Passepartout on waking looked out. He could not believe that he was actually crossing India. The locomotive, guided by an English engineer and fed with coal, threw out its smoke upon cotton, coffee, nutmeg, clove and pepper plantations. The steam curled in spirals around groups of palm-trees. In the midst of these trees were attractive bungalows, viharas and marvellous temples, decorated by the rich work of Indian architecture. There were vast areas extending to the horizon with jungles and forests. There he saw snakes, tigers and elephants.