India generally.

Mr. Thomas Gibson Bowles, the proprietor of _Vanity Fair_, who had
always warmly appreciated the literary work done for him by
Aberigh-Mackay, about this time offered him the editorship of the
paper. This post Aberigh-Mackay had virtually accepted.

Shortly before Sir Lepel Griffin took up his appointment as
Governor-General's Agent, gossip, more especially at Indore and in
Central and Western India, was very busy with surmises as to the fate
in store for the writer of this article, as well as many other
paragraphs commenting, _inter alia_, upon Afghan affairs, and, _en
passant_ Mr. Lepel Griffin, which had appeared in _The Bombay Gazette_
from February to December, 1880, under the general heading of "Some
Serious Reflections." These articles, hitherto anonymous, having being
republished in book form, with their authorship avowed, at Bombay in
1880, shortly before the new Resident and Governor-General's Agent
arrived at Indore.

The gossips were--as is nearly always the case--quite wrong, for one
of the first men to extend a friendly welcome to Aberigh-Mackay when
he arrived at Lahore on the 13th August, 1869, to take up his
appointment of "Manager of the Government Zoological Collection" was
Mr. Lepel Griffin, then the Deputy-Commissioner of the City and
District.

Afterwards, at Simla and elsewhere, these two kindred spirits--in many
ways--met frequently, and learnt to understand each other thoroughly
well. They also had several common friends, civil, military, and
non-official; and their literary pursuits in historical directions
were also much in sympathy.

In 1881 they were not fated to meet, although Aberigh-Mackay had taken
immediate steps to endeavour to do so, as soon as he became aware that
a prevalent rumour was abroad to the effect that the Gryphon would--to
use a colloquialism--now make it hot for him.

Aberigh-Mackay indignantly repelled any such surmises, and laughed to
scorn the idea that Sir Lepel could possibly entertain any revengeful
thoughts of the kind that were anticipated by those who knew
absolutely nothing of the old and existing intimacies of either of the
two men concerned.

To effectually dispel and give the lie to all such insinuations, he
arranged to postpone his departure for England until after the arrival
of Sir Lepel Griffin at Indore, and then make patent to official and
other society the true inward state of affairs.

Aberigh-Mackay was a very keen all-r