File WCP/1/26 - Letter from Cecil Bendall to William Claxton Peppé, 25 November 1898

Letter from Cecil Bendall in Bombay to William Claxton Peppé in Birdpore, in which he writes that he is a friend of Vincent Smith, travelling in India for 'archaeological work (inscriptions especially) and MSS'. He hopes to visit Birdpore and Lumbini but not unless 'there is a good chance of further discovery'. He has heard from Smith that Peppé is planning to excavate further stupas and that the village of Dhamauli was 'archaeologically promising'. His Calcutta pandit, Haraprasad, is coming with him to Kathmandu and wants him to go to 'Navanagara or Nandagara, an immense mound requiring careful excavation'. He asks if Peppé could indicate on a map where these places might be.He will be in Delhi next week and starts from Segauli for Kathmandu on 18 December, so could visit in the interval. He adds that he had 'little or no practical experience in excavation'. He is travelling with his wife, and neither mind 'roughing it' but he does not want 'undue risks of fever'. Handwritten, 6 sides, dated 25 November 1898.