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thirty-three, when he passed away. He had hoped to live very much longer. I heard him say once that after making a little money, he intended to retire to the part of the country where he came from and go on "making Tapas," till his eightieth year. He asked me once to obtain a reading of his horoscope from an astrologer in Pondicherry, and that astrologer foretold that Subba Row would not live longer than he actually did.
His school career was quite a brilliant one. He began his English education in Coconada, and exercised great power over his school mates. Subba Row was removed by his parents to Madras, where he joined the Presidency College, and as I have already stated, took his B.A. degree, ranking first in the presidency. That Subba Row was a precocious boy, may be judged from the fact that he took his very high place in his B.A. examination, when he was, probably, under twenty, and his B.L. within a year or two afterwards. About 1885, when he was already practising in the High Court, as a Vakil, the Provincial Civil Service competitive examination was first established. Subba Row was one of the candidates, who appeared for that examination in that year. He scored the highest number of marks and was placed first in the list of successful candidates. The time allowed for the preparation of the subjects by the candidates was comparatively short. Though practising in the High Court all the time, he got up his subjects, through intense application and study. Geology was
