100 



provided by the kind forethought of Mr. Cos sham, the party 

 proceeded in carriages to Keynsham, where a barge, most 

 commodiously fitted up and covered with an awning, was in 

 readiness to convey the party in tow of a steamer, down the 

 Avon to Bristol. This portion of the day's proceedings was 

 very delightful. The river pursues a winding course, at first 

 through the alluvial flats of Keynsham Hams, which it quits at 

 Hanham Mills, to force its way through a romantic rock-bound 

 gorge, clothed with luxurious woods. From this point all the 

 way to Bristol the scenery is very beautiful. At Crew's Hole 

 the party disembarked, and ascended Trooper's Hill, which 

 commands an extensive prospect, from whence the area of the 

 lower coal-field, stretching under Dundry Hill to the Mendips, 

 can readily be apprehended. Here some interesting legends 

 were related, having reference to a condition of things and 

 society now happily passed away. From this hill the Parlia- 

 mentary forces looked down upon Bristol ; and Crew's Hole, 

 close by, derives its name from having been the rendezvous of 

 sailors fleeing from the press-gang. A white house was pointed 

 out as the scene of many a desperate encounter between the 

 sailors and the agents of the government, in which the latter 

 were by no means always successful. A story, too, was told of 

 a Mayor of Bristol, who in the year 1756 was carried off by a 

 party of miners, and kept prisoner for three days in a coal-pit, 

 until the demands of his lawless captors were complied with. 



On the return of the party to the boat, a cold collation, with 

 champagne and all manner of good things, which the hospitality 

 of Mr. Handel Cossham had provided, received ample justice 

 at the hands of the hungry excursionists. The entertainment 

 at an end, toasts and speeches followed, and much pleasant 

 converse; the health of Mr. Handel Cossham and of his 

 partner, Mr. Wethebed, was drunk, and the former was unani- 

 mously elected an honorary member of the Cotteswold Field 

 Club. Thus steaming pleasantly along through the suburbs of 

 Bristol, the boat was moored at the quay, within three minutes' 

 walk of the railway station, in excellent time to admit of 



