DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.12673#0152
the kettle-drum seemed inclined to be mutinous,
but they were more easily silenced than the ladies.
At length, by adding the gift of a pair of slippers
adorned with foil spangles, to which it appeared
the company had taken a prodigious fancy, we
were allowed to depart in comparative peace.
Bidding adieu to Seroda, we toiled up the hill,
and walked dejectedly towards the landing-place,
where we supposed our boat was awaiting us. But
when we arrived there, the canoe, of course, was
not to be found. It was breakfast time already,
and we expected to be starved before getting over
the fifteen miles between us and Panjim. One
chance remained to us; we separated, and so dili-
gently scoured the country round that in less than
half an hour we had collected a fair quantity of
provender ; one returning with a broiled spatchcock
and a loaf of bread ; another with a pot full of
milk and a cocoa-nut or two, whilst a third had
succeeded in " bagging " divers crusts of stale bread,
a bunch of onions, and a water-melon. The hospit-
able portico of some Banyan's country-house afforded
us a breakfast-room ; presently the boat appeared,
and the crew warned us that it was time to come
on board. It is strange that these people must
tell lies, even when truth would be in their favour.
but they were more easily silenced than the ladies.
At length, by adding the gift of a pair of slippers
adorned with foil spangles, to which it appeared
the company had taken a prodigious fancy, we
were allowed to depart in comparative peace.
Bidding adieu to Seroda, we toiled up the hill,
and walked dejectedly towards the landing-place,
where we supposed our boat was awaiting us. But
when we arrived there, the canoe, of course, was
not to be found. It was breakfast time already,
and we expected to be starved before getting over
the fifteen miles between us and Panjim. One
chance remained to us; we separated, and so dili-
gently scoured the country round that in less than
half an hour we had collected a fair quantity of
provender ; one returning with a broiled spatchcock
and a loaf of bread ; another with a pot full of
milk and a cocoa-nut or two, whilst a third had
succeeded in " bagging " divers crusts of stale bread,
a bunch of onions, and a water-melon. The hospit-
able portico of some Banyan's country-house afforded
us a breakfast-room ; presently the boat appeared,
and the crew warned us that it was time to come
on board. It is strange that these people must
tell lies, even when truth would be in their favour.