Gurton, Alfred, Diary of Alfred Gurton on a trip to India, 1918
- Title(s):
- Diary of Alfred Gurton on a trip to India.
- Published/Created:
- 1918.
- Physical Description:
- 1 volume (152 pages) : illustrations ; 21 cm
- Holdings:
- Unable to reach service. Holdings currently not available
- Copyright Status:
- Copyright Not Evaluated
- Full Orbis Record:
- http://hdl.handle.net/10079/bibid/12471442
- Classification:
- Archives & Manuscripts
- Notes:
- Bound in black cloth.
Manuscript diary and herbarium compiled by Alfred Gurton, of the 3rd Garrison Battalion, the Bedford Regiment. On the front pastedown, Gurton informally describes the volume as a "Diary of a Trip to India." Gurton writes in graphite throughout, on the lined pages of an exercise book. The text is interspersed with about 15 pages of preserved leaves and flowers of plants mounted in the form of a herbarium. Most specimens are unlabelled, although a couple of sheets give their origin in the Nilgiri Hills in southern India.
Gurton's journey from England to Delhi begins on 27 January 1918, taking him across the Channel on the SS Viper, through war-torn France and Italy before embarking on the P & O liner Malwa to Bombay. He arrives off Bombay in March 1918, about two thirds of the way through the diary, describing how the Malwa followed buoys through a minefield into the port. Soon after he takes the Baroda and Central India Railway to Delhi, observing that "the natives live in wretched hovels and keep a lot of goats - curious lop-eared and harmless animals of all colours." Gurton finds himself quartered luxuriously at Delhi fort, feasting on rissoles and excited to spot (and sketch) a hoopoe. There are the usual inspections and physical drill including "a big dose of knee raising," but Gurton is thrilled to escape the fort and inspect the city. - Subject Terms:
- Botanical specimens -- Collection and preservation.Flowers -- Collection and preservation.Great Britain. Army.Gurton, Alfred -- Diaries.India -- Description and travel.Pressed flower pictures.World War, 1914-1918 -- Regimental histories -- India.
- Form/Genre:
- Diaries.
Herbals. - Export:
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