318 LISBON. 



I was shown over the arsenal by an officer who spoke 

 English ; it had very little in it. Feeling, however, that I 

 ought to offer some compliment on its appearance, I 

 remarked " that it was very clean." He said, " Yes ; 

 clean of every thing \" 



The experimental squadron came into the Tagus while 

 we were there, and caused great consternation in Lisbon 

 by anchoring opposite Black Horse-square instead of 

 lower down the river, thus committing some breach of 

 etiquette or breaking a rule. I was sorry to leave Lisbon, 

 for it was a nice place with a very fine climate, which 

 after all is more than half the battle in this life. One 

 is obliged to seek artificial amusements when every 

 other day is wet, where a few hours of daylight are not 

 regularly supplied, but frequently become mere black, 

 foggy sort of things that are neither days nor nights. 

 If we do get a little fine weather in England we are 

 miserable from knowing that it will not last long, and 

 any change must be for the worse. I am no grumbler, 

 but I do like to see the sun at least 300 days out of the 

 365. I am fond of green trees, green fields, and even 

 green men. I like to have room to move my elbows 

 without digging them into somebody else's ribs, and I 

 like to be able to open my mouth and shout and have no 

 hearers, instead of having an army jump down one's 

 throat if one merely opens his lips. It is a great comfort 

 to be in a barbarous land where you shake hands with 

 every man you meet (not often troubled by the bye), and 

 can ask this man, blacker white, to do you a favour, and 

 meet kindness from him, and probably receive an invita- 



