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Date: April 20th 1919
To
Helen Davis
From
Daniel Austin Lane
Letter

20th April, 1919 Dear Friend, Christmas in the desert and Easter at sea has been my lot. One is very much like the other - plenty of company, but no old friends. The table is being set for lunch, with curry and rice as usual, I suppose, and instead of spring lamb, ordinary goat meat. I have no complaints as regards this trip. The food is a splendid change from the second-rate mess, while the passengers are a jolly crowd. The crew, like all others in this part of the world, is Scotch and there are several Scotch passengers. There are two English businessmen, a Baghdad Jew, and a Portuguese merchant, besides a Persian family in the first-class. On the deck, the swarthy Orientals lying on their richly-coloured carpets speak a Babel of tongues. As the number of Persians and Arabs has decreased at each port, I realize that the land of my adoption is far behind and India with its heathen civilization is not far away. Tomorrow at this time I expect to disembark.. The next month is full of uninteresting uncertainty and a certain amount of anxiety. If I can get demobilized, it will only be a case of waiting for a boat. Otherwise, I shall have to apply for an extension of my ten days' leave and put off my return by some means or other until I am fit for duty again. My programme in India will depend on what happens regarding demobilization. If I have to stay here, my first move will be to the hills, where people are supposed to enjoy themselves in hotels and clubs. I have never said that I preferred Bombay to any desert village and never will. But I had to leave the Gulf on account of my health and it will take at least three months for me to recuperate. To get two months is my object if I have to go back. I got the "Review" regularly and enjoyed it immensely. Since I have written bad letters and received fewer during the past six months, it supplied all the local home news and thus was a fairly good substitute for letters. My address for the summer is: c/o Messrs. Cox and Co., Bombay. Your sincerely Austin

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