254 



WANDERINGS IN 



Fourth uiidei' a great mistake in suspecting that I should ever 



Journey. 



meet with tliem. 



I wished to join in the dance where the fair Albanese 

 was " to brisk notes in cadence beating," but the state 

 of my unlucky foot rendered it impossible ; and as I sat 

 with it reclined upon a sofa, full many a passing gentle- 

 man stopped to inquire the cause of my misfortune, 

 presuming at the same time that I had got an attack of 

 gout. Now this surmise of theirs always mortified me ; 

 for I never had a fit of gout in my life, and, moreover, 

 never expect to have one. 



In many of the inns in the United States, there is an 

 album on the table, in which travellers insert their 

 arrival and departure, and now and then indulge in a 

 little flash or two of wit. 



1 thought, under existing circumstances, that there 

 would be no harm in briefly telling my misadventure ; 

 and so, taking up the pen, I wrote what follows ; and 

 was never after asked a single question about the gout. 



" C. Waterton, of Walton-hall, in the county of York, 

 England, arrived at the falls of Niagara, in July, 1824, 

 and begs leave to pen down the following dreadful 

 accident : — 



" He sprained his foot, and hurt his toe. 

 On the rough road near Buffalo. 

 It quite distresses him to stagger a- 

 Long tlie sharp rocks of famed Niagara. 



