ed round a table covered with a splendid
repast--a regular hot supper, intermingled with fruit and flowers in
profusion. The chief ornament of the table was a handsome silver vase,
presented to our host by the East India Company, of which he appeared
very proud, lifting it from the table, to shew the inscription on it
to each of the party individually. At the end of the banquet, the
quiet attendants moved round with a very elegant silver flagon of
rose-water, the neck of which was very long, and as thin as the tube
of a china pipe; from it they poured a few drops on the head of each
of the guests. The sensation produced by this sudden trickling of cold
rose-water is very pleasant, though a little startling to strangers.
We had so recently had refreshment, that we were not inclined to do
justice to the hospitality proffered, and the supper was scarcely
tasted; but on rising to go, our host explained to the 'Governor
Sahib,' 'that the feast was his: it had been prepared for him; he had
looked on it! it was his!' These polite assertions were a little
mystifying, till one of the staff-officers, well versed in the manners
of the natives, explained that the governor was expected to carry off
what remained of the entertainment. It was really difficult to help
laughing at the whimsical notion of carrying away the roast turkeys,
kid, fruit, &c., which was before us; but all was actually the
perquisite of the train of attendant servants, and I suppose they took
possession of it. The gifts offered to the governor when travelling
are also theirs, when not too valuable; that is to say, when they only
consist--as they generally do in mere villages--of fruit, eggs, nuts,
and sweetmeats. If the present be, as it occasionally is, a camel,
with its head painted green or red, it is usual to accept it, re-paint
it blue or yellow, and make a return present of it, to the original
donor, who, of course, feigns to be totally unacquainted with the
animal thus 'translated.' Gifts made to the governor become the
property of the East India Company, as no servant of the Company is
permitted to receive a private present; and it would be the height of
discourtesy to refuse the wonted and time-honoured 'offering' made on
the occasion of a visit to the Burra Sahib.

After many courteous salaams and farewells on the part of our host, we
resumed our journey, gratified at this glimpse of the interior of a
native home. The Parsees are generally rich, and t