134 HAUNTS AND HOBBIES 



I may add that these little flasks of Busrah attar 

 of roses are extremely expensive, and on that account 

 are found only in the houses of the very wealthiest 

 natives. 



The month of September passed away quite un- 

 eventfully, but pleasantly enough ; I took my rides 

 and drives morning and evening. I sauntered in the 

 garden, sat in the verandah, and spent the rest of the 

 day in the office. Each morning seemed cooler, and 

 soon even the midday heat appeared slightly less 

 oppressive. Early in October the cold weather arrived. 

 I could dispense with the punkah in the day-time, and 

 at night I found a blanket on the bed very agreeable. 

 To anyone suddenly transported from England, or 

 even from the Himalaya, the temperature would, no 

 doubt, have seemed sufficiently warm ; but to us who 

 had passed through so many months of exhausting 

 heat the climate was altogether delicious. In the 

 mornings and afternoons, as I sit in the verandah and 

 look out on the blue sky, I feel enjoyment in the mere 

 sensation of existence. 



The flies, the dragonflies, and most of the other 

 insects have departed, but the air is not tenantless. 

 Scores, I may almost say hundreds, of birds — hawks, 

 kites, and vultures — are wheeling and floating through- 

 out it. Projected against the deep blue firmament, for 

 ever circling slowly round and round, ascending and 

 descending in long spiral curves, they form a most 

 beautiful spectacle. The vultures fly the highest, and 

 their flight is of all the most graceful. They sweep 

 round and round in immense circles, at each successive 



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