At Bareilly, reached on August 9, a Reception Committee gave him a warm welcome, and took him and his party to their club-house, where arrangements had been made for their stay. The house probably belonged to one Priyanathbabu. He had hardly arrived when he again had an attack of fever. In Bareilly he remained four days, and, though ill all the time, did much religious discoursing.

The Math, Belur,_x000d_ 11th August, 1897_x000d_ Dear Joe {Miss MacLeod},_x000d_ . . . Well, the work of the Mother will not suffer; because it has been built and up to date maintained upon truth, sincerity, and purity. Absolute sincerity has been its watchword._x000d_ Yours with all love,_x000d_ Vivekananda

The next day, he conversed with a gathering of students on the need of a students' society that would carry into effect his ideas on practical Vedanta and would work for others. As a result, such a society was formed then and there.

That day, after the midday meal, the Swami told Swami Achyutananda, a monk of the Arya Samaj, that he (Vivekananda) would live only five or six years more. This prophecy, though not taken seriously at the time, came true, for he left his body five years later, on July 4, 1902.

In the evening, though unwell, he gave an impressive lecture lasting an hour and a half before a select and appreciative gathering. As ever, at this time, he sought to inject into the minds of his hearers his plans for the regeneration of the Motherland.

Ambala_x000d_ 19th August, 1897_x000d_ {original in Bengali}_x000d_ Dear Shashi {Ramakrishnananda},_x000d_ I am very much pained to hear that the work in Madras is not prospering for want of funds. I am glad to learn that the amount borrowed by Alasinga's brother-in-law (sister's husband) has been received back in Almora. Goodwin has written to me to inform the Reception Committee to take some money for expenses from the amount that is left as a result of the lecture. It is a very mean thing to spend the money received on the occasion of that lecture for the purpose of the Reception--and I do not like to tell anybody anything about this matter. I have understood quite well what the people of our country are when it comes to money-matters. . . . On my behalf, you personally talk with the friends there and politely make them understand that it is all right if they can find ways and means to bear the expenses; but if they cannot do so, all of you come back to the Math at Calcutta or go to Ramnad and establish the Math there._x000d_ I am now going to the hills at Dharamsala. Niranjan, Dinu, Krishnalal, Latu, and Achyut will stay at Amritsar. Why did you not, all these days, send Sadananda to the Math? If he is still there, then send him to the Punjab on receipt of a letter from Niranjan from Amritsar. I intend to start work in the Punjab after a few days' more rest in the Punjab hills. The Punjab and Rajputana are indeed fields for work. I shall write to you again soon after starting work. . . . _x000d_ My health was very bad recently. Now I am very slowly recovering. It will be all right, if I stay in the hills for some more days. My love to you and to Alasinga, G. G., R. A., Goodwin, Gupta, Sukul, and all others._x000d_ Yours affectionately,_x000d_ Vivekananda

The Math _x000d_ 19th August, 1897_x000d_ Dear Mrs. Bull,_x000d_ . . . My health is indifferent, and although I have some rest, I do not think I shall be able to regain my usual vigour till winter next. I had a letter from Joe saying that you are both coming to India. I, of course, will be very glad to see you in India, only you ought to know from the first that India is the dirtiest and unhealthiest hole in the world, with scarcely any European comforts except in the big capitals._x000d_ I learn from England that Mr. Sturdy is sending Abhedananda to New York. It seems that the English work is impossible without me. Only a magazine will be started and worked by Mr. Sturdy. I had arranged to come to England this season, but I was foolishly prevented by the doctors. In India the work is going on._x000d_ I do not think any European or American will be of any service here just now, and it will be hard for any Westerner to bear the climate. Annie Besant with her exceptional powers works only among the Theosophists, and thus she submits to all the indignities of isolation which a Mlechchha is made to undergo here. Even Goodwin smarts now and then and has to be called to order. Goodwin is doing good work, as he is a man and can mix with the people. Women have no place in men's society here, and she can do good only among her own sex in India. The English friends that came over to India have not been of any help as yet, and do not know whether they will be of any in the future. With all these, if anybody wants to try, she is welcome._x000d_ If Saradananda wants to come, he may, and I am sure he will be of very good service to me just now in organising the work, now that my health is broken. There is a young English woman, Miss Margaret Noble, very eager to come to India to learn the state of things, so that she may do some work when she is back home. I have written her to accompany you in case you come via London. The great difficulty is that you can never understand the situation here from a distance. The two types are so entirely different in all things that it is not possible to form any idea from America or England._x000d_ You ought to think that you are starting for the interior of Africa, and if you meet anything better, that will be unexpected._x000d_ Ever yours etc.,_x000d_ Vivekananda

At Ambala the Swami heard from Mrs. Bull and. Miss Josephine MacLeod that they wished to come to India. He wrote to Mrs. Bull on August 19:

Accordingly, Mrs. Bull and Miss MacLeod, along with Swami Saradananda, came to India in early 1898.

He did not leave Ambala without visiting, on the morning of August 19, the Hindu-Muslim School, an institution which interested him, because it was symbolic of the spirit of unity between the two great Indian communities.