An Account of a Journey in Kashmir by David Lockhart Robertson Lorimer and Letters from Emily Overend Lorimer to her Parents sent from Bahrain and Kerman [‎627v] (1276/1291)

2 . ^
The Pa. indexes are being committed to the post today. Lock h
has done what he could to redtce their length, but they will still
form a very bulky addition to the volume. we devoutly hope that
they may arrive. No mediaeval merchant prince had better cause
to feel uncertain of the Safety of his "argosies" .' w e have of
course two other typed copies, but not corrected^iot curtailed, ( and
where so many diacritics have to be used correction Is no child's
play.
i'ruly, scientific work Is done In this country under a heavy
handicap. "e dare not face the prospect If all the ^erraanl
and b akhtlarl and Gabr. M.S.S. get lost as we return. x here are
infinite possibilities of robbers and rivers and transshippings and
ultimately German cruisers ! However It Is Impossible to copy
\Jx, It all and it must take Its chance, easuremember Newton and Garlyle
but they had at hand all the raw material from which to work again;
whereas If these materials are lost, they are lost for ever. If
only Macaulay were gere he could run his eye over them, and repro
duce them verbatim at the other end. What a gift his memory
must have been.
}
The war touches us here only very indirectly. Poor Sandherr
was summoned to rejoin. He got s doctor’s certificate to say
that he was unfit to travel, but rashly added that he would be all
right In two months. The two months has now elapsed and he Is
still a trifle paralysed and amazingly disinclined to go home even
if he could be any use ^wh. he clearly could not). if he doesn't
leave this now he may be shot as a deserter when he goes back, and
we suppose that an English doctor's medical certificate might be
suspect. what he would like would be to go to the Gulf, be takei
prisoner, and have a good time in India; but a deliberate getting
captured might count as desertion too, so he has decided to go to
T e heran and present himself at his own Legation there and get
instructions. The curious question arises whether we should
continue our protection of Bruggmann and his Germ. firm. *ou
will say "of course not" at once, wh. Is Indeed the obvious thing,
but then the difficulty arises that he may get himself turned Into
a German Vice Consul and give endlessly more trouble in that capacl
ty. L. referred for Instructions to Teheran, and they recommend
ed him to use his own discretion in the matter) so for the moment
he continues to enjoy and abuse our protection) he causes s times
more work than any of our real proteges.
. The poor Br&ndlys have had a nasty knock. They had sent a
large order to the^stores for necessaries and were expecting all
sorts of things up for the winter and for Xmas. They have just
got their cheque returned without explanation. Obviously the
Stores thought Otto brandly spelt German and were hot going to
become liable to an Indictment for High treason by supplying him.
It would hardly however have been treasonable to send a polite note
expressing regret. He Is ver^-Swiss however, and highly Incensed
Lock has now given him a certificate of nationality to accompany a
new cheque, but t don't think their stuff can now arrive for Xmas.
Tfe have had many visitors out here. Tanners one day. Taylor
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