MANUSCRIPT. [A young woman's dairy written during a stay in British-ruled 'Ceylon' in the months before and after the start of the First World War. N.p.:] Ceylon, February- November 1914. 99pp., manuscript, (203 x 160mm.) Mostly legible hand-written leaves relating the life of a young woman living in various DWP bungalows, mostly relating to her social life. (Mild toning.) Original black wrappers (surface marks). Note: the unnamed writer describes a frenetic whirl of social activities, tennis, bridge, golf, with occasional references to the wild-life, Hindu temples, a wedding, a conversation with the Hindu 'boy' about reincarnation and the 120-year life span of all human beings. There is a partner- or husband- Denys, but he appears to be working all the time, inspecting DWP buildings. On her birthday, the emotion finally spills: 'I felt horrid all the day. Called on the Vaughans'. On August 5th, while playing tennis, they hear that England has declared war on Germany. Her last entry, on leaving Aden, and returning to England, becomes unexpectedly transcendent: 'the sea was oily calm, so much so that the reflection of the stars in the water was most noticeable…zodiacal light'.