Page:The Life of Lokamanya Tilak.djvu/361

 the little leisure he could snatch was given to Vedic •studies. In 1897, he was sentenced to rigorous impri- sonment ; and what time he could get in the Yeravda Jail, was devoted to the continuation of his Vedic re- searches. The first manuscript of the Arctic Home was written at the end of 1898, but Mr. Tilak hesitated to publish the book for a long time " because the hues of investigation had ramified into many allied sciences "Such as geology, archaeology, comparative mythology and so on " and as Mr. Tilak thought himself to be a layman in these, he felt some diffidence as to whether he had " correctly grasped the bearings of the latest re- searches in these siences." Unable in India to find a University atmosphere where one could get all up-to- date information on any desired subject, the only course open for Mr. Tilak was, in the words of Prof. Max Muller '* to step boldly out of his own domain and take an in- dependent survey " of the aUied sciences like Geology, €ven at the risk of being called " an interloper, an ignoramus, a mere dilettante." After completely satis- fying himself on all the different points, Mr. Tilak published the book (1903) which was more favourably received by Western scholars than the Orion.

Like the early editorial writing of Mr. Tilak, the Orion was written in what may be called the scholar's style. But the Arctic Home is a book which even the lay reader can peruse with enjoyment. The style is smooth, flowing, and extremely lucid, occasionally rising to the heights of philosophical eloquence. The treatment is at once interesting and methodical. After stating the problem in brief, Mr. Tilak treats of the Glacial Period and prores from geological evidence of