Page:Allan Octavian Hume, C.B.; Father of the Indian National Congress.djvu/60

 these the place of honour belongs to the great so-called Sikhim stag, or shou, of which there are two magnificent heads, one being the actual record. Till Mr. Hume made his collection shou heads were very rare in Europe, and even now they are much thought of even in the neighbourhood of their own country, as is evident from the fact that a skin was presented by the Nepalese Government to the King during His Majesty's tour in India. Other species in the collection include the sambar, the chital, or spotted deer, and the barasingh of the plains of India, the thamin of Burma, remarkable for the unique form of its antlers, and the Yarkand stag, of which specimens have been unobtainable since the Chinese occupation of the country.

"To mount this unrivalled series of specimens adequately will, no doubt, be a matter of time, but when thus mounted and exhibited to the public they will form a magnificent display and a worthy monument to their former owner, by whose munificence the Indian collection of the Museum has been so signally enriched."



In a recent issue of The Pioneer there has appeared a letter signed A. T. B., which are the initials of Captain Beynon, an esteemed friend of Mr. Hume, and a supporter of the Congress. In this letter it is stated, from personal knowledge, that Lord Lytton at one time during his viceroyalty, offered Mr. Hume the Lieutenant-Governorship of the Punjab, but Mr. Hume declined the appointment, saying that the Lieutenant-Governorship meant a great deal of entertaining, and for this neither his wife nor he himself cared: he would much rather be Home Member. Lord Lytton then recom- 46