June 15th.--The first day after we reached Southampton was sunny and
pleasant; but we made little use of the fine weather, except that S-----
and I walked once along the High Street, and J----- and I took a little
ramble about town in the afternoon. The next day there was a high and
disagreeable wind, and I did not once stir out of the house. The third
day, too, I kept entirely within doors, it being a storm of wind and
rain. The Castle Hotel stands within fifty yards of the water-side; so
that this gusty day showed itself to the utmost advantage,--the vessels
pitching and tossing at their moorings, the waves breaking white out of a
tumultuous gray surface, the opposite shore glooming mistily at the
distance of a mile or two; and on the hither side boatmen and seafaring
people scudding about the pier in waterproof clothes; and in the street,
before the hotel door, a cabman or two, standing drearily beside his
horse. But we were sunny within doors.

Yesterday it was breezy, sunny, shadowy, showery; and we ordered a cab to
take us to Clifton Villa, to call on Mrs. ------, a friend of B------'s,
who called on us the day after our arrival. Just, as we were ready to
start, Mrs. ------ again called, and accompanied us back to her house.
It is in Shirley, about two miles from Southampton pier, and is a
pleasant suburban villa, with a pretty ornamented lawn and shrubbery
about it. Mrs. ------ is an instructress of young ladies; and at
B------'s suggestion, she is willing to receive us for two or three
weeks, during the vacation, until we are ready to go to London. She
seems to be a pleasant and sensible woman, and to-morrow we shall decide
whether to go there. There was nothing very remarkable in this drive;
and, indeed, my stay hereabouts thus far has been very barren of sights
and incidents externally interesting, though the inner life has been