the house as he pleases; has discovered a large pumpkin; has frequently contributions of pears and apples pouring in to him as offerings from foreign potentates; wears red velvet and gold constantly, because he hates cold; sits upright in an arm-chair and warms his hands by the fire and then steps out to a sunny fir-tree, which he has adopted for his own property.
I think this house quite perfection; only one floor; two of the rooms are very large, overlooking hills and mountains that never end. Our own small rooms open into the large ones, and there is a verandah all round the house. ’s house is close to our’s, his garden joining our garden. We are upon the brink of going to law about the boundaries and an apricot-tree, which will have only enough eating on it for one. He came home from his tiger-hunting expedition, declaring that it had been excellent sport. The account he wrote of one day did not sound pleasant. They came upon six tigers in a ravine, which all charged—two of them on ’s elephant and three on General C.’s. They had killed two and wounded another, when a nest of hornets flew out on them. extracted fifty stings
