Page:The Autobiography of Maharshi Devendranath Tagore.djvu/58

 matter of his father's debts that he was scrupulous. Dwarkanath Tagore had been profuse in his charities, and some liberal promises of pecuniary assistance remained unfulfilled at his death. My father took upon himself the discharge of all such obligation, and in one instance, in the case of a promise of a lakh of rupees (£6666) made to the District Charitable Society of Calcutta, it is said that he paid not only the full donation, but interest thereon from the date on which it had been promised.

Ever since embracing the Brahmic faith, my father had travelled a good deal. He made it a rule to set out on tour every year when the Durga Puja festival came round, with a view to keep himself aloof from the idolatrous ceremonies which were still adhered to and practised in his domestic circle, and which he had no power to abolish. In this way he travelled over various parts of India. Leaving out of account the innumerable places he visited in Bengal, the names of Lahore, Multan, Amritsar, and Rangoon may be mentioned among the various places to which he went, preaching and proclaiming the Brahma doctrine, and establishing Samajes where practicable. In 1856 he for the first time set foot on the Himalayas, and there he heard the Call which was definitely to determine his future course. He spent a year and a half among the mountains in the vicinity of the Simla