THE STATION. 63
carved oak has long ceased to tick a veneered clock, daubed with the representation of the Exchange at Philadelphia; and round the tent-table of some deceased or insolvent ensign are gathered half a dozen chairs which once graced the boudoir of a vice-regal dame. No Eastern Anglo-maniac possessed a more heterogeneous collection than the Nana, who, living far from Calcutta, the centre of exotic fashion, was reduced to content himself with whatever treasures might come into the market at casual up-country sales. A gentleman of some literary reputation, who was entertained by the Maharaja in days gone by, thus describes the Bithoor ménage :—“I sat down “to a table twenty feet long (Gt had originally “been the mess-table of a cavalry regiment) which “was covered with a damask table-cloth of Huropean manufacture, but instead of a dinner napkin “there was a bed-room towel. The seup—for the “steward had everything ready—was served up in “a trifle-dish which had formed part of a dessert “service belonging to the Ninth Lancers—at all “events the arms of that regiment were upon it; “but the plate into which I ladled it with a broken ““tea-cup was of the old willow pattern. The pilau “which followed the soup was served upon a huge “plated dish, but the plate from which I ate it was “of the very commonest description. ‘The knife was 1
