252 Travelling Particularities : [Sepr. 
upon a family of six or seven persons. The barque will take him in at 
this village, about ten o'clock, and will convey him to Bruges by three 
—through the uniformly agreeable tract of scenery which we have before 
glanced at. On his arrival at Bruges, another barque will be waiting to 
receive him at the opposite extremity of the city. This he mustreach by 
a somewhat tiresome walk of not much less than three miles, over round- 
headed paving stones ; unless, indeed, he prefers paying the price of his 
whole journey to Ostend for being conveyed thither in one of the coaches 
that will in all probability be waiting for this purpose. The Ostend 
barque will start immediately all the passengers have had time to get on 
board. 
Immediately on setting his foot in the barque that is to convey him to 
Ostend, our traveller will observe a striking difference, to the disadvan- 
tage of the scenery, on either side him, as compared with that adjoin- 
ing to the opposite extremity of the city ; and every mile he proceeds it 
will become poorer and poorer ; till, at length, he will wish himself at 
his journey’s end before he gets there—which we cannot think was the 
case in the previous part of the day. However, his journey is but a 
short one. He will reach Ostend in time for a late dinner, or an early . 
supper—whichever name he is minded to call it by—and will have to 
pay five shillings for his whole day’s travelling, &c., including his break- 
fast. He will choose for his inn the Lion d’Or. 
Sarurpay.—A place may be very agreeable to look about oneself in, 
even for a whole day, without having any thing worth describing, or 
even remembering: and such a place is Ostend. Like Dunkerque, it is 
built for the most part on a regular plan; its streets intersecting each 
other at right angles. But it wants that air of mingled liveliness and 
comfort which makes Dunkerque the most agreeable looking town in all 
this part of the Continent. There are some spacious open squares in 
Ostend: that in which the Lion d’Or is situated is the chief. There is 
also a good elevated walk looking on the sea. But, upon the whole, 
Ostend is somewhat triste, and by no means attractive to any but those 
who love quiet and their own company more than all other things. 
Above all, there is one fault about Ostend, which cannot be forgiven to 
any town, even though it were E] Dorado itself, namely, the grass grows 
between the stones of some of its streets. Au reste, it is one of the 
cheapest dwelling-places that can any where be pitched upon; and its 
position gives it many advantages in this respect. But our traveller 
will find little to admire in it, after what he has seen elsewhere ; and he 
will probably not be sorry to take leave of it at day-break to-morrow by 
the London steamer, and thus conclude a journey which, we venture to 
persuade ourselves, he will set down as at once the cheapest, pleasantest, 
and most instructive that he has ever performed, supposing, as we have 
done all along, that it is the first he has made out of his own country. 
His bill at Ostend (including all expenses of embarkation, &c.) will 
amount to about twelve shillings ; and his passage to London (in the 
best cabin) thirty-five, including the necessary refreshments. 
Finally, our traveller will please to bear in mind, that we pledge our- 
selves to the correctness of every particular that we have here put 
down ; and if he will take the trouble to reckon up the amount of his 
alleged expenses, he will find we were considerably within bounds in 
stating, that the whole cost will not be more than that of spending an 
idle fortnight at Brighton or Cheltenham. é 
