176 REMINISCENCES OF 



' Auld lang Syne ' as long as we could hear ; and the 

 ship glided, as the Prince said, ' like a great white 

 swan,' out of our sight. The captain's name is 

 Parsons ; the tonnage is about 6,000, and the horse- 

 power 3,000. She is a very fine ship. Farrar and 

 I walked back to the George Hotel." 



I returned to London and next day started for 

 Porlock. 



" Porlock, 

 " Tuesday, z^th August, 1880. 



" My Dear Wife,— 



"I do wish that you were here. It is a 

 lovely place and would do you good. But it is a 

 far way from home, and I came down on a wild- 

 goose chase. I intended to have left London at 

 11.45 ^^ your telegram came in time. I got it at 

 1.30, and started at three. When I got to Swindon 

 I looked in the /^zV/rt' newspaper, and saw Staghounds 

 Hunt, Monday instead of Tuesday. The Sporting 

 Gazette had advertised Tuesday. I was in the depths 

 of despair, and would have turned back if I could. 



" I got to Minehead in the dark, and came on 

 here in a 'shay' from 'The Feathers' ; arrived 9.30, 

 and found Jack Russell had gone out to dinner with 

 the Kinglakes. My horse had been left ready all 

 the morning. Mary, Jack's housekeeper, said, ' You 

 had better go down to Dr. Kinglake's too,' and trotted 

 off with me. They gave me food and were very kind. 

 I had not seen Mrs. Kinglake for thirty-three years. 

 She is very pleasant and nice. Her mother and 



