Published: Civil and Military Gazette, 3 February 1888.

Attribution: The story is one of a series of eight items in the CMG signed by ‘The Traveller’ or ‘A Traveller’. Five of them appeared in close succession in the CMG in 1888, all signed ‘The Traveller’, thus: ‘Mr. Anthony Dawking’, 11 January; ‘Bubbling Well Road’, 18 January; ‘Landmarks in the Wilderness’, 30 January; ‘“Verbatim et Literatim”’, 3 February; ‘The Wedding Guest’, 16 February. Two more appeared in the CMG signed ‘A (not “The”) Traveller’: ‘The City of Patan’, 13 March; ‘Pak Patan’, 24 March. ‘A Pointsman's Error’, signed ‘The Traveller’, appeared on 4 September.

RK denied authorship of the last three items in both his copy of Chandler's Summary and in his copy of Livingston's Bibliography. He neither claimed nor denied ‘“Verbatim et Literatim”’. The other titles named above are known to be his. ‘“Verbatim et Literatim’” is not in the Scrapbooks, but that is not decisive. Its appearance within the close sequence of five stories by ‘The Traveller’ published over slightly more than a month, four of which are known to be by RK, makes his authorship highly likely though not certain. The story comes from the period in which RK was travelling throughout India on assignment from the Pioneer, during which he knew many tourists, hotels and railway stations.

Text: Civil and Military Gazette.

Note: ‘“Verbatim et Literatim”’ has been reprinted in the Martindell–Ballard pamphlets and in Harbord, iv, 1967–70.

Bride of two months, grey travelling dress, and red feather in toque, to husband. “Teddy, I wish this black man wouldn't stand just behind me. It makes me nervous.”

Teddy, striped negro-minstrel “unmentionables”, huge solah topi, and many-pocketed jacket. Hi! Here! Oh! H'm. Hi you!

Fellow Passenger, from bottom of table, very loudly:– “Jao!” Bride. “Oh! Mr. Smiffkins, how quickly you're picking up the language.

That's the word, of course. But he's gone out of the room altogether. Smiffkins, with unconcealed delight in his attainments, louder still.