The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-11-18


/ men. eel and mussel catchers and the num-
berless sportsmeu ana yachting parties
that frequent the region.
our party comprised "OIGran pop
Wharton, tinker, fiddler and what-not; his
son, Tuah Wharton. "A splendid type Of
. the shaggy, huge, manly, kind
hearted English gypsy; the lat
. tors wife. little, sharp faced
sharp-eyed and sharp-tOngued; number
of gypsy chauvies Of both sexes, and three
as pretty and interesting gypsy maidens
as one would wish to find for poem, ro-
. nance or idyllIc. company.
These were Fashion, Melinda and Bess.
+ Each as "a veritable Incarnation of that
fascinating quality Of beauty among gip-
sizes where beauty exists at all. and, more
curious ana interesting still. each was
graduate from noted school for women
i'm the northern suburbs of London.
What with visiting Gypsy friends at
. keighley. DOnCaster and Lincoln. we were
I three DAYS reaching our destination, the
/ village of Hickling, near Hicklind Broad.
/ in Norfolk; and a short tramp from
Hickling, accompanied by a village cart
well laden with gypsy belongings, brought
us 10 the pleasant waterside
Here hard by a picturesque old daub-
and-Wattle cottage. whose peasant owner
roared out an alarming welcome we found
our waiting punt. 1t was already in fine
order for the season, the cottager having
cared for ii in winter and got It in read-
ness against the gipsies coming; and in
an hour more, our floating summer home
was launched, the evening meal in pre-
paratiOn, and snug quarters for all our
motley crew provided.
Altogether there are nearly fifty of these
Norfolk and Suffolk breads or fens, all
communicating with each other by lazy
currents Galley dykes or with the riv-
ers which they feed and their total water
surface is several thousand acres They
am Wit fah
and pike; and are the sort of countless
waterfowl.
In their unusual diversity in their
drowsy doneful quiet in the character
full folk who live beside them, the almost
countless miles OF river and dyke water
way for small boating and yachting, the
quaint and sunny old-time inns-of-calI
. dotting here ana there their silent shores,
they no doubt possess sweeter and subtler
charms than any other known resort in
England to the sportsman and naturalist.
My tawny friends belonged to neither
class, but our house boat possessed as
ample provision for necessary comfort as
many of the hundreds of aristocratic
yachts which haunt the region, and its
crew and passengers We're quite as care
free and merry as the sunnest-hearted of
them all
The boat itself was perhaps thirty feet
in length and possibly eighty in breadth.
At one end was q little compartment,
having a its own extreme end a com
Portable bed for Gypsy Wharton and his
Wife with capacious door-Closed
locker" beneath, in which all our pro-
visions and valuables were stored.
+ Extending toward the middle of the boat
We're four hunks, two on either side, with
slinding windows above. In these slept
Fashion Melinda, Bess and a couple of
1 the lesser progeny. Still beyond this was
the most curious compartment of all.
In its center, on the bottom of the punt
where there had been made a solid bed of
baked clay, shaped like gigantic saucer
was the gypsy fire that is never allowed to
so out, and above it the real gypsy crooked
iron kettle stick, firmly embedded in the
clay.
Here is where our kettles sung, and
where the sweet perch and luscious pike
We're broiled, while the smoke escaped
where it listed. 1t was kitchen and par
lor in our boat-h Necessary utensils
( hung against the walls, but not quite
: hide many Efforts at decorative art, from
the illustrated papers, pasted solidly in
( their places ana given rich and generous
! coloring from the smoke of burning "hov-
/ ers' of peat.
/ Amidships was our salon. 1t was not
large, but as "Gran'pop Wharton always
remarked:
hit as. good prospects an airy ones
/ aside"
]
/ once done duty with the Yarmouth her
/ ring fleet. Here our hearty meals were
/ taken, and this place was also the work
/ room where the nimble fingers of the gip-
! sizes wrought the pouches and baskets of
/ flag and osier.
Beyond this, and extending to the end
/ Of the boat opposite that occupied at
night by Gypsy Wharton and his wife. was
! little shed-like coop. and in this the
! gypsy grandfather, myself and few OF
/ the children had comfortable hunks; ana
above this, something after the fashion
of the upper deck" of willow-ware haw-
! kers' wagons. was a sail-covered place
/ where the stock of baskets and creels
were kept until sold; the show room as
/ it We're to the anglers and hunters of
the lagoon.
Then came the nights and days of this
/ strange, quaint life with my gypsy friends
| among the Breads"
We seldom remained long at one moor
| ing. There We're countless cottages of
farmers, fenmen and marshmen to be
visited; and the gipsies were well
/ come everywhere.
Old anglers and fowlers pausing in
their wherries, gave cherry greetings,
q often made purchases, and never passed
( without iiinging white money into ollr
outlandish punt; while many of the pas
I sengers of pleasures yachts visited pa
tronized and tipped" US handsomely for
and pike were hiding
All day long IT was greeting and painting
now "A Wherry with "A single occupant.
fierce and restless i'm quest for game: now
a boatload of roysterers, careless of all but
carelessness any enjoyment; now a mar
ket boat being pooled" or rowed or both
TO the market village, the entire family on
board as in Holland; and now perhaps
some lone naturalist in hungry. harmless
quest of rare butterflies and bugs.
Then came evenings when the sun went
down i'm forests OF waving reeds, flaming
the matches Of some loy-lying cottage on
opposite shore, Weirdly lighting the arms
OF the huge wind-mills of the region. bring
ing to looming nearness the grim Nor
man towers Of some far olden church. or
gliding the top OF some medieval ruin as
with gold.
As the red globe sank from sight. the
waters for moment were purple. the
reeds puce, and then, I'm another moment.
everything was pitchy black: until the
stars shining I'm the depths above and from
The waters beneath, seemed to envelop all
Then the songs and chirps OF myriad in
seets' the whirr and splash Of late-hou-
Ing waterfowl. and tine yttftobIp,y ,,.t,t.