Pickwick Abroad: A Companion to the Pickwick Papers — page 34: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

“< ant - Becket upon the very stone where his - board a steam boat y ue uilding Saw the blood of Thomas-a- assassins murdered him. Sam informed us that he had been “put up to snuff”—as he facetiously expressed himself—about this matter, and assured me that the sexton made a point of keeping the said stone well colored with bull’s blood, so often as circum- stances required. Tupman looked doubtful, _..--and Winkle, expressed his unalterable disbelief of Sam’s statement. Proceeded on our journey to Dover. Tup- man remarked that the Kentish girls are particularly fine. I do not know that he is altogether wrong. Travelling is in a very unsettled state on this road. The opposition coaches should be suppressed by govern- ment. The guard of. our coach was. per- petually telling the driver “to hit the horses on the raw, as they hadn’t any friends!” Such cruelty to unfriended animals is per- fectly atrocious. | _ Slept at Dover, and was grievously bitten by bugs. ili | November re ae Kmbarked on * Wi: or the first time in our lives. Became acquainted with a dark gentleman called “a stoker,” who explained to us the principles and technicalities of the steam-engine. Cannot say that I perfectly understood the matter; but Winkle ap- peared to be fully at home with it, which Was very astonishing when we consider his former ignorance of such engines. However, in case “ the stoker’s” elucidation may inte- rest posterity, subjoin it, word for word, as I took it down in my note-book at the time. —-“This ’ere furnace, gen’lemen, heats that ere water, and that ’ere water is in this ’ere biler; and that there pistern-rod is moved up and down by the steam from this ’ere biler; and them ’ere pisterns acts upon them rods, ®hich turns the axles of the paddles, and the paddles their-selyes in consequence.” “Then it 7s possible for a boiler to burst ?” observed Mr. Tupman, with a very visible shudder. | “ Possible!” exclaimed the man, as if he were deeply insulted by the bare doubt implied in my friend’s remark. “TI rather think it is possible—and what’s more, too, it very often does burst.” Feel myself bound to remark that Winkle manifests on every occasion a great regard | for our several safeties. On hearing “the stoker’s” reply to Tupman’s question, he soared out “murder!” and ran frantically 96 . PICKWICK ABROAD. gt i “up the ladder to requ - ‘ad fee © ' > 9 yuest the captain to p back: but “the stoker” qualified his state- /ment in time, by assuring us that it was only in America such things ever occurred. We accordingly suffered the captain to continue the adventurous voyage. © In three hours—rather a long passage, I was informed, the French steam-boat beat- , ing us by five-and-twenty minutes, to the great annoyance of Captain String, who commandec the vessel in which we were— we entered Calais harbor. There is a long | wooden pier of admirable structure on ono side, and a small fort,on the other. The pier is a mile in length, and is a favorgia resort, the captain informed me, for the un- fortunate Englishmen whose qualifications for exile have been obtained through the medium of certain little. extravagancies and unpaid liabilities. The spires of the town-hall, the light- house, and the tower of the church, are the most remarkable objects that strike the eye on arrival at Calais. ‘The sky has prett nearly the same appearance here as in Eng- land: and the color of the ocean remains the same. The sand-hills on the right-hand side of the harbor as#you go towards the town, form an interesting variety to the surrounding scenes, and afford a pleasant seclusion, where a duel may be fought ir tranquility without fear of interruption. Having taken advantage of the moment- ous period when Mr, Pickwick and his com- panions filled the interteur of the diligence with a sweet concert of nasal music, to lay, the above important notes_ before the read- er, we must now request the same intelli- gent audience to suppose that the morning has just dawned, that the diligence is en- tering the episcopal town of Beauvais, and that Mr. Pickwick and his. companions are awaking one after the other. An excellent breakfast at the above-mentioned place” awaited them; and certain roast turkeys,’ game, pigeons, and bottles of wine, aide by little loaves of bread and large cups 0 coffee, were done ample justice to b rt le hungry travellers, Mr. Crashem inquired of the conductor how long the diligence usu- ally waited; and on receiving a reply— through the medium of the waiter—that it could only tarry half an hour, he expressed his regret at not bemg able to call on his particular and intimate friend, the Bishop of Beauvais. Mr. Winkle sympathized in Mr. Crashem’s mortification at this disap- CORNIC OCW KS.)