Though the guests said but little about it, most of them were disgusted with these spectacles, and considered them cruel and brutal. They remained their week at Baroda. Those who desired to do so were taken to a hunt one day with a cheetah, in which this animal killed deer and other animals; and on another, on elephants, for tigers. Two tigers were killed, and Louis Belgrave had the honor of shooting one of them. Felix brought down a couple of cobras; and killing them seemed to be his forte. Khayrat invited the party to witness a battle between his mongoose and a couple of cobras his hunters had caught; and he killed them both, one at a time. They all declined to attend a fight between a couple of coolies, with horn spikes attached to their hands, for this was worse than a prize-fight. But there was no end of amusements that were not brutal, and they enjoyed themselves abundantly to the end of their stay. They visited the temples and the palaces of the nobles, where they were received with the utmost attention. Captain Sharp and his wife declared this was the red-letter week of their lives; but the commander of the Blanche insisted that he must take his ship around to Calcutta, and left by train for Bombay the day before the company departed. The Guicowar resorted to various expedients to retain his guests, with whom he was evidently sincerely pleased; but the commander was inflexible. It was not possible to see a tithe of India, and he felt obliged to leave at the expiration of the time he had fixed for the visit, and he begged Lord Tremlyn and Sir Modava not to place them in any more courts, or they would never get out of India. The train was prepared for their departure, and, in addition to the compartment cars in which they were to pass most of their time, a carriage was fitted up, so that all of them could assemble in it; in fact, it was a conference hall on wheels. CHAPTER XXVIII AT THE CAPITAL OF THE PUNJAB An early breakfast was provided for the travellers, and at this repast the farewells were spoken. Speeches were made by all the principal persons of the party of Americans, and by the Moroccan magnate, expressive of the very great enjoyment of the visit, and in praise of the liberality of the kingly host's hospitality. Captain Ringgold returned his thanks quite eloquently. The Guicowar again enlarged upon the service the commander had rendered to India in saving the lives of two of his best friends, who had also been the friends of his country, and his only regret was that the Americans could not remain longer. Lord Tremlyn and Sir Modava could not in a lifetime discharge their obligations to their friends who had entertained them like princes on board of the Guardian-Mother.