| Description | William describes his first hour in camp, rising, walking and breakfasting, their tent 'looks like a fat mushroom' beneath a tree. They have been trying a sedan chair of William's invention in place of a palkee, and William sketches this, with a description of its bamboo frame construction. He asks if Alick [Alexander Stewart Herschel] could sell the dog cart for £25 to Rick, otherwise it should be sent via Southampton to his address in India. William relates how he was in a dog cart with desk, books and official papers, which was led over a bridge when the horse shied, sending the cart and its contents into the river. He had to cut the horse free and his possessions were ruined. He describes a second, similar episode in which he almost drowned, and sustained a sprained ankle. He is now alone in camp, after doctor's advice that Emma should not accompany him, and he describes her amusement at camp life and house furnishing, her tent being in the Hobhouses' compound. William refers to his reading and he thanks Alexander for his 'Astronomical Register' and comments on a 'conceited' article by 'young Perigal'. |