mission in the 5th Gurkha Regiment, and embarked for Mesopotamia:
Now can we test life's quickness, pay the fee
For splendid living...
he writes in a sonnet 'On leaving India for Mesopotamia.' His letters home show that he took the keenest interest in his work and made light of the difficulties and dangers he had to meet. He was an accomplished musician, and in one letter mentioned that as he had no instrument and could get no music (until one of his Gurkhas, hearing him regret the lack of this, made a native pipe for him) he had taken to writing verses. Presently, he sent a collection of this verse over to Elkin Mathews for publication, but his family knew nothing of his literary projects until the book made its appearance, under the quaint title of The Sorrow that Whistled, at the end of 1916. His poems, which have a strong individual note, had a very favourable reception at the hands of the reviewers. They are largely a poetical itinerary of his war experiences at home and in the East, with a memory of
