Four Autograph Letters Signed (all 'JPVH'), from Lieutenant-Colonel John Plunkett Verney Hawksley, DSO, RFA, to his mother in England, describing in detail his life in Kashmir, and including comments on bear hunting and the cost of living.

The four letters totalling 16pp., 12mo. Each on a bifolium. All four good, on lightly-aged paper. Chatty and informative letters, in the bored tone of the English upper classes, and exhibiting a shocking casual racism. One: From Dâk Bungalow, Rawal Pindi, 20 July 1899, and Rowberry's [sic] Hotel, Murree, 23 July 1899. 4pp., 12mo. He apologises for a hurried letter of the previous day. 'I began my journey very badly by calling a high caste mahomedan who was snoring in my carriage a Scor - (pig) he got very irate. I arrived here 1.30 pm just 1 hour ago & have just had my bathe - my stupid servant went round by Jeypore so I have to wait for him perhaps 2 days. [...] Delhi is awfully interesting & makes you wish to kill any native you see when you read details of & see the sites of the Siege of Delhi. There is a lovely Palace there in the fort, all made of marble, with flowers of precious stones inlaid throughout, it must have cost millions'. 'This bungalow is pretty cool & I have a punkah at night. | At Delhi was the first time I have ever slept under a punkah. It is a very pleasant sensation. I find the drive up to Srinagar more expensive than I thought - but I can manage it. I shall look up Percy Creed at Murree on my way up.' The second part of the letter is addressed from Rowbury's Hotel. He describes his journey there, adding 'I had my first glass of water since I have been in India. The maharaja of Kashmir is coming down thro' here from Cashmere, I shall pass him on the way. He is having dozens of tongas up from here for his suite.' References to 'Miss Milward's present', ''Philip's wedding', 'Gwendonline' and 'Lady Price'. Letter Two: From Dâk Bungalow, Magam, near Srinagar, Kashmir. 4pp., 12mo. He is impressed by Srinagar, having arrived there after 'having driven 196 miles in tongas [...] Kashmir is a beautiful place, very grand, but what I have seen of it, I don't think half as pretty as the Tyrol. There are very pretty flowers out, beautifully coloured birds & plants, and the people here, the women kind & children specially are very pretty indeed, lovely eyes & pink complexion. No one would take them for natives, and they wear quaint dresses, I haven't seen very many women, as being mahomedans they cover up their faces when a white man comes near.' He has 'engaged Hosaine Shikari that Capt Beresford had. The way you chose [sic] a shikari, is to ask him for his "chits" - these are letters of recommendation given him by people who have employed him at different times.' He 'went to the English Agency here instead of going to a natives. There is a certain Captain Losack late of the 93rd Highlanders who manages it, & when I went to see him in business he very kindly offered to put me up for the few days I was in Srinagar. I jumped at the offer, & he put me up in a house boat.' References to Percy Creed, 'the Farrers' and 'Mrs Jim Burbury'. 'The Maharaja of Kashmir goes down to the plain tomorrow, he has an enormous following, I met some of his baggage & horses coming down on my way up. He is in mourning here for his brother just dead & he has 3 palaces at Srinagar'. Letter Three: No place. 6 August 1899. 4pp., 12mo. He writes tha the is 'in a camp just above a small village called Simgadar 16 miles from a larger village called Islamabad to which village I went in a house boat from Srinagar, taking 2 days. & marched here, where I have been 5 days | I've had 5 shots but I've not bagged a bear yet - expect do do so today. Have had no encounters. The place is full of fruit, & the air is just like a fashionable ladies drawing room. I get up at 3. am & wander through the jungle till about 6am, [...] I composed a little poem which I send you, its [sic] shows I'm rather hard up for something to do. [...] I live here on 4 annas a day about. Eggs & chicken, one day & chicken & eggs the next. One cant get beef though there are thousand of cows round, but the maharajah is a Hindoo & a cow is sacred to him'. The letter contains two humorous poems: 'May Blossom' (beginning 'Oh! Frankie I love you, my own fondest Frank.') and 'Frankie' (beginning 'Now Mrs mason, just stop that there rot | Get on with my dinner & serve it up hot | You said you adored me, how else could that be | Consid'ring I am Mr Mason F. B.'). Letter Four: In camp, near Islamabad, Kashmir. 11 August 1899. 4pp., 12mo. He begins: 'Just another scrawl to show I'm alive'. After references to 'Col. Dalton's engagement' and 'Mrs Barker', he complains: 'I've been most unlucky with my bear. I have had 5 shots all fairly difficult as the jungle is very thick just now, and difficult to see. | Three times I have spent the afternoon & 1/2 the night over a bullock tied up but with no result. I have seen one panther. | I went so close to a bear in the dark going home one night that I felt his breath. They make a fearful noise breathing, you can hear them 50 yards off. Whe he heard me come, crash, he went down the cudd - & I saw & heard him no more. | Its perfectly safe - I go about with a revolver loaded in my pocket, and generally carry my rifle myself, if not, a coolie has it just behind me - then my shikari has his with him loaded & cocked | Bears scarcely ever attack without provocation - ie being fired at or wounded. - Panthers might, but there are very few here.' He discusses the cheap cost of living, 'So live in a camp in Kashmir, if you want to economize [...] The greatest mistake I made was not bringing anything to amuse myself in the afternoon.' He concludes: 'I hope J. gets through the manoeuvres without knocking anything down. I'm rather glad I'm in the mounted branch - much better htan the dismounted I think.' The son of James Taylor Hawksley and Emily Julia Hawksley of Caldy Island, Pembrokeshire, and a cousin of the fantasy writer Lord Dunsany, Hawksley served in the South African and Sudan Campaigns, and was three times mentioned in dispatches before his death in action on the Western Front.