flag. Dr. W is a very agreeable fellow. Beautiful
fruit and flowers at Marseilles. . . .You are quite
mistaken in thinking that going away will make me no
longer care for home. I t is a good thing to go away,
so as to learn the value of such a home as I have.”
“ Off Naples,” he wrote, “ steaming along the blue
waters of the Mediterranean is very pleasant. As
regards eating, this French vessel is a floating palace-
hotel. The passengers are, however, rather slow.
Please send me by first post, care of Johustoh, Singapore,
the portrait of Miss , which. I don t know
how I came to leave behind. My stateroom is a
fine one, and I have the port-hole continually open.
We have lots of meals! First, a table-d’hote breakfast
at nine; then a fruit luncheon at twelve; a
table-d’hote dinner at six; a tea at eight, and a
«snack ’ at ten. . Send me the cartridges I ordered.
The sea is lovely, the weather not too hot. Mamma-
must never be anxious about me. I am perfectly well,
and if I am ever ill I shall let you know.
“ When we left the Red Sea,” he writes off
Ceylon, “ the weather became much cooler. I went
on shore at Aden, and drove over to the tanks. The
natives say the tanks were constructed about a .d .
1100. Only three that I saw contained water. Aden
is not a nice place. There is no sign of vegetation,
and it is very hot and bare. There were a lot of
African boys in their native ‘ dug-outs’ round the
steamer, diving for money all day, in spite of sharks.
I did not see the sharks myself—and, in fact, the only
‘ wonder of the deep’ that I have seen at present is
the flying fish. I think the stories of travellers are
often very much coloured.
“ We left Aden on Saturday, and it takes nine days
from there to Ceylon.. The worst of the journey is
now over. The second day from Aden was very rough.
I was sick one day, and seedy the next, but on the
third I was all right. I have at last got my ‘ sea legs
on,’ and now I don’t mind how much the ship pitches.
There are one or two good fellows on board, whom I
have made friends with. I would not go by Messa-
geries Maritimes again. One gets so tired of table-
d’h6te living day. after day. Table-d’hote breakfast,
table-d’hote dinner, and so on. Rupees are now the
coins we always use,. I won six rupees to-day on the
run of the steamer. The highest run we have made
as yet was 338 miles; but the usual run is 280
to 305. When about five days from Aden the
engine had to be repaired,' so we stopped fifteen
hours for that, and only went one mile an hour under
sail.
“ Life on board an ocean steamer is very monotonous,
and there is but little news to send you. The ship is
pitching a good deal just now, which makes it rather
a difficult thing to write.
“ I feel sure I shall come back safe and well to you,
as I mean to take great care of myself, run no risks,
and do nothing but work. The more I see of the
world, the less I feel inclined to indulge in any of its
so-called pleasures ; for the greatest pleasure possible
for me will be to come back to you. Fine sunsets,
but the weather is as a rule very cloudy, and a good
deal like the weather at home. I t has rained once
since I started, for about five minutes.
“ I went down to the luggage-room about a week
ago and got out your portraits. I now have half an
F