Said I to myself, 'Thank God,' said I, 'to see the last of India.' And I took passage on a German steamer and drank enough German beer on the way to have floated two ships her size! Aecht Deutches bier, you understand," said he, nudging me in the ribs with each word.

Aecht means REAL, as distinguished from the export stuff in bottles.

"I drank it by the barrel, straight off ice, and it went to my head! "That must be why I boasted about knowing Indian languages before I had been two hours in port.

I was drunk, and glad to be home, and on the lookout for another job to keep from starving; so I boasted I could speak and write Urdu and Punjabi.

That brought me employment in an export house.