IN THE EAST INDIES. _ 159 
Hotel Bellevue. 
Buitenzorg, April 15, 1907. 
Dear Bub : 
Yesterday I performed a most irksome duty, that 
of washing my hair in a tiny hand basin, with the 
thermometer in the shade 92 (at nine o’clock in the 
forenoon) and not one breath of air stirring. In the 
middle of the drying process, which took hours, Tom 
appeared with a cable from Pa, which was very nice 
to get, but which was exasperating. The first word 
read ‘‘Amapomy,’’ and we could not make it out; for 
a long while we studied the code book and finally 
sent a cable to find out the exact meaning; this morn- 
ing came the answer, ‘‘the first word should read 
anatomy.’’ It was rather stupid of us not to have 
thought of this, but with the mereury as high as it 
always is thoughts come few and far between. 
I wish you could see our room and the gorgeous 
view we have from the back piazza; everything is so 
different from anything you have ever seen in a hotel. 
Well, to start off with the room. It is long and nar- 
row and on the ground floor (there are no second 
storeys to any of the houses here) and on each side 
of the room are piazzas screened off; so, if you want 
to, you can sit around in the thinnest attire unseen, 
unless your next door neighbor peers around the 
screen, which mine does, and a man too! The walls 
are whitewashed and without pictures and the roon: 
is furnished as scantily as possible, one chair, wash 
stand, one table and two beds seven feet square (each 
of them) and hung with stiff, starched muslin cur- 
tains, which effectually keep out the air and mosqui- 
toes. The mattresses are like boards, with a sheet not 
