We have moored just below Aurunzebe’s fort, over which I have roamed; it is an excellent subject for a sketch; the view from the height is beautiful.
On the other side is an old well, built of the very small Hindostani bricks; the river has washed away all the bank in which the well was originally sunk, and it now stands naked on the sand,—a remarkable object.
24th.—We arrived at Allahabad, and my husband took charge of his appointment. Then commenced dinner-parties given in honour of our return by our old friends at the station.
Am I not happy once more in dear old Prāg? We have no troubles as at Cawnpore; no one poisons our horses; all the people around us appear pleased at our return, and eager to serve us; our neighbours here are friends interested in our welfare. My old carpenters, the saddler, the ironsmith, the painter, the stone-cutter, and the sealing-wax-maker, are all in their old nooks in the verandah.
March 1st.—It was so cold we had fires of an evening, which were not discontinued until the 5th of the month.
Our friend Capt. B⸺ is going home; he will tell those we love of our goings out and comings in, and will be as a connecting link to those, betwixt whom and us this great gulph of distance is fixed. It really requires an exile from home to be able to enjoy its blessings. He will, or ought to run about almost demented for the first year. Heaven prosper the good country! I hope to turn Hampshire hog myself, either here or hereafter, after the Pythagorean system.
The weather is becoming very hot; we are making our house look cool and comfortable, colouring it with French grey, and hanging pankhās in preparation for the hot winds. We hope to feel cool by the aid of a thermantidote, for which we are building a terrace and verandah.
The thermantidote is a structure awful to behold; but we shall benefit from its good effect; and, like a steam-boat, shall be able to do without wind, which, with the tattīs commonly in use, is the sine quâ non for fraîcheur.
A thermantidote is an enormous machine for forcing cool air into the house; it is made of amrā (mango wood), or of sākoo (shorea robusta): the wheels and axle are of iron. In height, it is about seven feet, in breadth four or five, and some nine or ten or twelve feet in length.
There is a little machine sold in England, under the name of a fire-blower, which is on the same principle, and is almost a miniature thermantidote. It also resembles in some respects a machine for winnowing corn, but on a larger scale.