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19 December 1905 — Udaipur | |
Tuesday. 19th [December 1905]. We prepared to leave Oudaipoor but went out once again for a row on the beautiful lake. On our way to the station we stopped to see the Cenotaphs of the Maharajas—some of which are very handsome. The Baboo would not hear of our paying our hotel bill declaring that we were guests of the state & only owing to a mistake had gone to the hotel instead of the guest house. He merely begged me to affix my signature to the hotel bill as a guarantee that we had been the state guests. We left Udaipur by 11 a.m. train. The Baboo had made all arrangements for our visiting the fort of Chitorgarh. A servant was sent with us by train who carried a luncheon box with him & a small stove– He warmed up our food in the railway carriage & served it as we went along—climbing from one carriage to another in the most alarming fashion– We began by soup & ended with coffee. We reached Chitor abt 4 but just before arriving the kitmagar served us tea & toast! We were certainly well cared for. At Chitor station we found an elephant & various servants waiting for us. The huge beast knelt down—a ladder was put against his side & I scrambled up followed by Baker, Nela & Aggiu the bearer—we set off & toiled up & up the great rock passing thro’ several gates with a sentry at each. At the top we had a splendid view over the plain—the sky was full of heavy black clouds—it was very hot & there was a distant rumble of thunder. The sun set with lurid red lights. We had only time to go round the walls & see the outsides of some of the dilapidated facades of palaces & get to the tower Victory & look at its curious ornamentation—the sun was nearly set—& we turned away from the scene of desolation to return to the plain. I never saw anything more sad than this ruined town with its few people who till the ground round the debris of fine palaces. The storm did not come down on the ruin wh seemed inevitable but it was quite dark before we reached the rest house– The kitmagar had prepared us an excellent dinner!! & we rested till 10 when the elephant conveyed us to the station. On arriving there the man who put the ladder ready for me to dismount managed so that a cord being across it—so that when I was going down I remained suspended by it head downwards & was in some danger of coming on my head– Luckily the man below held on to me until I had managed to extricate my feet & jump down. Aggiu made up our beds in the reserved compartment as soon as we got to the station. An obliging official having put several coolies to work to move the carriage so that we could get in—we undressed & went to bed before the express train came in to which our carriage was attached at 10.30 for Jodhpur. | |
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