<p IN THE EAST INDIES. at 
to them and I had a great time. English people are 
so very stiff and formal, most of them; so when I 
meet one of that kind I appear as stiff as I can. 
Calcutta is not a very interesting city. There are 
so many Europeans there it almost spoils it. This 
place is perfect. The trip up was great. About 
seven o’clock we had breakfast at a small station and 
then changed trains to a narrow-gauged road and 
came here up the mountains. The valley, of course, 
was very hot, and an abundance of tropical trees and 
plants grew along the tracks. We passed a great 
many acres of tea plantations, which interested me 
very much. It was amusing to see natives at the dif- 
ferent stations we stopped at with their arms full 
of purple orchids. When we reached an altitude of 
7,500 feet it grew very cold and we saw snow on the 
mountains, which was not at all an unpleasant sight, 
as Calcutta is far from being cool. The humidity 
there is very great. 
This hotel is very comfortable.. Mr. Palmer, who 
is very well known here, telegraphed to the manager 
to give us the best room, which was done. From my 
bed I can see a good part of the Himalaya Moun- 
tains, all covered with snow. Kinchinjunga is one 
of them, next to the highest mountain in the world. 
You cannot imagine how beautiful it is just at sun- 
rise. Tomorrow morning we are to get up at three 
o’elock, ride about six or seven miles to Tiger Hill, 
and see the sunrise on Mt. Everest, the highest moun- 
tain in the world. 
The natives here are very like Chinese people, 
but there is one drawback to the race: the women do 
all the work. They dig in the streets, lay car tracks, 
