1828.) A Cheap Journey. 245 
the excellent arrangements of the locks, drawbridges, &c., connected with 
the various canals that intersect the whole surrounding. country, and 
meet here, as at a centre; the little Park, and the Plain, as they are 
called—open spaces of cheerful green, which are seldom to be met with 
in close towns on the continent ; the Caserne, the Salle de Spectacle, &c. 
The evening of to-day can scarcely be better filled up than by a walk to 
Rosendal, a very pretty village closely adjoining to one of the gates, and 
consisting entirely of gardens and summer-houses, including three or 
four public ones, to which the whole population of the place flock on the 
afternoon of every fine Sunday of spring and summer. The day’s ex- 
penses (including the fare of yesterday’s diligence from Calais) will be 
within ten shillings. 
Tuurspay.—aAt six o'clock to-day’ our traveller will start by the 
barque on his way to Bruges. For the first ten miles or so, his journey 
will be insipid enough, on account of the absolute flatness of the country 
through which the canal is cut. But in fine weather there must always 
be something pleasant in gliding along in the open air through meadows 
and cornfields, or between scattered villages : to say nothing of everything 
being pleasant that is new. At about nine o'clock the boat is changed, 
at a little hut on the frontier between France and the Netherlands. There 
is no delay, but the second boat immediately proceeds to Furnes, which 
it reaches about eleven. Furnes is a little insignificant town, of which 
enough is seen in passing through it on foot to reach the third boat, 
which starts for Nieuport immediately on the arrival of that from the 
frontier. In about two hours more you reach Nieuport, through the 
same absolutely flat and uninteresting country. At Nieuport the charac- 
ter of the conveyance improves, and with it the country through which 
you pass. You are fairly in the Netherlands, where the cottages, and 
every thing else, have an air of more ease, as well as neatness, than 
heretofore. In short, after Nieuport, every thing has a Flemish look, 
which is a great step in advance towards an English one, in point of 
comfort and completeness. This last boat does not reach Bruges till 
between seven and eight ; so that the journey (of about thirty miles) 
occupies nearly ten hours.—It costs four shillings and sixpence, including 
the gratuities expected by the boatmen. It must not be supposed that 
we would recommend this mode of reaching the interior of the Nether- 
lands from France, as possessing a balance of advantages over the other 
public mode by diligence ; for assuredly its cheapness does not make up 
for its tediousness, even where (as in our journey) economy is a main 
consideration. We have chosen it simply because it is by far the less 
beaten track, and because there is no other means of becoming acquainted 
with the kind of scenery, &c., that here presents itself. 
If our traveller should have hitherto found himself somewhat ennuyé 
by to-day’s journey, the conclusion of it will at once revive and recom- 
pense him. Bruges is a noble relic of the olden days. For an air of 
green and flourishing old age, there are few continental towns that can 
compare with it, and none in England that bear it the slightest re- 
semblance. A sufficing notion of its great extent will be gained, by the 
distance that must be walked, from the spot where the boat arrives, to 
the centre of the town—where the hotel which we shall choose is 
situated—the Hotel d’Angleterre, Rue des Pierres. Our traveller will 
reach his resting-place just in time to put himself a little to rights before 
the Table d’Héte supper is announced ; which he will of course partake 
of; for the ludicrous indifference of the Flemings to their worldly 
