isitation this morning at 6 o'clock (!), to avoid the heat of the
day." In another letter, when on tour, he writes: "I rise by three in
the morning and am on horseback by four." Again, speaking of his life
in Calcutta, he says: "Our way of life is simple, and suited to the
climate. The general custom is to rise at six in the cool season, and
at half-past four in the morning during the hot weather, and to take
exercise on horseback till the sun is hot; then follow a cold bath,
prayers, and breakfast." The plunge into the "cold bath" should be
noted, as being the ultimate cause of the Bishop's sudden death. Few
people take a cold bath in India now, and certainly not in the early
morning. Nor is the chill air in the early hours of the Indian day in
the cold weather a particularly healthy time, and nowadays the few
people who come to India with the intention of conforming to the
ancient custom of early morning exercise soon drop it. It is to be
regretted that the tendency now is to go to the opposite extreme, and
late hours at night, and comparatively late getting up, grows
increasingly common. Few people, however, now look upon the midday
_siesta_ as a necessity.

There are authentic sketches of Bishop Heber and others out for a
ride, dressed in frock coat and tall hat, as if they were in Rotten
Row. The Bishop, nevertheless, seems to have accommodated his dress to
the necessities of the climate more than most of the clergy, at any
rate when on tour. There is an amusing paragraph, bearing on this
point, in the journal of the Archdeacon of Bombay in 1825. When Bishop
Heber was drawing near to Bombay, after a long and arduous tour, he
was joined by the Archdeacon, who says in the course of his notes that
"there are some points, such as his wearing white trousers and a white
hat, which I could wish were altered with more regard to his station,
and which, perhaps strike me the more after being accustomed to the
particular attention of Bishop Middleton in such points." But he goes
on to say that he felt compelled to forgive him, on the score of all
his other excellent qualities. In a note the editor explains that "on
his journeys the Bishop wore a white solar hat, with a very broad brim
(lined with green silk), made from the pith of the bamboo. As it
afforded more protection from glare and heat he preferred it to the
episcopal hat, his usual dress when residing at any of the
presidencies. The white trousers he adopted soon afte