A Trip Through India

Geo. Riddoch

Narracoorte

:

A. Caldwell

,

1900

.
First Edition.

20cm x 13cm. 24 pages. Illustrated side-stapled wrappers.

Unrecorded booklet of a speech never presented by South Australian pastoralist and politician George Riddoch (1842-1919). The speech was intended to be delivered as a lecture in aid of the Narracoorte Institute and was printed by special request as a token of esteem and respect by Riddoch’s friends in Narracoorte. In 1899 Riddoch was commissioned by the government to investigate drainage and irrigation overseas; this booklet was printed shortly after his return from one of these trips though the lecture reads more as a recounting of a leisurely sojourn than a ministerial investigation. Riddoch recounts the boat journey from Australia to Colombo aboard the P. & O. cruiser Himalaya, then onward to Bombay including his observations of a Japanese couple aboard the Bengal. He waxes further on Bombay, Simla, Amritser, Calcutta, Lahore, Peshawar and the Kyber Pass, as well as telling of the journeys between and much observation of local inhabitants, their lives and customs, and various statistics relating to farming, education, population, railways, and irrigation works. Rare, unrecorded in Trove or OCLC.

Vertical crease. Some insect damage to wrappers, minor to top edge of final few leaves. Good Condition.