I regret much that in the course of my travels a book full of such souvenirs has unaccountably disappeared. Eventually Mr. Hartwell got the pony in hand, and thanks to his brilliant driving I was landed at our bungalow to find Lord William and my spouse complacently refreshing themselves in the verandah. Lord William said he and a bucket, which appeared from under the seat somewhere, were tipped out under the mango trees while we were being carried over what looked like a newly filled-in grave. Mr. Alfred Abbott was another great chase rider; he was seldom seen without a cigar in his mouth, and died with one between his teeth on the Barrackpore Racecourse; and many more old friends of Lord William and mine, in fact it would be easy to fill many books with the doings of old friends of that period. Young and old took part in these paper-chases, Sir George White with grey hairs when Commander-in-Chief, and youths with growing down on their upper lip. One very noticeable thing about people in India is the way they keep young in spite of their years, taking part and interest in all that is going on, old ladies and gentlemen dance until the early hours with the best of the young ones, ride races, play tennis and racquets, in fact everything that is going. One year Lord William offered a prize for a Ladies’ Steeplechase over the Calcutta Racecourse. There were many competitors, some coming from a distance to show what they could do. When Lord William presented the prize of a beautiful silver inkstand to the winner, who happened to be a Mrs. Somebody he did not know, he expressed the hope that she would find it useful and persuade her to write long letters to her husband. This was unfortunate, as the lady and her husband had agreed to part. It was a most unusual thing for Lord Bill to make a _faux pas_. The Simla Season of 1882 passed much in the usual way, a round of social gatherings and festivities. One character I must not fail to introduce to you, namely, Ponto, Lord William’s poodle; he appears in many photographs, and so he ought, being quite a personage; he lived with his master after he became Military Secretary in quite a palatial house called “Inverarm,” standing on the hill, not far from the Viceregal Lodge. Ponto and his master were inseparable; there were times of course when he was not wanted which he failed to realise or appreciate, and in spite of the efforts of those who had instructions to keep him at home, searched Simla until he located his master, sitting proudly outside the door until he put in an appearance. Once Lord William left the house he was visiting by a different route, and Ponto sat on far into another day, when he was remonstrated with by the inhabitant of the bungalow at whose door he sat.