A TRIAL OF THE NEW " WATER.MEN'S FARES," OR THE
PLEASURES OF THE enames 011 A RADLY DAY.
HAVING occasion to pass from Westminster Abbey to that seat of the arts, Mr. Clowes's busy little town of letterpress and steam- engines, where we have the honour of being printed, in friendly conjunction with several of our most belligerent contemporaries, who, under the high-pressure Dower of the engine, quietly lay their heads together to receive their last impressions for the week on Saturday night—it occurred to us that this would be a good opportunity of trying the efficacy of the Watermeras Fares, in the theory of which a morning paper had just instructed us. Accord- ingly, observing at the foot of Westminster Bridge two official persons in red jackets, who signified their equal readiness to en- gage, we gave a signal for : the shorter and younger navi- gator caught the nod—both, however, instantly disappeared down the steps ; both prepared their boats ; both claimed the passenger, the old and tall red-coat because it was his turn, the second be- cause he had " plied the gentleman." The passenger was obliged to " shiver on the brink" until the fierce dispute sank into a grum- bling deference to order and the rights of precedence. This was but a bad beginning. From Bridge to Bridge it is ordained that " three pence" shall be paid for sculls, sixpence for oars : we had not pushed off before it appeared that our bony Charon had in- sinuated an apprentice into the boat—as no demur had been made, he was thus entitled to charge for "oars." Since a severe shower had begun to descend, anything .which promised speed was not to be objectedlo ; and at any rate, if we did not learn the price of" sculls," we should be enabled to ascertain that of" oars." Waterloo Bridge, which is nieh to the place of our destination, being reached, and the water being low, a landing proved almost impracticable ; and when attained, it was made on a yielding sandy bog, intersected by diverse gullies of black water, which, from their odour, maybe fearlessly denominated common sewers. After we had waded about for some time under the guidance of the red- jacketed boatman, and a breechless urchin who called himself " Jack" and begged to be remembered, a passage was at length pronounced impossible. There was no refuge but the boat once more, and the boat was recovered in a still pelting shower. Some other point was to be made : this proved to be Mr. Lett's yard, as it was called—a place near Blackfriars' Bridge, which led us to the de- sired quarter, at the simple expense of climbing up a boat ashore, and slipping over a series of inclined logs of wood stretching from the timber-yard to the river. On ourfirst attempt to get out at the Bridge, an intention of paying according to the new regulations had been demonstrated, and a consequent change had been made in the wa- . terman's temper : his wrath grew black as the sky ; he loitered in the shower, as if to show us the impotence of regulation-makers ; and beguiled the time with curses not loud but deep: he expressed several hearty evil wishes upon all persons who interfered in what they did not understand—gave it as his opinion that regulation- makers were " obligated to keep all they starved," that rules were only made to injure the poor, and, in short, until we had a " good revolution" in the country there would be no living. " Look)", said he, " at me : here have I been from six in the morning till now (two. o'clock) at those stairs, and have not earned a ftalf- penny." He undoubtedly looked very hungry. "Look," said he, " at the numbers of watermen: how are we all to get bread ?" It certainly struck us that some regulation ought to have been added respecting the increase of these numbers by limiting the allowance of apprentices ; but feeling very certain that the new regulations were not likely to save us from paying just as much as before, and that perhaps any other would be equally inefficacious, we silently paid the old exorbitant fare, (for the red-coat would not he brought to a lower charge than "what you please",) we scrambled to our appointment, very wet and very late, through Mr. Lett's emporium for timber.
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