in English and signed in Tibetan symbols.According to Barborka, this note was the first message of the mahatmas, which had come in response to an oral request, and after it Sinnett decided to write his first letter to the "Unknown Brother." The author says: "One day, therefore, I asked Madame Blavatsky whether if I wrote a letter to one of the Brothers explaining my views, she could get it delivered for me. I hardly thought this was probable, as I knew how very unapproachable the Brothers generally are; but as she said that at any rate she would try, I wrote a letter, addressing it 'to the Unknown Brother', and gave it to her to see if any result would ensue. It was a happy inspiration that induced me to do this, for out of that small beginning has arisen the most interesting correspondence in which I have ever been privileged to engage." Occult phenomena During Blavatsky's first visit to the Sinnetts' house at Allahabad, they were able to observe, in addition to the raps, one more phenomenon. For a few days they had gone with their guest to Benares, where they had settled at a house which had been lent by the maharaja of Vizianagaram. One evening after dinner, they sat in the great hall of the house. "Suddenly three or four flowers – cut roses – fell" right between them. At Simla a picnic was planned, and a group of six men had intended to go into the forest. The supplies were designed for six men, but a seventh person suddenly joined the group. In preparation for the midday meal, the lack of a coffee cup and saucer was revealed. Someone jestingly suggested to Blavatsky to materialize the additional cup. Blavatsky held a "mental conversation" with one of her outlying "Brothers" and then pointed to a specific place, overgrown with grass and bushes. One of the participants began to dig there with a knife. After some time a white object was found, which was a tea-cup, and near it was a saucer, and as such they were no different from the other six cups and saucers brought from the Sinnetts' house. Plant roots around the utensils were found intact, and it has reportedly been proved that no one pre-dug there. When Mrs. Sinnett reached the house she counted the cups and saucers of this design and found one