Page:Sketches of some distinguished Indian women.djvu/78

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SOME DISTINGUISHED INDIAN WOMEN.

final examination in the fundamental branches, anatomy, physiology, and chemistry, and passed these examinations creditably, ranking eighth in her class, which consisted of forty-two ladies. She has since taken her degree, and has now returned to her native country."

The above lines had hardly appeared in print before Mrs. Joshee's career, which had given promise of so much usefulness, was brought sadly to a close.

On her arrival in Bombay she had been received with marked honour and respect, even by the Brahmans and Pundits, who it was expected would have denounced her breach of caste rules in crossing the "black water," and it must have been some consolation to her, when she felt her strength and life ebbing away, to know that her countrymen appreciated the sacrifices she had made. She remained a short time in Bombay and its neighbourhood, in order to get the best medical advice, but the doctors there failed to give her substantial relief, and it was determined to move her to Poonah, in the hope that in her native air she would revive.

There, in the house in which she had been born, Anandibai Joshee passed the last few weeks of her life. She was surrounded by all nearest and dearest to her—her mother, brother, sister, and grandmother—and everything that affection could suggest to