Canada--The beginnings of the C.P.R.--Attitude of British Columbia--The C.P.R. completed--Quebec--A swim at Niagara--Other mighty waterfalls--Ottawa and Rideau Hall--Effects of dry climate--Personal electricity--Every man his own dynamo--Attraction of Ottawa--The "roaring game"--Skating--An ice-palace--A ball on skates--Difficulties of translating the Bible into Eskimo--The building of the snow hut--The snow hut in use--Sir John Macdonald--Some personal traits--The Canadian Parliament buildings--Monsieur l'Orateur--A quaint oration--The "Pages' Parliament"--An all-night sitting--The "Arctic Cremorne"--A curious Lisbon custom--The Balkan "souvenir-hunters"--Personal inspection of Canadian convents--Some incidents--The unwelcome novice--The Montreal Carnival--The Ice-castle--The Skating Carnival--A stupendous toboggan slide--The pioneer of "ski" in Canada--The old-fashioned raquettes--A Canadian Spring--Wonders of the Dominion CHAPTER X Calcutta--Hooghly pilots--Government House--A Durbar--The sulky Rajah--The customary formalities--An ingenious interpreter--The sailing clippers in the Hooghly--Calcutta Cathedral--A succulent banquet--The mistaken Minister--The "Gordons"--Barrackpore--A Swiss Family Robinson aerial house--The child and the elephants--The merry midshipmen--Some of their escapades--A huge haul of fishes--Queen Victoria and Hindustani--The Hills--The Manipur outbreak--A riding tour--A wise old Anglo-Indian--Incidents--The fidelity of native servants--A novel printing-press--Lucknow--The loss of an illusion CHAPTER XI Matters left untold--The results of improved communications--My father's journey to Naples--Modern stereotyped uniformity--Changes in customs--The faithful family retainer--Some details--Samuel Pepys' stupendous banquets--Persistence of idea--Ceremonial incense--Patriarchal family life--The barn dances--My father's habits--My mother--A son's tribute--Autumn days--Conclusion THE DAYS BEFORE YESTERDAY CHAPTER I Early days--The passage of many terrors--Crocodiles, grizzlies and hunchbacks--An adventurous journey and its reward--The famous spring in South Audley Street--Climbing chimney-sweeps--The story of Mrs. Montagu's son--The sweeps' carnival--Disraeli--Lord John Russell--A child's ideas about the Whigs--The Earl of Aberdeen--"Old Brown Bread"--Sir Edwin Landseer, a great family friend--A live lion at a tea-party--Landseer as an artist--Some of his vagaries--His frescoes at Ardverikie--His latter days--A devoted friend--His last Academy picture. I was born the thirteenth child of a family of fourteen, on the thirteenth day of the month, and I have for many years resided at No. 13 in a certain street in Westminster. In spite of the popular prejudice attached to this numeral, I am not conscious of having derived any particular ill-fortune from my accidental association with it.