I had reduced all my packages to four, namely, two
portmanteaus, a bonnet-box, and a leather bag, which latter contained
the medicine-chest, a kettle and lamp, lucifer-matches, &c; my
bonnet-box was divided into two compartments, one of which contained
my writing-case and a looking-glass; for as I merely intended to
travel through a portion of our British possessions in India, and
to return after the October monsoon of 1840, I wished to carry every
thing absolutely necessary for my comfort about with we.
Another annoyance sustained by persons who take the route through
France is, the trouble respecting their passports, which must be ready
at all times when called upon for examination, and may be the cause of
detention, if the proper forms are not scrupulously gone through. We
were not certain whether it would be necessary to present ourselves
in person at the Bureau des Passeports, Quai des Orfevres, in Paris,
after having sent them to the British embassy; but we thought it
better to avoid all danger of delay, and therefore drove to a quarter
interesting on account of its being a place of some importance as
the original portion of Paris, and situated on the island. In this
neighbourhood there are also the famous Hotel Dieu and Notre Dame,
to both of which places we paid a visit, looking _en passant_ at the
Morgue.
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