The Express.
London, England, 1868-09-15 00:00:00

NEW NOVIL BY THZ AUTHOE , 07 '• MICH= LOVEIA."
STEVEN L
At all Wonkrisa is • yak.. peas aro,
AWRENCE, YEOMAN : a Novel.
Hy the Aviator of •• Arohao Lova!'
•• • Pleven !Amebae' ia et) good • novel so to be on the verse of
betas n poet ose."—Dolly Hew,
Diehard Bustle y , New Byrtiastorotzeet.

OSTEND NOTES.

08TEND, Sr.r.r. 12.

" Totre abonnement expire le fin season " is the
notification printed in a neat little caw which
contains my ticket for the " Lineal d'Ostencle,"
and "le fin season " reminds me that, like all
things tempcital, even an Ostend season must have
an end. Everything is still, however, brilliant
and enjoyable; and although the illness of the
young prince has deprived the Ostendaise of their
Ring and Queen, there is quite a sufficiency of
royalty and " haut noblesse' for any reasonable
men to elbow. As Ostend is now one of the most
fashionable of European watering-places, it may
not be uninteresting to give you some idea of the
daily routine of Ostend life. Your first duty, after
a light ilCjeuner, is to bathe, and for this purpose
you will walk along the " Dique "—a charming
promenade, with the moats by which the town is
kurrounded on one side, and the sea on the
other ; and having arrived ut the bathing station
you will provide yourself with a ticket for " uu
voiture i unpersonne." This will also entitle you to
a costume,.which, from the fact of its being of a grey
material, and branded in two or three places with a
number, will give you, when you make your debut
in thewater, somewhat the appearance of &convict
or a casual. A machine secured, you will make
your "toilette du bein," and having overcome the
natural diffidence which a muscular Christian very
lightly clad must naturally feel in stepping into
about a foot of water in the presence 3f ladies,
you will find yourself soon buffeting the waves or
dashing through the surf in the midst of Tritons
and Naiades of almost all nationalities. Your
first care, with a keen perception of the ludicrous,
will be to got into deep water, and after an honest
blush at being surrounded by so much beauty in
" deshabille," you will most likely make an ua-
successful attempt to spear perfectly unconcerned,
and summon up sufficient courage to look about
you. Possibly, just as you are making your first
observation, a huge breaker will cannon you off
from a German countess to a Russian prince
—your mouth full of apologies and sea
water, the former of which will be politely
received, and the latter of which you will think it
most decorous to swallow—you will at last recover
your balance and your equanimity,. I think it was
Lord George Bentinek who said, that "on the
Turf and under the turf all men are equal." This
you may mentally paraphrase by saying, " in• the
sea ranks and nations are merged as well as sub-
merged." Looking round, you will certainly
have food for meditation. It is not impossible
you will give vent to the Anglicism attributed to a
" Meese Anglaise," " How shocking ! " as you
notice pretty, sylph-like creatures floating and
swimming about you with perfect unconcern—
whose toilettes, however, are as decorous as
charming. You will be no doubt amazed when
you see several " brave Beiges " big, burly,
bearded men, fearing to trust themselves without
" un bsguoin,' a man who, armed with a tin pail,
dashes the water over their backs, and then oon-
siderately leads than into the sea. There you will
notice paterfamilias and materfamilias, with all
their small Belgian fry, making quite a fanEig
C l
cmg yin the water. Here a ring of pretty •
make a note of pretty—sure to be Eng • )
• round and round in thorough enjoyment,
defying proprieties, yet free from guile ; and there a
lot of aged parties of all degrees of ugliness cut-
ting as ridiculous and grotesque a figure as you,
in your branded No. 103 grey, can possibly do.
Finally, you will seek your machine—which, having
most likely forgotten your number, you will have
some difficulty in finding—probably your forget-
fulness may involve you in difficulty, and you will
find yourself representing one of those caricatures
which fill the Ostend print-shops, and where
Monsieur hies mistaken the cabin of Madame for
his own. On your second visit to the water you
will no doubt in the interval have purchased an
elegant ontitume, and hold your head es high in the
water as any Brussels dandy. After your bath
you will snake your way to the Hursaal, having
entered your mane lag Is subscriber, and while
possibly discussing some " huitres de Ostende "
you will learn what varied iimuseasents arc offered
by the liberal proprietor.