25 December 1911 – 31 December 1911

At R----. Played the negligent flaneur, reclining on the Chesterfield, leaning against the grand piano, or measuring my length on the mat before the fire.

To-morrow I begin duties at the British Museum of Natural History. I cannot quite imagine myself a Museum assistant. Before I get there I know I shall be the strangest assistant on the staff. It will be singing my song in a Strange land and weeping--I hope not too bitterly--down by the waters of a very queer Babylon. Still, I have burnt my bridges like Cæsar--or burnt my ships like Cortez. So forward!