o days
afterwards we were off Plymouth, and in another week were beating up the
Downs. There were few steamers in those days, and nearly all the ships
sailed up the Thames. When we reached Gravesend a gentleman came on
board, who told me he had been sent from London by my uncle, who wished
me to land at Gravesend, and travel by coach to London. I was really
sorry to leave the ship, where I had passed two months very pleasantly,
and had been treated most kindly by the captain and officers, as also by
my fellow-passengers.

However, I was delighted with what I saw from the outside of a
four-horse coach, as we travelled up to London. But London bewildered
me: the noise, the number of people and vehicles, made me quite giddy;
and though I could find my way for miles in an African forest, yet I
doubted whether I should ever be able to walk alone in London without
losing myself. My uncle lived in an old-fashioned, but very comfortable
house near Highgate, and we reached that locality about six o'clock in
the evening. The time of year was autumn when I arrived, and it was a
lovely evening, the sun about setting. My uncle's house stood in a
garden, with fine trees round it, and at that time Highgate was quite in
the country. A very dignified oldish man met me at the door, who I was
informed was the butler, and who, having taken charge of my luggage,
said that Mr Peterson was in the drawing-room, and would be glad to see
me there. I was preceded by the butler, who opened the door with great
solemnity, and announced "Mr Peterson." My uncle was standing with his
back to the fire, and at the first glance I came to the conclusion that
I had rarely seen a more striking-looking man. He was quite six feet
high, neither thin nor stout; his hair was quite white, and worn rather
long. He must have been nearly seventy years of age, but was as erect
and straight as a life-guardsman. His eyes were deep-set, and partly
concealed by heavy black eyebrows, which produced a curious contrast
with his snow-white hair. His glance at me as I walked across the room
seemed to read me at once, and I mentally exclaimed, "He is a chief."

"Welcome to England, my boy," said my uncle, as he shook me heartily by
the hand. "You have had strange adventures since you left India; but,
judging from your appearance, you do not seem to have suffered much.
Why, you are quite a young man, and I expected to see a mere boy."

At the age at which I had