We Embarked Between Six And
Seven In The Evening, And Found Ourselves In A Most Wretched
Hovel, On Board What Is Called A Folkstone Cutter.
The cabin was
so small that a dog could hardly turn in it, and the beds put me
in
Mind of the holes described in some catacombs, in which the
bodies of the dead were deposited, being thrust in with the feet
foremost; there was no getting into them but end-ways, and indeed
they seemed so dirty, that nothing but extreme necessity could
have obliged me to use them. We sat up all night in a most
uncomfortable situation, tossed about by the sea, cold, arid
cramped and weary, and languishing for want of sleep. At three in
the morning the master came down, and told us we were just off
the harbour of Boulogne; but the wind blowing off shore, he could
not possibly enter, and therefore advised us to go ashore in the
boat. I went upon deck to view the coast, when he pointed to the
place where he said Boulogne stood, declaring at the same time we
were within a short mile of the harbour's mouth. The morning was
cold and raw, and I knew myself extremely subject to catch cold;
nevertheless we were all so impatient to be ashore, that I
resolved to take his advice. The boat was already hoisted out,
and we went on board of it, after I had paid the captain and
gratified his crew. We had scarce parted from the ship, when we
perceived a boat coming towards us from the shore; and the master
gave us to understand, it was coming to carry us into the
harbour. When I objected to the trouble of shifting from one boat
to another in the open sea, which (by the bye) was a little
rough; he said it was a privilege which the watermen of Boulogne
had, to carry all passengers ashore, and that this privilege he
durst not venture to infringe. This was no time nor place to
remonstrate. The French boat came alongside half filled with
water, and we were handed from the one to the other. We were then
obliged to lie upon our oars, till the captain's boat went on
board and returned from the ship with a packet of letters. We
were afterwards rowed a long league, in a rough sea, against wind
and tide, before we reached the harbour, where we landed,
benumbed with cold, and the women excessively sick: from our
landing-place we were obliged to walk very near a mile to the inn
where we purposed to lodge, attended by six or seven men and
women, bare-legged, carrying our baggage. This boat cost me a
guinea, besides paying exorbitantly the people who carried our
things; so that the inhabitants of Dover and of Boulogne seem to
be of the same kidney, and indeed they understand one another
perfectly well. It was our honest captain who made the signal for
the shore-boat before I went upon deck; by which means he not
only gratified his friends, the watermen of Boulogne, but also
saved about fifteen shillings portage, which he must have paid
had he gone into the harbour; and thus he found himself at
liberty to return to Dover, which he reached in four hours.
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