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Interesting ! AGW John R ________________________________ From: Alastair Wilson <[log in to unmask]> To: [log in to unmask] Sent: Saturday, 26 July 2014, 16:05 Subject: hOW MUCH tIME DID KIPLING ACTUALLY SPEND AT NAULAKHA? I have that stupid sort of mind, but, as I read though the excellent series of papers produced for last year’s symposium in Vermont, it occurred to me to wonder just how much time Kipling spent at Naulakha during the approximately three years he called it his home in America. Using the Carrington ‘Extracts’ as my source, I have totted up the days spent at ‘Naulakha’ between 12 August 1893, when Carrie moved in (Rudyard was conveniently off on a trip with his father visiting Montreal, Quebec, The Saguenay, Boston and New York, and didn’t return until a week later); and 29 August 1896, when they left finally for Morristown, NJ (the home of their friends the Catlins) before boarding the liner which took them to England. (And Kipling had managed to keep out of Carrie’s hair during the ‘packing time’ in the month before they left, by making visits to Gloucester. Mass., (local colour for Captains Courageous) and the Nortons at Ashfield, Boston.) My sums (E&OE) suggest that out of the 1115 days between those dates, Kipling was only there for 709 days, or 63% of the time (Carrie was there for slightly more – Kipling made a couple of ‘boys only’ trips with his father and Lockwood de Forest). If you add in the time in 'the Bliss Cottage' (10 August 1892 to 11 August 1893), when Rudyard was present for 322 days out of 366), we get 1031 days out of 1481 or 69.6%. Which isn’t intended to prove anything except to suggest, perhaps, that he was taking his time about putting down roots in America.