21 JANUARY 1922, Page 13

THE LATE MR. LONGWORTH-DAMES.

[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."] SCR,—May I be permitted to pay a brief tribute to that dis- tinguished Orientalist,' the late Mr. Mansel Longworth-Dames, who died on January 8th at Guildford, in his 72nd year? He was the eldest son of Captain George Longworth-Dames, of the fifth (Berks) Regtsand of Caroline Amelia Brunswick, daughter of Thomas Northmore, of Cleve, Exeter. Ho passed into the I.C.S. in 1868 at the age of 18, and went to India in 1870, retiring in 1897. His service was spent in the Punjaub and on the North-West Frontier of India.

Mr. Longworth-Dames was a keen linguist and made Oriental languages his special study, speaking and writing six of the languages of the East as well as the dialects of his own dis- tricts. Besides being the author of the well-known textbook of the Balochi language and of the Popular Poetry of the Balochis, he translated (from the Portuguese) and edited, with rare scholarship, the Book of Duarte Barbosa, published by the Hakluyt Society and reviewed in your columns last year. A man of exceptional ability and charm, Mr. Longworth-Dames will be regretted by all who knew him. His wide knowledge. wonderful memory, and intimate acquaintance with India were always at the service of scholars all over the world.

Mr. Longworth-Dames was Vice-President of the Asiatic Society and Anthropological Institute, and Fellow of the Folk Lore and Numismatic Societies. He leaves a widow and one daughter.—I am, Sir, &c.,