National opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1865-1874, 1872-01-12
Dl,kens on A CNnNl 1IONt.

Those OF out readers who have. nnf
'hOe who have not seen n canal boat
will appreciate the description OF thes'
affair, given by Charles Dickens. wh'
Travelled on one. OF the boat AMI IT,
surround ngs (aul OF course 1t Will hf
understood tht this was the day ol
"pnekrt lines" on the canal he snvs;
"Ani now / come 10 the canal boat.
Bless your heart and soul, my dear fel.
low il Won coul only see ~ on board The
anal boat Let ma think. FIR n mo-
mcnt, ut what time of the lay or night
,boul best hike you 10 see us. IL the
morning? Between five aud Xix in the
morning. IN I'll Isav ? Wei you noulo
ike to see m landing on the deck, fish.
| inc the dirty winter ont Of the canal with
a lin ladle chained TO the boat hy long
chain pouring the same into tin baein
also channel ny in like manner) ava
Grabbing my face with the EEK towel.
At night. shall say ? don't know tlnt
Won would like to look into the cabin Il
night. only Ia see me living on Temporal
~ shelf exactly the width of This sheet Of
paper when it's open n m'osWs1 il This
mo, nf"g). with one man above me and
another below and. in all, cight-and.
twenty in low cabin, which you can't
stand upright in with vour hit on. I
don't think Won would like to look in at
breakfast time either, for then these
shelves have only just been taken down
and put away, md the atmosphere Of the
place IL, as you may suppose, 10y no
means fresh though there are upon the
table tea and coffee. and bread and but
ter, aud sllmon, aud shad. and liver, md
steak, and potatoes, aud pickles, and nam,
and pudding, aud sarsages and three
and-thirtv people sitting round It. eating
md drinking an snvory bottles of gin
aud whiSkev, and brandy, and ram, in
the bar hard by aud seven.lnd-'weuty
ont of the -and-twcn'y men, in foul
linen, with yellow streams from half
cheued tobacco trickling down their
chns. Perhaps the i at tame for vol 10
take peep would b the present eleven
o'clock IN the forenoon when tI,e barber
is at his sApvinc, and the gertl men are
lnuugiug about the stove waiting for their
turn, an not more than seventeen are
splitting in conc ri, and two or three are
wa king overhead dying down on tue lug
gaze when the man ut the helm shouts
Bridge y and am writing thi. in the
ladies cabin. which i n part of The gem
t'cmnu'S, and only screened Off by red
C lrn'n. Indeed, it exlc'ly res m'lrs
the d"alis private apnrtm mt in cara
van ut II fair and the gentlemen, & ner.
ally, represent the spectators ut n penny
Il head. The place is int as c'ein AMI
Just IFS large as that G ravan YOU and |
were in at Greenwich FAIR last year Out
side, it is exacly like any ca.al boat yon
have seen near the Regents Park Or else
where.
You can never conceive what the
haw' ing and splitting is, the whole night
through. Last hi9ht was the worst
Upon my honor and word was obliged,
this morning, to lay my fur coat on the
deck aud wipe the half-,lrie fakes of
spittle from it with my handkerchief
and the only surprise seemed to be that
| should consider it necessary to do So
When l turned in Lust nj ght pu. it on a
stool hes de me-, and there it lay under
crnss-tire from five men three oppo-
lite, one above, end one below. / make
no complaints, and show no disgust. l
am looked upon rs highly iacetious ut
ulShl, lof L crack ] lheS win everybody
near me until we fail asleep. an CON
slder"d very hardy in the morsing, for |
run up, bare n"cked, aud plunge my head
into III" halffrozen water bv halt-pa>t
five o'clock. l an "ospccted for my ac-
iivitv. iuasmuch I mp from the boat
to the towing.r h u Il walk five or six
miles before br k t, keeping up with
the horses all the tIma. In word, they
IRE quite aston~hei to fud sedentary
Epglishman ronphing ii 80 well, and tax
ing SO much exorci e and question me
very much on that bead. The greater
part of the mon wa sit and shiver round
The stove ali day, rather than put ON.
foot before the othr. As to having a
window open, that's not to he thought
Of "