But I have been told that in India the villages generally lie at a distance from the roads, and that much of the land, which when I passed through it looked like parched moor that had never been cultivated, would after the rains be covered with rice." After traversing this landscape for fifteen hours he reached the town of Arcot, which, under his handling, was to be celebrated far and wide as the cradle of our greatness in the East.
"I was most hospitably received by Captain Smith, who commanded the garrison.

After dinner the palanquins went forward with my servant, and the Captain and I took a ride to see the lions of the neighbourhood.
He mounted me on a very quiet Arab, and I had a pleasant excursion.

We passed through a garden which was attached to the residence of the Nabob of the Carnatic, who anciently held his court at Arcot.

The garden has been suffered to run to waste, and is only the more beautiful for having been neglected.

Garden, indeed, is hardly a proper word.