Kipling

Saturday, February 20^th – I was responding to curiosity about the personalities of authors when Mrs Smith began to talk about Kipling. She said he was greatly disliked in South Africa. Regarded a conceited and unapproachable. The officers of the Union Castle shps dreaded him, and prayed not to find themselves on the same ship as him. It seems that on one ship he had got all the information possible out of the officers, and had then at the end of the voyage, reported them at headquarters for flirting with passengers – all except the old Scotchman with whom he had been friendly. With this exception they were all called up to headquarters and reprimanded, and now they would have nothing to do with passengers. I dare say there is some ‘feeling’ and some exaggeration in this, but Mrs Smith was sure of the facts.

                                                                                                             Journals of Arnold Bennett, 1909