40 THE EULOGY OF RICHARD JEFFERIES. 



recalls the cottage where John Brown lived 

 you can see it still, close to Coate as well as 

 that where Job lived who kept the shop and 

 was always buying and selling ; and of the 

 water-bailiff who looked after the great pond : 



" There were one or two old boats, and he 

 used to leave the oars leaning against a wall 

 at the side of the house. These oars looked 

 like fragments of a wreck, broken and irregular. 

 The right-hand scull was heavy as if made of 

 ironwood, the blade broad and spoon-shaped, 

 so as to have a most powerful grip of the 

 water. The left-hand scull was light and 

 slender, with a narrow blade like a marrow- 

 scoop ; so when you had the punt, you had to 

 pull very hard with your left hand and gently 

 with the right to get the forces equal. The 

 punt had a list of its own, and no matter how 

 you rowed, it would still make leeway. Those 

 who did not know its character were perpetu- 

 ally trying to get this crooked wake straight, 

 and consequently went round and round 

 exactly like the whirligig beetle. Those who 

 knew used to let the leeway proceed a good 



