Maybe?

Dear Sir Williard,

Another day has come and gone and I believe that my plan to deal with the curse of this planet may be working. My resolve was certainly tested, but I was able to behave in a manner that did not embarrass me. I woke early this morning and before I could be tempted by the graceful elegance of Akemi, I rose and in spite of the soreness in my limbs I dressed in a light cotton shirt and trousers and made my way down to the boathouse just as the sun began its rise in the East. Launching the punt into the river was as as easy as opening the boathouse water doors and lowering the light rowboat onto the calm water; it has been a few years since I have spent any time on the water, but I am pleased to report that the rhythm of sculling a boat came back to me easily.

That early in the morning my Lord, I saw only a few Hindustani servants working on the series of mansions as I headed up river. As I moved further and further up the broad slow-moving river the nature of the houses changed, for the first mile or so the houses that lined the Arjun on both her banks were much like the my humble abode. However, further away from the center of the city, the distance between the houses increased and the size and grandeur of these mansions grew as well. After two hours of rowing, the sun was much hotter and I had traveled six or seven miles when I came upon a magnificent estate that overlooked the river. To my surprise I saw five horses grazing on the lush green grass of a meadow surrounded by picturesque fences, these horses were the first Earth animals I have seen here on Rajah-4 and I can only imagine the expense and effort needed to bring animals of this size from their home planet. Furthermore, the effort needed to guard these prized animals from the dangers that this planet present must be extraordinary.

Off the top of my head just from reading the literature available to me in Tei-Pai I can think of at least five carnivores that would make a tasty treat of those magnificent beasts, and God only knows how carefully the groomsmen of this estate must scour the pastures for any of the native flora that might poison the sensitive digestive systems of the those valuable horses. I let the river current slowly turn the punt giving me a lovely view of the estate where it sat on the ridgeline overlooking the curve in the river. I remember being in awe of your holdings when you were kind enough to invite me last winter, but nothing prepared me for the size and grandeur of this complex. The main house looked over the gardens and lawns that led down to the riverbank as well as the aforementioned pastures and an orchard of mixed citrus that were bearing with a fecundity that was nearly beyond belief.

The sight of the oranges reminded me that I had yet to break my fast and as I drifted slowly with the current I wished one of the bare-backed gardeners was close enough for me to hail. Deciding to move on for another mile or two I put my back to the sculls and began to push upriver again when I heard the gay laughter of three or four teenagers. The quartet (it was indeed four, two girls and two young men several years younger than I) were engaged in a free-form game of tag that moved along the paved garden paths and through well trimmed hedges down towards the lower lawns. I was just about to wave politely when I realized that the young adults were barely dressed. The young men wore loose-fitting trunks and colourful shirts that were both unbuttoned and pulled from their waistbands, the young women were dressed like the native girls of the Polynesian islands with loose skirts that ended well above their knees and tops that consisted of no more than brightly printed triangles of fabric that were tied together to cover their breasts, but that left their bellies, shoulders and entire backs exposed to the wind, sun and eyes of strangers like myself. I hastened to avert my gaze and concentrate on rowing as swiftly as possible past this private estate, I can only suppose that not many boaters pass this far up the river from the city and that those youngsters did not think about common modesty.

It was my expectation that if I pretended not to notice the barely dressed foursome that they too would ignore my boat and the embarrassing moment would pass without comment. To my surprise, I had just started to pull further away from the bank when I was hailed by the group. I lifted an oar in salute and was just about to resume my journey when I heard a terrific splash from the banks of the river and saw that all four of them had jumped in to the river and were closing with my small punt like retrievers on a thrashing duck. What choice did I have at that point but to drift back down the river towards the four bobbing heads. To make this awkward moment even more disturbing your Lordship, I could see scattered about the lawn the two shirts worn by the young gentlemen and also the skirts worn by their counterparts!

So it was that my small boat was accosted by four teenagers wearing only the skimpiest of swimsuits. It is well that I had just spent the past two hours in vigorous exercise, because the four barely dressed youngsters were as healthy and well formed as all the other inhabitants of Rajah-4 and exposing so much bare skin they may as well have been nude. One of the young women in particular lifted herself out of the water as she held onto the side of the boat repeatedly. I could not Sir Williard, in spite of my best efforts, keep from staring at the way the river water ran from her hair into the valley between her lovely young breasts.

"You're the new doctor," the other young woman gushed in excitement as she bobbed like a duckling in the clear river water, "aren't you?" She was slender and lithe, not as buxom as her friend, but in the clear water of the Arjun I could see the gleaming white skin of her belly and bare limbs as only her chest and loins were covered by the scandalous swimwear.

"I say then, you've rowed all the way up river from town!" Remarked a young sandy-haired lad with a broad chest and an easy grin. "You must come up for a drink." All four of the youngsters clamored encouragingly and practically dragged my light punt to the bank...