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Leaves from the Diaries of a Soldier and Sportsman During Twenty Years' Service in India, Afganistan, Egypt and Other Countries, 1865-1885 - Softcover
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1903 edition. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER II CENTRAL PROVINCES--1866-1868 Having with some difficulty obtained a transfer to Field Artillery, I found myself posted to the 14th brigade (May 1866) in India, and was ordered to join the C/i4th at Kamptee forthwith. Whilst the army list showed this station to be in the Madras Presidency, by the map it appeared to be very much nearer Bombay, and the Staff at Gib. candidly avowed their ignorance of the correct destination. Eventually, on 1st June, I sailed for Bombay by the P. & O. Massilia, a 10-knot paddle steamer of 1640 tons and 400 h.p., considered rather a good ship in those days. Though pokey and stuffy in comparison with the boats of modern times, things were done far more liberally then than in these days of competition, and if fares were high --first class, Southampton to Bombay, being about £95--all liquor was free, champagne being given twice a week, and ships carried both a brass and a string band, which played daily, forenoons and evenings. Meal hours differed somewhat: lunch was at 11.30, and dinner at 4. On reaching Egypt, after an eight-day voyage, we heard that the boat from Marseilles with the mails was delayed, so we had to wait three days at Cairo. It is impossible to conceive anything more different from the palatial hotels of that city nowadays than the pot-houses they were at the period I speak of. The Hotel Orient, at which we got quarters, can only be described as a beastly hole, and this was the more surprising as, owing to the construction of the Canal, and Ismail Pasha's loans, money seemed no object, and prices were exorbitant--even Arab drivers and shop-keepers looking askance on anyone who did not produce gold in payment. Instead of the easy drive of nowadays, across the Bridge to the...
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- PublisherTheClassics.us
- Publication date2013
- ISBN 10 123042346X
- ISBN 13 9781230423463
- BindingPaperback
- Number of pages30
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