MONTHLY 
THE 
MAGAZINE. 
No. 84. 
MARCH 1, 1802. 
{ No.2, of Vox. 13. 
ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. 
For the Monthly Magazine. 
LETTERS curitten during an EXCURSION 
through FRANCE 10 GENEVA. 
LETTER I. 
Calais, Nov. 26, 1801. 
ERE we are, my dear Friend, en- 
i. joying ourfelves over a good fire 
at tne Hotel of M. Ducrocg, after a fhort 
pallage, and to thofe who mind not the 
motion of a veffel at fea, I dare fay, a 
very pleafant one: in this number I can- 
not eurol myfelf.. To {peak honeftly, 
*¢ I did’nt much like for to be a-board a thip, 
Where in danger there’s no door to creep 
out, 5 
J liked the jolly tars, I liked bumbo and’ 
phlip, 
But I didnt like rocking about— 
No-—-I did’nt like rocking about.” 
In fhort, I foon became very fick, and 
continued fo till we reached fhore, which 
was peculiarly welcome to us all, as the 
negligence of the harbour-mafter had 
brought us into fome little danger. When 
we had come within about a league of 
Calais, as the harbour-flag was flying— 
a fignal that there was water enough to 
admit us—our captain ftéered for, port, 
and we were prefently alarmed by feeling 
the veffel ftrike againft the ground ; this 
fhock was repeated fo frequently and 
with fuch violence, that we could not 
make the harbour, and really felt fome 
apprehenfion for our perfonal fafety, till 
two or three boats rowed from the fhore 
and took us in!* As we landed all fafe 
and found, however, wé had no reafon to 
quarrel with the harbour-mafter for his 
remiffnefs: had he Jowered his flag when 
he ought to have done, half of us, half 
dead with ficknefs, we fhould have been 
tofling about all night at fea. And a 
very blowing night it was ; ‘the veffel was 
in fo much danger that the captain was 
odliged to unfhip all his ballaft, and the 
Cuftom-houfe-officers thought proper to 
fend boats and carts, and have the luggage 
taken out of her, not daring to ‘leave it 
during the night. 
Atter pitching for a fhort time in the 
little boat that releafed us from the veffel, 
we landed, Hibernicé, on board a fhip 
which lay-to in the harbour, and where 
we were detained, on deck, crowded to- 
MonTHLx Maa, No, 84 
gether in a dark night, and. amidft a 
pouring rain, for about half an hour, till 
le Commiffaire de la Police, or fome one of 
. his executive inferiors, made his appear- | 
ance, and allowed us to a(cend the ladder’ 
which firft placed our feet on French 
ground. We were immediately conducted 
to the Cuftom-houfe, where, to our alto- 
nifhment, we were ufhered into a large 
faloon, in which were about forty mufical 
amateurs ftanding in acircle, each with 
his {eparate inftrument, defk, and candle. 
All hufhed when we made our appear- 
ance, and we walked to the upper end of 
the room, where a Cuftom-houfe-officer, 
probably of fome eminence in his -pro- 
feffion, fat ata. cloth-covered table 
and examined ovr paffports. We were 
then direéted into another {mall room, 
-where four or five menial officers examined . 
or rather fhuffied over our pockets to find 
any letters or contraband goods which we 
might have about us: they were probably 
not difappointed in finding none. : 
After having received our. verdi&t of 
acquittal from this jury of invyeftigation, 
we were conduéted through the lightlefs 
ftreets of Calais toour hotel, where a good 
night’s reft almoft obliterated even the 
remembrance of my ficknefs. Calais is 
a well-fortified, large, ‘dirty-looking 
town, very different in- appearance from 
any in England. ‘The houfes, which are 
built with a grey-coloured ftene, are; ge- 
nerally fpeaking, very large and very 
lofty, the ftreets are tolerably wide, and 
the pavement is like that of London, ex- 
cept, by the bye, that here are no flag~ 
ftones for the accommodation of walkers. 
But the moft prominent difference between 
the appearance of Calais and any, even 
the fmalleft provincial, town in England 
is, that our towns, you know, abound 
with lively-looking fhops of various forts, 
fuch as thofe for cutlery, hofiery, grocery, | 
drapery, &c. &c. and contain, moreover, 
two orthree, at leaft, genteel houfes, dif- 
tinguifhable from the reft: Calais, on 
the contrary, has a monotonous and {pi- 
ritlefs appearance, being entirely dettitute 
of any fhowy and eye-catching fhop, and 
not having any houfe which, from its ex 
terior, would ftrike you as belonging to 
the parfon, the Jawyer, the furgeon, or 
the "fquire. I wifh youhbad been with 
P _ug 
~ 
