312 THE LAND'S END 



passages on the subject in the other books I had read, 

 gave me no such vivid idea of the strength of the 

 sentiment we are considering as did the other incident 

 I wish to relate when, on May 24, at Penzance 

 station, I witnessed the arrival, in four trains, of 

 about twelve hundred trippers from some of the 

 cotton-spinning centres forty or fifty miles north of 

 Manchester. The first train steamed into the station, 

 where a crowd had gathered to see the horde of 

 strange people from the north, at 10.45 > * ne ^ as ^ ^ 

 the four arrived a little before 12 at noon. The 

 return journey would begin at 6.30 on the same day: 

 the entire distance to and from Penzance was con- 

 siderably over eight hundred miles ; the time it took, 

 twenty-six to twenty-eight hours, and the time the 

 travellers had at their disposal at their destination was 

 about seven hours. I was amazed that twelve 

 hundred men had been found to undertake such a 

 journey just to see Penzance one of the least in- 

 teresting towns in the kingdom ; but when I mixed 

 with and talked with them on their arrival, they as- 

 sured me they had not come for such an object and 

 would be content to go back without seeing Penzance. 

 Nor did they come for the sake of anything in fine 

 scenery which Cornwall could show them ; North 

 Wales with its bold sea-coast and magnificent moun- 

 tain scenery was easily accessible to them. What they 

 came to see was the Land's End. 



The Cornishmen who were present could not 

 understand this. I talked with one poor fellow, who 

 sat down on a bench looking very pale, saying that 



