1838-39. A STEEPLE CHASE. 163 



sionally rambled together ; to Westham, where an introduction 

 had procured us a friendly welcome ; and to Barking, through 

 the marshes, and so to the Thames dykes, where a steeple-chase 

 was long cherished by him as a favourite jest against me. 

 Eambling on a holiday we had made for ourselves, through that 

 strange, Dutchman's corner of merry England, lying below the 

 level of high-water, with river-dykes, sluices, and other fea- 

 tures, then as foreign to our eyes as any Dutch canal scene 

 could be, we spied a steeple in the distance and gave chase. 

 Already we had got a peep at some of England's lovely little 

 parish churches, and here was another chance ; but to make for 

 it as the crow flies could only be done by a crow or a duck. 

 Carefully navigating our way by means of dykes and hedge- 

 rows, at length we reached the banks of the Thames, and found 

 the great river was between us and the object of our desire ; but 

 we had gone too far to be baffled now. After waiting and long- 

 ing, we at length succeeded in hailing a boat, got into it, and, 

 as we rowed across the river, the boatman was drawn into con- 

 versation about the church, its name, its history. ' It was an 

 old one ? ' 'Oh yes, it was an old church.' ' Very old ? ' for, as 

 we drew near, we began to suspect that distance had lent a 

 little enchantment to the view. ' Well/ said our ferryman, ' he 

 did not doubt it was well nigh fifty years old ! ' which was pro- 

 bably a very accurate guess. It turned out to be about as plain 

 a red brick meeting-house, with square belfry at its end, as 

 ever village bricklayer designed and executed. But we enjoyed 

 our ramble on a clear October day, making up for the long in- 

 terval since our Edinburgh country walks, by many a remini- 

 scence of the past, and so beguiled our walk to another ferry 

 and home. Epping Forest was reached by a similar ramble, 

 and George's imagination excited by the romantic encounter of a 

 small encampment of gipsy tinkers with their donkey and covered 

 cart. The season, however, for wanderings in the green lanes of 

 Epping Forest or the Essex marshes was soon at an end, and 

 time was valuable to both of us. The wonders of London, how- 

 ever, were an inexhaustible delight. Westminster Abbey, St. 

 Paul's, the Tower, and all other lions, were thoroughly and lov- 

 ingly explored ; the British Museum was a never-failing resort ; 



