was indeed a most satisfying and
absorbing twenty-four hours' visit, as I had also time, under the
guidance of an official friend, to visit the picturesque weekly market
or bazaar, where natives from Sikkim, Nepal, Butan and Tibet may be seen
in all their dirt and strangeness. Also the quite beautiful Botanic
Gardens, the Club House, the prayer-wheels, etc. More than that, I was
privileged to pay my respects to the Dalai Lama, who had but recently
left his kingdom and taken refuge here. The acknowledged spiritual head
of the Buddhists of Mongolia and China is a young man with a dreamy,
absorbed expression of countenance, perhaps not of much intellectuality,
but who is approachable even to the merely curious. My friend and kind
cicerone was Commissioner of the Bengal police, and was extremely busy
laying guards along the railroad and taking all other necessary
precautions for the safety of the German Imperial Crown Prince during
his projected visit to Darjeeling, a visit ultimately abandoned. I can
imagine his chagrin at the waste of all his labours, expense to the
Indian Government, etc. etc., due to the caprice of this apparently
frivolous and not quite courteous young hopeful. Indeed, the Crown
Prince, though a popular young fellow enough, was the source of trouble
and tribulation to his hosts, breaking conventions and scandalizing
Society by his disregard of its usages.

Returning to Calcutta I thence took train to Agra via Allahabad,
purposely, on account of the great discomfort and poor hotel
accommodation due to the large tourist traffic, avoiding Lucknow,
Benares and Cawnpore. At Allahabad the Aga Khan, temporal head of the
Mohammedans of India, and a man of great authority and influence, joined
our train, and part of the way I was lucky enough to be in his company
and had an opportunity of speaking with him. In appearance he is a
Turk, quite European in dress, and seems capable, energetic, sociable
and agreeable. At every stopping-place he received an ovation, crowds of
his Mussulman supporters and friends, among them apparently being chiefs
and rajahs and other men of high degree, greeting him with much
enthusiasm, which enthusiasm I learned was aroused by His Highness'
endeavour towards the raising of the status of the Mohammedan College of
Aligarh to that of a university.

I should say here that, on Indian railways, the first-class carriages
are divided into compartments, containing each four beds, but in w