Page:Wanderings of a Pilgrim Vol 2.djvu/69

 visible through a glass; its hazy aspect rendered it a malignant-looking star. The solitude of my boat is very agreeable after so much exertion.

25th.—Anchored off a ship-builder's yard, and purchased six great trees; sal, shorea robusta, and teak (tectona grandis); what they may turn out I can scarcely tell; I bought them by torch-light, had them pitched into the river, and secured to the boats; the teak trees to make into tables and chairs; the sal for a thermantidote; we have one at home, but having seen one very superior at Fathīghar, induced me to have the iron-work made at that place; I have brought it down upon the boats, and have now purchased the wood for it, en route, timber being reasonable at Cawnpore.

26th.—Here are we,—that is, the dog Nero and the Mem sāhiba,—floating so calmly, and yet so rapidly, down the river; it is most agreeable; the temples and ghāts we are now passing at Dalmhow are beautiful; how picturesque are the banks of an Indian river! the flights of stone steps which descend into the water; the temples around them of such peculiar Hindoo architecture; the natives, both men and women, bathing or filling their jars with the water of the holy Gunga; the fine trees, and the brightness of the sunshine, add great beauty to the scene. One great defect is the colour of the stream, which, during the rains, is peculiarly muddy; you have no bright reflections on the Ganges, they fall heavy and indistinct.

28th.—Lugāoed the pinnace in the Jumna, beneath the great peepul in our garden, on the banks of the river.

31st.—Dined with Mr. Blunt, the Lieutenant-Governor; and the next day a lancet was put into my arm, to relieve an intolerable pain in my head, brought on by exposure to the sun on the river.

Nov. 6th.—The Lieutenant-Governor gave a farewell ball to the Station, on resigning the appointment to Mr. Ross. The news arrived that her Highness the Bāiza Bā'ī, having been forced to quit Fathīghar, by order of the Government, is on her march down to Benares; at which place they wish her to reside. Una Bā'ī, one of her ladies, having preceded her to Allahabad,