apprehend
little or no trouble about breakages.

Day after day passes wearily along; wearily, notwithstanding the kindly
efforts of my guardians to make things pleasant and comfortable. From an
Asiatic's standpoint, nothing could be more desirable than my present
circumstances; with nothing to do but lay around and be waited on,
generous meals three times daily, sweetmeats to nibble and tea to drink
the whole livelong day; conscious of requiring rest and generous diet--all
this, however, is anything but satisfactory in view of the reflection
that the fine spring weather is rapidly passing away, and that every day
ought to see me forty or fifty miles nearer the Pacific Coast.

Time hangs heavily in the absence of occupation, and I endeavor to
relieve the tedium of slowly creeping time by cultivating the friendship
of our new-found acquaintances, the bul-buls. My bountiful supply of
raisins provides the elements of a genuine bond of sympathy between us,
and places us on the most friendly terms imaginable from the beginning.
During the day my bungalow is infested with swarms of huge robber ants,
that make a most determined onslaught on the raisins and sweetmeats,
invading the boxes and lugging them off to their haunts among the
grape-vines. A favorite occupation of the bul-buls is sitting on a twig
just outside the bungalow and watching for the appearance of these ants
dragging away raisins. The bul-bul hops to the ground, seizes the raisin,
shakes the ant loose, flies back up in his tree, and swallows the
captured raisin, and immediately perks his head in search of another
prize.

Among other ideas intended to contribute to my enjoyment, a loud-voiced
pee-wit imprisoned in a crape cage is brought and hung up outside the
bungalow. At intervals that seem almost as regular as the striking of a
clock, this interesting pet stretches itself up at full length and gives
utterance to a succession of rasping cries, strangely loud for so small a
creature. A horse is likewise brought into the garden, for the pleasure
it will presumably afford me to watch it munch bunches of pulled grass,
and switch horseflies away with his tail. The horse is tied up about
twenty yards from my quarters, but in his laudable zeal to cater to my
amusement Mohammed Ahzim Khan volunteers to station it close by if more
agreeable.

All these trifling occurrences serve to illustrate the Asiatic's idea of
personal enjoyment.

Every day a subordinate call