(When it rains, the cataracts which come through the roof, or in at the sides of the vehicle, are quite appalling.)
5. Oh! velvet roads! Oh! luxuries undreamt of! Oh! marvels of creation! What are ye to a trip in a square-wheeled coach?
In the evening you apply arnica to your bruises, which gives to your body an appearance not unlike that of a leopard.
6. Tableau: what revelations of beauty!
THE HOT LAKES.
1. By the medium of mere words it is impossible to convey an adequate idea of the grandeur—the supreme loveliness we may say—of the enchanting and ravishing beauty of the Hot Lakes of the Northern Island. (You can cook potatoes in them.)
2. When a stranger stands for the first time before the White Terrace he is struck dumb in admiration.
3. The wonderful lithic incrustation before him surpasses the wildest flight of Eastern imagination.
The delicate tracery and champfered fretwork of the stony drapery hold him spell-bound with enchantment.
He sees before him foaming cascades that have been mesmerized into marble. The tiers of snow-white basins, like steps of alabaster or Parian stone, are creations of nature never to be obliterated from the feeblest mind. (A friend suggests that they may be partially obliterated by a whisky cocktail.)