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 how his literary faculty was stimulated by recognition and praise, and how strongly he vibrated to pathetic or tragic impulses. On 11th January, 1891, Boake writes telling how Wagga society appreciated some satirical lines he had composed concerning certain of its members. On 16th February, 1891, Boake writes to a sister from the survey camp at Carabosh, near Germanton—

Yet there is preserved from about this period a fragment of a letter containing the statement: ‘I myself believe with Tolstoi that the sooner the race dies out the better for all concerned.’ Boake's physical tendency to melancholy was too strong to be permanently overpowered by any mental reaction.

On 25th July, 1891, Boake writes to his father from the survey camp at Mundawaddery, recording an incident which impressed him deeply—