Dagens kuriøse

Om Victor V. Jacquemont fra boken When Men and Mountains Meet – The Explorers of the Western Himalayas 1820-1875 av John Keay:

"Often a preposterous figure, Jacquemont eventually wins one's respect. Few travellers have found their own misfortunes so amusing or been so candid about them. There had already been the celebrated episode of his stomach pump, which had made him the laughing stock of India. Like most travellers he had a vivid horror of gastric upsets and his own personal preventative. The daily clyster is by any standards a drastic precaution, but Jacquemont swore by it. So desperate was he when the vital instrument was stolen in Patiala that he confessed the loss to his blushing British friends. Descriptions and drawings were circulated to the Patiala authorities while the dispensaries of Upper India were scoured for a replacement. Eventually the original was found – no doubt the thief had mistaken it for a French hookah. The news was published in the Patiala court gazette and official notification of its recovery followed via the political department in Delhi. It was indeed the most celebrated syringe on diplomatic record."

Victor Jacquemont (1801-1832).