Around the World in 80 Days

He was so exact that he was never in a hurry, was always ready, and was economical alike of his steps and his motions. He never took one step too many, and always went to his destination by the shortest cut; he made no superfluous gestures, and was never seen to be moved or agitated. He was the most deliberate person in the world, yet always reached his destination at the exact moment.

Formerly one was ob­liged to travel in In­dia by the old cum­brous meth­ods of go­ing on foot or on horse­back, in pa­lan­quins or un­wieldy coaches

East In­dia Com­pany was all-power­ful from 1756, when the Eng­lish first gained a foothold on the spot where now stands the city of Madras

Brit­ish In­dia, prop­erly so called, only em­braces seven hun­dred thou­sand square miles, and a pop­u­la­tion of from one hun­dred to one hun­dred and ten mil­lions of in­hab­it­ants

poly­gam­ists

icy ex­ter­ior

sump­tu­ous­ness

dis­cord­ant

bol­ster­ing

The ele­phant, which its owner had reared, not for a beast of bur­den, but for war­like pur­poses, was half do­mest­ic­ated.