“‘Tea ready, mem-sahib.’  The familiar and somewhat
    plaintive sound of Sabz Ali’s voice roused me,
    as it so often has in tent, forest hut, or matted dounga;”

but this time I was really puzzled for a moment, on awaking, to find myself in a real comfortable spring bed, 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 laps its base.”