NEXT morning, when we set forth on the Willebroek Canal, the rain began heavy andchill. The water of the canal stood at about the drinking temperature of tea; and under thiscold aspersion, the surface was covered with steam. The exhilaration of departure, and theeasy motion of the boats under each stroke of the paddles, supported us through thismisfortune while it lasted; and when the cloud passed and the sun came out again, ourspirits went up above the range of stay-at-home humours. A good breeze rustled andshivered in the ...
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NEXT morning, when we set forth on the Willebroek Canal, the rain began heavy andchill. The water of the canal stood at about the drinking temperature of tea; and under thiscold aspersion, the surface was covered with steam. The exhilaration of departure, and theeasy motion of the boats under each stroke of the paddles, supported us through thismisfortune while it lasted; and when the cloud passed and the sun came out again, ourspirits went up above the range of stay-at-home humours. A good breeze rustled andshivered in the rows of trees that bordered the canal. The leaves flickered in and out of thelight in tumultuous masses. It seemed sailing weather to eye and ear; but down betweenthe banks, the wind reached us only in faint and desultory puffs. There was hardly enoughto steer by. Progress was intermittent and unsatisfactory. A jocular person, of marineantecedents, hailed us from the tow-path with a 'C'est vite, mais c'est long.'The canal was busy enough. Every now and then we met or overtook a long string of boats, with great green tillers; high sterns with a window on either side of the rudder, andperhaps a jug or a flower-pot in one of the windows; a dinghy following behind; a womanbusied about the day's dinner, and a handful of children. These barges were all tied onebehind the other with tow ropes, to the number of twenty-five or thirty; and the line washeaded and kept in motion by a steamer of strange construction. It had neither paddlewheel nor screw; but by some gear not rightly comprehensible to the unmechanical mind, it fetched up over its bow a small bright chain which lay along the bottom of the canal, andpaying it out again over the stern, dragged itself forward, link by link, with its wholeretinue of loaded skows. Until one had found out the key to the enigma, there wassomething solemn and uncomfortable in the progress of one of these trains, as it movedgently along the water with nothing to mark its advance but an eddy alongside dying awayinto the wake.Of all the creatures of commercial enterprise, a canal barge is by far the most delightful toconsider. It may spread its sails, and then you see it sailing high above the tree-tops andthe windmill, sailing on the aqueduct, sailing through the green corn-lands: the mostpicturesque of things amphibious. Or the horse plods along at a foot-pace as if there wereno such thing as business in the world; and the man dreaming at the tiller sees the samespire on the horizon all day long. It is a mystery how things ever get to their destination atthis rate; and to see the barges waiting their turn at a lock, affords a fine lesson of howeasily the world may be taken. There should be many contented spirits on board, for such alife is both to travel and to stay at hom
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PLEASE NOTE, WE DO NOT SHIP TO DENMARK. New Book. Shipped from UK in 4 to 14 days. Established seller since 2000. Please note we cannot offer an expedited shipping service from the UK.
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PLEASE NOTE, WE DO NOT SHIP TO DENMARK. New Book. Shipped from UK in 4 to 14 days. Established seller since 2000. Please note we cannot offer an expedited shipping service from the UK.
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PLEASE NOTE, WE DO NOT SHIP TO DENMARK. New Book. Shipped from UK in 4 to 14 days. Established seller since 2000. Please note we cannot offer an expedited shipping service from the UK.
