4 
Visit to London. 
land. Just then those who were already sentenced to transportation 
were being taken ashore to work in the Royal Dock-yards. 
12. My next surroundings also kept me busy, for Greenwich dipped 
out of the mass of delightful country houses, out of the dense enclos- 
ure of autumn-tinted gardens, above a regular forest of chimneys reach- 
ing the skies, while the world-famed mistress of the erstwhile dominant 
lode-stone, the Greenwich Observatory, rose on the thickly foliaged hill 
of Greenwich Park ; the most beautiful building in England sit- 
uate on the bank, the large Naval Hospital founded by William of 
Orange and opened in 1705, hid a portion of the comfortable-looking 
township. 
Id. Hardly had we got past this than Deptford, now almost within 
reach of the tentacles of London, spread itself out before us with its 
old ships, wharves and timber yards of the Royal Marine where once 
upon a time Peter the Great served his apprenticeship. 
11. Every turn of the paddle-wheel of the easy-going engine bore 
me on to ever increasing hurry and scurry; a real forest of masts with 
the colours of all the trading nations of the world gaily floating in the 
morning breeze, indicated the presence of docks on both sides of the 
banks, from which a number of small boats were rowing up stream and 
down stream in all directions, some bringing passengers and goods from 
ship to shore while a number of others were conveying them in furious 
haste from shore to ship. 
15. While contemplating this busy harbour life we arrived at the 
anchorage of the “Giraffe” which happened to be immediately opposite 
the Custom House, when our luggage was immediately taken possession 
of by its officers and brought into the building. 
lti. Closely intent upon the next minute when 1 was to make my 
entrance into the capital of the civilized world, the outside of wlncn 
had already wrought such a powerful impression on me, I strode light- 
ly at my brother’s side towards our lodgings which, through the kind- 
ness of Mr. Shilling law, the Librarian of the Royal Geographical Society, 
had been engaged for us in Golden Square. 
17. A detailed description of this immense area erf houses with all 
its life and strife, its everlasting excitement, its racing and chasing 
after a goal, its bright and blinding lights, and still more dismal shad- 
ows, its palaces to which His Lordship who has been dining out and 
dining well, hies back in gorgeous equipage at night, and its dark and 
dirty streets along which enervated Vice sneaks like a wandering skel- 
eton at break of day — in short, a description of London, the present-day 
City of the Seven Hills, lies beyond the scope of v liat I am attempting 
in this work. 
IS. Our departure from London was delayed longer than we had 
anticipated, owing to my brother finding his preparations being far from 
as advanced as he expected; this however afforded me an opportunity of 
getting to know the City better, both in its outer and inner bearings. 
The Tower and St. Paul's have been described long ago, Westminster 
Abbey has already secured more than one monograph, and every “Guide 
in and around London” contains sufficient information about Somerset 
House, Whitehall, the Admiralty, Horse Guards, Westminster Hall, and 
