BREYDON IN SPRINGTIME 95 



skipper of the Moorhen once in a while brings hither a sack 

 of coals ; but firewood may be had for the finding among the 

 drift on the walls. In these lockers, you see, I have all sorts 

 of household utensils, from a kettle to a tin-opener. You 

 are now cushioning yourself on one of my horsehair mat- 

 tresses. Narrow, you say? Well, at night we up with a 

 bed-board on either settle, and having rolled ourselves in our 

 blankets, are as snug as in a liner's bunks. One can't nicely 

 roll out over a seven-inch rail ! Can I sleep well ? Ask 

 Banham, the marshman, who comes across wondering, long 

 after sunrise, why I am not yet up, and wakes me with a 

 sturdy cowstick, knocking vigorously upon the cabin side. 



The Moorhen is typical of the many " Noah's Arks " used 

 by smelters, eel-fishers, and others who spend days and nights 

 on Norfolk waters. The hull, originally an old smack's boat, 

 has been cabined over, a stove erected and stowage cup- 

 boards and settles added to suit the caprices or needs of the 

 owner. In her palmier days the Moorhen drifted up and 

 down the river and on to the Broads ; but with age a boat 

 gets leaky, and her skipper less restless. And Breydon grows 

 on one so ! 



And here must the Moorhen end her days, on Banham's 

 rond, her shadow cast over the sea scurvy-grass (Cochlearia 

 officinalis) in springtime, the Michaelmas daisy (Aster tri- 

 polium) making a garden around her in the autumn, while on 

 summer days the scent of the wild southernwood (Artemisia 

 maritime?) that clothes the walls in big grey patches, is not un- 

 grateful. One can always depend on the cabin, save in the 

 winter months, being dry and habitable ; in winter the now 

 rather fragile skipper wisely sleeps at home ! 



You like the Moorhen ! I am glad you do, for I like to 

 hear my old tried friends well spoken of. 



Dinner ended and the houseboat locked up, we may as 

 well get over Breydon to Jary's houseboat, which you can 

 see lying at the entrance to Duffell's drain. I have stowed 

 the sail and mast, and put the oars inside too : I will quant 

 her thither. If the tide were falling I should make for the 



