SHORT WAY WITH AN ARCHITECT 23 



burnt up and thirsty-looking. I prefer the mud 

 and bamboo Sunderbunds to the red dusty ground, 

 the sparse trees, and burnt-up shrubs of the Central 

 Province. But the life is far greater and more 

 diversified in the latter jungle. I verily believe 

 that if I remained long in India I should dwell in 

 the jungle and never kill another living thing. 



At Sambhalpur I had to do twenty-eight miles 

 on a pad elephant, the most unpleasant mode of 

 progression I know except a bullock tonga, and in 

 a bullock tonga at Harda I had to do eighty miles 

 on a forest track. When I reached the train, and 

 for some days afterwards, I felt as though every 

 bone in my body were broken. 



On my way from Harda to Simla I stayed at 

 Delhi quite the most interesting place I have yet 

 seen in India. It is difficult to visit all the spots 

 connected with the Mutiny and to stand by 

 Nicholson's grave without emotion. The palace 

 is singularly beautiful, and quite the best and very 

 ornate part of it is the work of an Italian who 

 worked in the service of a King of Dellii. The 

 King, it is said, put his eyes out as soon as he had 

 finished his work, to prevent his doing similar 

 work for anyone else in India. 



I reached Simla on the 22nd. From heat at 

 110 or thereabouts I found myself in mid- winter, 

 pitiless cold, rain, incessant storms, and quite the 

 most detestable weather I have ever experienced 

 even in England. It seems to be improving now, 

 but up to the present I have felt the cold intensely, 

 especially coming, as I have, into a large and 

 empty house. v 



Peterhof is like a large, well-planned English 



