I am warned by my heartless publishers
that I have already exceeded my limits. There are many things in
India of which I would speak: of big-game hunts in Assam; of near
views of the mighty snows of the Himalayas; of jugglers and their
tricks, and of certain unfamiliar aspects of native life. The
telling of these must be reserved for another occasion, for it is
impossible in the brief compass of a single chapter to do more
than touch the surface of things in the vast Empire, the origin of
whose history is lost in the mists of time.
CHAPTER XI
Matters left untold--The results of improved communications--My
father's journey to Naples--Modern stereotyped uniformity--Changes
in customs--The faithful family retainer Some details--Samuel
Pepys' stupendous banquets--Persistence of idea--Ceremonial
incense--Patriarchal family life--The barn dances--My father's
habits--My mother--A son's tribute--Autumn days--Conclusion.
I had hoped to tell of reef-fishing in the West Indies; of surf-
riding on planks at Muizenberg in South Africa; of the extreme
inconvenience to which the inhabitants of Southern China are
subjected owing to the inconsiderate habits of their local devils;
of sapphire seas where coco-nut palms toss their fronds in the
Trade wind over gleaming-white coral beaches; of vast frozen
tracts in the Far North where all animate life seems suspended; of
Japanese villages clinging to green hill-sides where boiling
springs gush out of the cliffs in clouds of steam, and of many
other things besides, for it has been my good fortune to have seen
most of the surface of this globe.
Pages:
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432