2 DUTCH BULBS AND GARDENS 



times slightingly referred to as cargo boats, and 

 certainly the bulbs, in their clean white packing 

 cases, come to England that way ; and when they 

 are not coming, Dutch cheeses in quantity and 

 other things take their place. But the passenger 

 accommodation has much to recommend it. I 

 remember a large deck cabin, much larger and 

 lighter than a good deal of the first-class accom- 

 modation on the great Indian and Australian 

 liners. I remember sheets of stout Low Country 

 linen, reminiscent in their scent of woodruff of the 

 Spanish mahogany dower chests where housewives 

 lay up their gear with the aromatic herb. I 

 remember a snug place with a swinging lamp and 

 lockers, more suggestive of the cabin of the 

 "Schooner Hesperus" when "the skipper had taken 

 his little daughter to bear him company," than the 

 saloon of a cross-Channel steamer. It is true the 

 food is Dutch, but if, as not infrequently happens, 

 one is sole passenger, one has it when and where 

 one pleases, which is a compensation. It is true, 

 too, there is no stewardess, and not often anyone 

 who speaks much English on board, and that the 

 journey takes rather long, but these are trifles. 



By choosing the right tide, one drops down the 

 river in the afternoon, in itself an interesting and 



