I
Mention These Circumstances As A Warning To Other Passengers.
When a man hires a packet-boat from Dover to Calais or Boulogne,
let him remember that the stated
Price is five guineas; and let
him insist upon being carried into the harbour in the ship,
without paying the least regard to the representations of the
master, who is generally a little dirty knave. When he tells you
it is low water, or the wind is in your teeth, you may say you
will stay on board till it is high water, or till the wind comes
favourable. If he sees you are resolute, he will find means to
bring his ship into the harbour, or at least to convince you,
without a possibility of your being deceived, that it is not in
his power. After all, the fellow himself was a loser by his
finesse; if he had gone into the harbour, he would have had
another fare immediately back to Dover, for there was a Scotch
gentleman at the inn waiting for such an opportunity.
Knowing my own weak constitution, I took it for granted this
morning's adventure would cost me a fit of illness; and what
added to my chagrin, when we arrived at the inn, all the beds
were occupied; so that we were obliged to sit in a cold kitchen
above two hours, until some of the lodgers should get up. This
was such a bad specimen of French accommodation, that my wife
could not help regretting even the inns of Rochester,
Sittingbourn, and Canterbury:
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