11 January 1864 – 17 January 1864

Letter from Mrs. Tennyson, asks me if I know of a house near Lymington that would suit her Father and Sister (Mrs. Weld). I go to the house-agents. Aubrey House might do.

At Southampton. Arrival of the Poonah P. & O. steam-ship. People returning from India, greetings. Ayah on deck. A single one of these brown slender women with black eyes and undulatory movements (they must have soft bones), in muslin and gold ornaments, makes all Hindustan real. How cold she must find this weather. Mail-bags landed, 340 in number.