no THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB. 



At different places the towing path changes from one side of the river to the 

 other ; at these points the animal jumped on board the leading barge, and was 

 thus ferried across ; and the way in which he cleared the low stiles on the towing- 

 path, with a boy on his back, would have done credit to a heavy-weight hunter. 

 Altogether that horse was almost the hero of the adventure, and reminded us of 

 the picture " The Jumping Horse," exhibited by Constable at the Royal Academy 

 in 1825 — a boy on the top of a chestnut horse, with crimson fringe on the 

 harness, leaping over one of these barriers along the Stour. 



At the first lock Mr. Stannard came on board. He had lent the barges for the 

 occasion, and his good company was not less valued than his kindness. Not long 

 after this, the rain came down in earnest, so heavily that one of the party 

 facetiously congratulated the company on the extraordinary appropriateness of the 

 weather, which thoroughly exemplified the kind of atmospheric conditions that 

 Constable was so fond of introducing into his paintings. A cleverly-contrived 

 awning was then put up for the protection of the ladies, but it was a drenching 

 wet voyage during the next hour or more, and the lovely glades of Tendring Park 

 were seen through a mist, dimly. Sir Joshua Rowley's splendid herd of red polls 

 was down on the marshes. Where to have luncheon soon became an anxious 

 question. There was no room on the barge, the tables were wet, and a picnic on 

 the bank was now impossible. In this difficulty, Mr. Stannard rendered the party 

 good service before leaving them for Colchester Market. He went forward and 

 opened negotiations with Mr. Johnson, at Boxted Mill; that gentleman responded 

 in the most generous way, and the upshot was that the mid-day meal was served 

 in the lower story of the mill. Little room could be found for tables, and the 

 company sat down on flour and meal bags, in dark out-of-the-way corners, holding 

 plates on their " laps," and foraging round for what could be got. Under these 

 extraordinary conditions, Mr. R. W. Mutton, of the George Hotel, Colchester — 

 who had brought the necessaries along in the barge — gave immense satisfaction, 

 and one and all were pleased. 



By this time the rain had ceased, and looking round with a Mark Tapley eye, 

 so to speak, Mr. Crouch summed up the situation in a little story. It was that of 

 a village doctor, who met one of his poorer patients and asked him how he was 

 getting on. " Well, I don't know," was the dubious reply, " I've taken all your 

 nasty stuff ; thank goodness ! I'm none the wuss.'' The party felt none the worse 

 for their adventure up to this time, and thanked Mr. Johnson with three cheers 

 as they joined the barge, and passed out of his lock. 



The rain and the delay, however, had prevented the possibility of botanising 

 or other natural history collecting. Thenceforth the barges proceeded at a fair 

 speed down the river, the banks of which were covered with big clumps of yellow 

 tansy, hemp agrimony, comfrey, and the ever-present and pleasing Epilobium in 

 full bloom. Mr. Wright, always ready to impart botanical information, made 

 the journey pleasant and instructive to many of those present. The tower of 

 Langham Church, from the summit of which Constable painted his famous picture 

 of the " Vale of Dedham," remained in sight for a long time ; there is a lock here, 

 and also at Stratford, where a comely damsel handed on board a well-filled basket 

 of flowers and fruit from Mr. Rowland Cobbold, of Dedham Lodge, who enter- 

 tained the Club so hospitably some two or three years ago. 



Landing at Dedham Lock (Mr. E. Clover's) a short time was spent in the 

 town ; the picturesque " Sun Inn," with its quaint yard-gateway was seen ; and a 

 visit made to Southfields, an interesting group of cottages, converted from an old 



