, white-enamelled and
mosquito-netted, while for roof I only saw the clear, pale, Indian sky.
Then it was I remembered that, at my host's suggestion, my bed had been
carried out into the shrubbery, and that I had fallen asleep, lulled by
the howling of the jackals and the rustle of the flying squirrels in the
gold mohur-tree overhead.

"Springing on to the cool, grassy carpet, and dressing quickly, to gain as
much time as possible before the rising of the hot October sun, I was soon
ready for breakfast, which Miss Macgregor and I had in the garden among
the parrots and the pigeons, and the dear little squirrels. We were ready
for the road before seven, and were soon trotting along between dusty
hedges of gaunt-fingered cactus, shaded here and there by neem trees and
peepuls."

"Our smart victoria was lent by a Rajput friend of Sir Swinton's, and he
had also sent us his private secretary as guide and escort--a very thin
young man in a black sateen coat and gay-flowered waistcoat."

"Through the pink-stuccoed streets of Jaipur we threaded our way--slowly,
on account of the holy pigeons breakfasting in thousands on the road, and
the sacred bulls, who barely deigned to move aside to let us pass."

"It appears to be the custom, when a man dies, for his relatives to let
loose a bull _in memoriam_, and the happy beast forthwith sets out to live
a life of sloth and luxury. The city is his, and every green-grocer in it
is only too much honoured if the fastidious animal will condescend to make
free with his cabbages."

"Once clear of the crowded streets, we got on quicker, and about six miles
out we found the elephant which had been sent out from the royal stable to
carry us to Amber. We climbed upon her (it was a lady elephant) in a great
hurry, by means of a rickety sort of ladder, as we were told that an
elephant, if 'fresh,' was apt to rise up suddenly, to the great detriment
of the passenger who had 'not arrived.' She was a very friendly-looking
creature though, and her little eyes twinkled most affably; her face was
decorated in a scheme of red and green, and her saddle was a sort of big
mattress surrounded by a railing."

"I am no judge of the paces of elephants, but this one seemed uncommonly
rough; and we held on vigorously to the railing until we reached a ridge
and saw the dead city of Amber before us, dominated by the white marble
palace, standing on a steep cliff, and reflected in the water of the lake
which la