means of clambering in and out, and drawn, tandem-fashion, by two
stout mares; one of which has a little foal by her side. The
advantage of this vehicle is that it is very light, and holds a good
deal of luggage. We hope to accomplish the distance--fifty miles--
in a day, easily.

Although this is not my first visit to Ilam, I don't think I have
ever described it to you. The house is of wood, two storeys high,
and came out from England! It is built on a brick foundation, which
is quite unusual here. Inside, it is exactly like a most charming
English house, and when I first stood in the drawing-room it was
difficult to believe: that I was at the other end of the world. All
the newest books, papers, and periodicals covered the tables, the
newest music lay on the piano, whilst a profusion of English
greenhouse flowers in Minton's loveliest vases added to the
illusion. The Avon winds through the grounds, which are very
pretty, and are laid out in the English fashion; but in spite of the
lawn with its croquet-hoops and sticks, and the beds of flowers in
all their late summer beauty, there is a certain absence of the
stiffness and trimness of English pleasure-grounds, which shows that
you have escaped from the region of conventionalities. There are
thick clumps of plantations, which have grown luxuriantly, and look
as if they had always been there. A curve of the opposite bank is a
dense mass of native flax bushes, with their tall spikes of red
blossom filling the air with a scent of honey, and attracting all
the bees in the neighbourhood. Ti-ti palms are dotted here and
there, and give a foreign and tropical appearance to the whole.
There is a large kitchen garden and orchard, with none of the
restrictions of high walls and locked gates which fence your English
peaches and apricots.