294 ELIZABETH CARY AGASSIZ 
the hour, and I believe they were to have a dance in 
the evening to let off the exuberance of their joy. One 
pleasant habit I observed in all the Colleges. There 
was a sort of sitting-room, or as they called it con- 
versation-room, very cosy and comfortable, which 
seemed open to all where they gathered after dinner 
for a cup of coffee. Here we ended our pleasant day, 
and it was my last visit to Newnham. 
But I cannot leave Cambridge without a word on 
other things beside the Colleges for Women; of its 
ancient Colleges and Chapels, its pretty bridges over 
the river Cam, where the students row and have 
their fun, of the shady and peaceful old courts around 
which the Colleges are built. In June when we were 
there the flower season is in its glory and the stu- 
dents’ balconies and windows are full of color among 
the dark ivy which clothes the walls. 
We had a glimpse also of a college student’s room, 
for a young friend invited us to take tea with him af- 
ter Vespers. It was a cheerful, comfortable half-study 
and half-sitting-room, but by no means [so] luxurious 
as many of our students’ rooms. Perhaps this was an 
individual case, but I was told it was not considered 
“good form” to have very elegantly furnished rooms. 
I had but three or four days in Oxford and but for 
the feeling that you may wish to have such a glimpse 
as I can give you I should hardly venture to speak of 
my personal experience there. 
The aspect of things at the Oxford Colleges for 
Women was of course in a general way the same as at 
Newnham and Girton — their internal arrangements, 
