The Divisions In One Of My Portmanteaus Had Excited Some Suspicion
At Havre, One Of The Men Fancying That He Had Made A Grand Discovery,
When He Pronounced It To Have A False Bottom.
We explained the method
of opening it to his satisfaction, and afterwards, in overhauling
my bonnet-box, he expressed great regret at the derangement of the
millinery, which certainly sustained some damage from his rough
handling.
Altogether, we had not to complain of any want of civility
on the part of the custom-house officers; but travellers who take the
overland route to India, through France, will do well to despatch all
their heavy baggage by sea, nothing being more inconvenient than a
multitude of boxes. I had reduced all my packages to four, namely, two
portmanteaus, a bonnet-box, and a leather bag, which latter contained
the medicine-chest, a kettle and lamp, lucifer-matches, &c; my
bonnet-box was divided into two compartments, one of which contained
my writing-case and a looking-glass; for as I merely intended to
travel through a portion of our British possessions in India, and
to return after the October monsoon of 1840, I wished to carry every
thing absolutely necessary for my comfort about with we.
Another annoyance sustained by persons who take the route through
France is, the trouble respecting their passports, which must be ready
at all times when called upon for examination, and may be the cause of
detention, if the proper forms are not scrupulously gone through. We
were not certain whether it would be necessary to present ourselves
in person at the Bureau des Passeports, Quai des Orfevres, in Paris,
after having sent them to the British embassy; but we thought it
better to avoid all danger of delay, and therefore drove to a quarter
interesting on account of its being a place of some importance as
the original portion of Paris, and situated on the island. In this
neighbourhood there are also the famous Hotel Dieu and Notre Dame,
to both of which places we paid a visit, looking en passant at the
Morgue. The gentleman who accompanied us entered a building, with
whose melancholy celebrity all are acquainted; but though it did not
at that precise moment contain a corpse, the report did not induce us
to follow his example: a circumstance which we afterwards regretted.
It may be necessary to say, that at other places we sent our passports
to the Hotel de Ville; but at Paris there is a different arrangement.
Although the journey up the Seine from Havre proved very delightful to
me, I do not recommend it to others, especially those to whom time is
of importance. There is always danger of detention, and the length of
the sea-voyage, especially from London, may be productive of serious
inconvenience. For seeing the country, it is certainly preferable to
the diligence, and my experience will teach those who come after me to
inquire into the character of the steam-boat before they enter it.
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