eet and divide beneath me into Carlos Place.

... My tailor has sent me such an excellent cardboard box to paint on,
so I will use it for this effect in Muzii colours; it will make a drop
scene or tail piece to this first chapter of these "Digressions."

[Illustration]

[Illustration: Piccadilly Circus, by Night.]

CHAPTER II

LONDON TO TILBURY.--If I am to write notes about a journey to the Far
East, I must not miss out the exciting part between Grosvenor Square and
Liverpool Street Station. The excitement comes in as you watch the
policeman's hand at the block in the city and wonder if it will stop
your journey; down it comes though, and we are in time, and have a
minute to spare to rejoice on the platform with our cousin and niece who
are going out with us, or rather with whom we home people are going out
to India.

There were those on the platform not so happy as we were; an old lady I
saw held the hand of a young soldier in pathetic silence, and the smiles
on the faces of those left at home were not particularly cheerful, and
the grey set expression of men leaving wives and children is hard to
forget. A younger lady I saw on the platform smiling, and straight as a
soldier, threw herself into her sister's arms as the train moved off in
a perfect abandonment of grief, and the wrinkles in the old lady's face
as we passed were full of tears--two to one against her seeing the young
man, son, or grandson, on this side. But I suppose that is India all
over--many partings, a few tears shed, and enough kept back to float a
fleet.

Our 'guid brither'[1] and his wife have come in the train with us to
Tilbury to see us on board, so we are all very jolly and the sun shines
bright on the river and white cumulous clouds, and the brown sails of
the barges are swelling with a brisk north-east breeze as they come up
on the top of the flood. The "Egypt" lies in mid-stream, and all the
passengers of our train go off to it in tenders, along with hundreds of
friends who have come to see them off--there is a crowd! Passengers only
bring hand baggage with them, the rest went on board yesterday; the
embarkation is beautifully managed and orderly, there is an astonishing
repression of excitement and show of out of place feeling. To compare
this embarkation with that on a foreign liner; I have seen the whole
business of taking passengers and luggage on board an Italian liner
stopped for minutes by one Egyptian with a tin of m