_August 15th._--Before we set out for Mrs. Howard's[45] at Arundel we went to look at the Pavilion. I did not much admire it; it looks like some Chinese thing. We asked a man if we could go in front of it, but he answered very rudely that we could not. It was delightful weather when we set off. It so happened that both when we left and when we returned to England it was fine weather, and very cold while we were in France. I did not think the country about Brighton so very ugly as I had heard it was. We got on the first stage very quickly. We were particularly struck with the neatness of the cottages; most of them were covered with roses or vines, and the grapes were much more forward than they were in France. Everybody looked so genteel and nice, and the children so pretty. There is a steep hill going into Arundel, and one has a very fine view of the castle. Before Mrs. Howard's house there is a small terrace full of flowers; there were geraniums, and large myrtles growing out of doors, though in France they are obliged to take the laurels into the house in winter. OWLS _August 16th._--It was _very_ hot to-day. In the evening we went to see the owls at the castle. There is a great deal of fine ivy about the keep. There are altogether seven owls. One they call 'Lord Thurlow,' another 'Lord Ellenborough,' and two others 'barons of the Exchequer'; they crack their bills very badly. One that had come from Hudson's Bay could mew, bark, and make various noises. We afterwards went along a new walk they were making, and then through a field in which were some deer. _August 18th._--We were surprised to observe this morning that the sun was a bluish silver colour, more like the moon; we afterwards saw it was noticed in the newspaper. We went to see the dresses of Mr. Wyndham (the Catholic priest), who lived next door; he was a very civil old man, and used to bring us in apricots and gooseberries. His dresses were very splendid-purple, red, green, gold, etc. We saw the chapel; there were artificial flowers, gold candlesticks, etc., on the altar. As we were walking on the terrace we saw the Duke and Duchess of Clarence, the Duchess of Kent, and the Princess Fedor, the Duchess of Kent's daughter. We saw them afterwards in a carriage. I never saw any place with such swarms of children as Arundel; but I thought them very pretty after what I had lately seen. The weather continued oppressively hot. CORONATION