3542 Notices of New Books : 



and dreariness of this vast expanse of fen, and for the wet which we 

 had to encounter: I shelter from the storm, and find Spargauium sim- 

 plex : I hasten on again and overtake my friend, who scorned any 

 remedy against the weather. I find him, however, nearly exhausted, 

 when an unlucky slip brings him to the ground, and soils his travel- 

 ling leathers ; however, we at length reach Horsey Bridge, where our 

 vehicle awaits us. We pass Stanground Field ; upon nearing Peter- 

 borough, a vast expanse of water suddenly opens upon us ; a boy 

 bawls to us, ' Sir, Sir, if you go through there your horse will be up 

 to his belly.' For sixpence I get a shoemaker to conduct my weary 

 friend across, while I go round by a causeway, and after losing my 

 way I at length reach my vehicle in safety. I remount, smack my 

 whip, and my horse sets off in a good trot, and we reach Peterborough 

 about eight o'clock. Four hours and a half carried us seven miles and 

 a half! ! ! Arrive at the Angel wet and weary, and my friend sends 

 for a glover to see if he can get a new pair of small-clothes, but in 

 vain ; we drink tea, and then sup with appetites undiminished by fa- 

 tigue, and to bed about twelve." — P. 92. 



Apropos to this we have a kindred anecdote of the journalist him- 

 self. Being invited to dine with Sir Thomas Cullum, our excellent 

 friend thought he would improve the opportunity by entomologizing 

 on the road; and accordingly equipped his nether man in leather, as 

 a suitable protection against casualties of wet, mud and brambles ; 

 taking care, however, to send, by a trusty hand, a pair of the most 

 immaculate clerical inexpressibles, in which to appear before the la- 

 dies at the dinner-table. The parcel containing them duly arrived, 

 and the butler, supposing it to contain plants, immediately handed it 

 over to the gardener, who forthwith judiciously selected a corner in an 

 old uncovered cucumber-frame, and, as he expressed it, " laid it in by 

 the heels." Shower followed shower in rapid succession ; Mr. Kirby 

 got drenched to the skin, and he arrived, especially about the legs, in 

 most unpresentable pickle : still, he reflected with satisfaction on his 

 provident foresight, and asked, his countenance irradiate with smiles, 

 for the small brown paper parcel he had so carefully transmitted. But 

 alas ! what was his mortification, when he received it dripping from 

 the hands of the servant ; — when he found that his best black smalls 

 had been exposed to the same skyey influences as himself, and that it 

 was quite impossible to wear them ! He was consequently compelled 

 to borrow of Sir Thomas the required garment, and actually to appear 

 at the dinner-table in the coloured nether integuments of a layman. 

 But to return to the journal. 



