Page:The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, vol. 1.djvu/120

 another matter. This is mentioned just to remove the prevailing prejudice to the effect that on board one has no other course open but to take food cooked by the Europeans. The much-vexed and important question whether it is possible to remain a vegetarian on board and in England will be discussed in another chapter. It is sufficient to mention for the present purposes that it is not at all necessary to take meat or wine and it is positively injurious to take the latter. The source has this in Devnagari script; reference to a preparation made of grame flour. 2 Vide also An Autobiography, Pt. I, Ch. XIII

Having landed in London, where to go seems to present some difficulty. The editor of The Vegetarian, a newspaper published in London Memorial Hall, Farringdon Street, has kindly consented to give the necessary directions and find them the proper lodgings where they can have everything cheap and nice. Here I may be allowed to say a word about The Vegetarian. It is a paper which I believe should be subscribed to by every Indian who would see Englishmen as vegetarians and who would sympathize with the movement now going on in London. It should be bought not especially as mental food, not for the sake of the information given by it, not for the high-class intellectual matter contained in it, though these are by no means of an inferior quality, but for encouraging a movement every Indian should have at heart. To return, however, to the main subject, the people of the London Vegetarian Society are always kind and hospitable towards Indians and a more genial man than the editor of The Vegetarian it would be difficult to find. It would, therefore, be a great gain for every Indian going to England to let the editor know of his so doing. I may perhaps suggest, though the suggestion has nothing whatever to do with the editor, that in common fairness every such person would subscribe himself as a member of the Society or subscribe to the paper. But, if the above arrangement be not deemed feasible or advisable, the next best thing to do would be put up at the Vegetarian Hotel, Charing Cross, be he a vegetarian or meat-eater. A list1 of houses would be found at the end of the book wherefrom to make a selection. The terms in the appendix places are very reasonable. Other hotels would be found very dear. On landing, a cab can always be had which would take you, on your giving the name, to the place named. These lodgings, it must be understood, are only temporary until a permanent one is found. So the next thing to do would be to search for a good and suitable room.