duty, their last charge has been, "You must never again go to
a malarious district!" Medical Boards propose, and Government and
circumstances dispose.
I stayed at home in a high and healthy part of the Midlands, and left
for India again in October. I arrived in Calcutta in November, where
I again suffered from malarious symptoms; but I soon got better,
and was attached to the Foreign Office, at my own request, extra
attachés being required for the Imperial Assemblage.
I had the good fortune to see the whole of that gorgeous pageant,
the like of which this generation will probably never witness again,
under the most favourable auspices; and though I had on an average
eighteen hours' work out of each twenty-four, I was well repaid by
being able to take part in it. I met many old friends, and also became
acquainted with Salar Jung, Maharajahs Scindiah and Holkar, Sir Dinkur
Rao, Madhava Rao, and several other now historical celebrities. The
Viceroy's reception-tent at night was a grand sight, filled with
gallant soldiers, European and native, and great statesmen.
Among the new arrivals was the Khan of Khelat, an intelligent but
savage-looking chief, with eyes all about him. I was being constantly
deputed to carry polite messages from the Viceroy to different chiefs
and celebrities and to meet them at the railway stations. Among those
whom I met were the envoy from the Chief of Muscat, also the Siamese
Ambassador and his suite, a highly intelligent and sensible set of
men. I remember well the rough-and-ready way in which the younger
Siamese officers looked after their luggage and effects. They were
provided with a handsome set of tents, and all dined together at
one table in European fashion, in the most civilised way, with the
British officer attached to them.
I stayed at Delhi till the assemblage broke up, and after a few days
in Calcutta with the Foreign Office, went to Bombay to meet my wife,
who, with our two boys, arrived there on February 2nd. We at once set
out on our way to Almorah in the Himalayas, where I was permitted to
reside for a year and compile Foreign Office records.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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