Page:Letters from India Vol 1.djvu/245

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LETTERS FROM INDIA.
237

you were suddenly transported to it, and I had exchanged into Eastcombe, instead of sitting down to write to me, you would begin screaming for Stratton and Coleman to come and pull you out of the copper into which you had accidentally fallen. The thermometer is only at 90°, and in the hot season it used to be at 95°; but then the air was dry, and there was every now and then a storm and a cool evening; but now it is so hot and heavy day and night. Horrid! I don’t think India a nice place, and George has suddenly dis- covered that it is a desperate climate. They say this may last till the end of October, and the disgraceful thing is, that with all this we are all remarkably well. We look like so many yellow demons, and my individual appearance is even more finished than the others, for Friday night happened to be particularly hot, and the bearers who were pulling my punkah fell asleep—the first time it has happened, I must say. I was nearly stifled, and the upshot was that some of the bloodvessels about my eyes gave way, and I look exactly as if I had been fighting, or rather did look, for they are mended to-day.