13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 |
1 | 198 | 396 | 594 | 792 |
'
I should like to see his poem,' said Mr Snodgrass.
I should like to have seen that dog,' said Mr Winkle.
'
Mr Tupman said nothing; but he thought of Donna Christina, the
stomach pump, and the fountain; and his eyes filled with tears.
A private sitting-room having been engaged, bedrooms inspected, and
dinner ordered, the party walked out to view the city and adjoining
neighbourhood.
We do not find, from a careful perusal of Mr Pickwick's notes of the
four towns, Stroud, Rochester, Chatham, and Brompton, that his
impressions of their appearance differ in any material point from
those of other travellers who have gone over the same ground. His
general description is easily abridged.
'
The principal productions of these towns,' says Mr Pickwick, 'appear
to be soldiers, sailors, Jews, chalk, shrimps, officers, and dockyard
men. The commodities chiefly exposed for sale in the public streets
are marine stores, hard-bake, apples, flat-fish, and oysters. The
streets present a lively and animated appearance, occasioned chiefly
by the conviviality of the military. It is truly delightful to a
philanthropic mind to see these gallant men staggering along under
the influence of an overflow both of animal and ardent spirits; more
especially when we remember that the following them about, and
jesting with them, affords a cheap and innocent amusement for the
boy population. Nothing,' adds Mr Pickwick, 'can exceed their good-
humour. It was but the day before my arrival that one of them had
been most grossly insulted in the house of a publican. The barmaid
had positively refused to draw him any more liquor; in return for
which he had (merely in playfulness) drawn his bayonet, and wounded
the girl in the shoulder. And yet this fine fellow was the very first to go
down to the house next morning and express his readiness to overlook
the matter, and forget what had occurred!
'
'
The consumption of tobacco in these towns,' continues Mr Pickwick,
must be very great, and the smell which pervades the streets must be
exceedingly delicious to those who are extremely fond of smoking. A
superficial traveller might object to the dirt, which is their leading
characteristic; but to those who view it as an indication of traffic and
commercial prosperity, it is truly gratifying.'
Punctual to five o'clock came the stranger, and shortly afterwards the
dinner. He had divested himself of his brown paper parcel, but had
made no alteration in his attire, and was, if possible, more loquacious
than ever.
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