134 Tally h 



10, 



I may venture to tell you there are many worse ways 

 of employing the shining hours of the summertide than 

 being picked up at your own door and conveyed by a 

 workman on an excellent drag to that celebrated 

 place of entertainment, and, after dining both wisely 

 and well, being safely deposited at the starting-point, 

 refreshed in body by the carefully considered hospi- 

 tality of your friend, and [elevated in mind by the 

 society of the ladies whom you have had the good 

 fortune to accompany. 



After such preliminary trials I felt a desire to 

 extend my flight ; and therefore, choosing a bright 

 and pleasant day, I repaired to the White Horse 

 Cellar, into which I dived, and was informed by the 

 brothers Banks, who conduct the booking-office busi- 

 ness, that I should be likely to have a good time of it 

 if I travelled to Portsmouth by the Rocket. I deter- 

 mined to be guided by the advice so pleasantly and 

 courteously given, and when the arrival of the coach 

 was heralded by the winding notes of the well- blown 

 horn, I determined to trust myself to the care of 

 that excellent whip and spirited proprietor. Captain 

 Hargreaves, and was soon bowling along Piccadilly 

 at a steady pace, passing Hyde Park Corner, down 

 the Brompton Road, over Fulham Bridge, through 

 the streets of Putney, better known now as the sub- 

 urban dormitory, being largely inhabited by profes- 

 sional men who only " come home to their tea,'' and 

 return to their avocations in the early morn. 



Then the breezy heath of Wimbledon is reached, 

 and we trot away at a merry pace through Kingston 

 Vale, with occasional glimpses of the rich verdure 

 and noble old trees of Richmond Park, stopping at 



