and I am sorry to say all mine thought it necessary to present me with some, because they thought I liked modelling, and my room is full of the most frightful-looking toys, which I dare not destroy, as they think them beautiful. In the evening our bearers, who are all Hindus, lit up one side of the house, and the native doctor illuminated one of the bungalows, and they danced, after their fashion, to a tiresome drum, and sang for about six hours, and had a great feast of rice and sweetmeats, for which we gave them money; and the Mussulman servants all sat round, and sang and told stories, though they cannot eat together, and it was one of the prettiest, gayest feasts I haveseen. The illuminations were so pretty. We had the carriage late, and Mrs.
drove with us through the cantonments. The Sepoys had illuminated there in all directions, and even scattered lamps on the ground all over the plain; it looked like a large Vauxhall. Dr. Drummond came back on Wednesday, and gave an excellent account of a scientific party George had held at Calcutta. There was plenty to see and to say, and some curious experiments tried, and everybody seemed pleased; and George wrote me an account of it, which showed he was amused.Page:Letters from India Vol 1.djvu/263
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