Page:Letters from India Vol 2.pdf/76

 We are all in a horrid way about the ice, which oozed out yesterday; and no signs of an American ship; and the water we drink would make very good tea as far as warmth goes, but the Bishop had persuaded the ice managers to give him the last little scrapings of ice, on the plea of our dining there.

The Bishop showed us his house after dinner. He has got the best library in India, and I borrowed some good books from him.

Barrackpore (?), Tuesday, July 4. We had only a small dinner yesterday, for a wonder; but we are very forward in our lessons, and then, in this absence of ice, great dinners are so bad. Everything flops about in the dishes, and the wine and water is so hot, and a shocking thing is that a great ship was seen bottom upwards at the mouth of the river, supposed to be ° an American, and consequently the ice-ship.

We had again immense quantities of visitors this morning, and I came up after luncheon to this place in the ‘Soonamookie.’ We have made several nice cabins in the boat; and I took possession of mine; and one of the excellent domestics took a great hand-punkah—things