Non-Fiction > Books > London, 1878 - Inland voyage

Anhuerp to Boom, 5
gentleman with a staff and silver spectacles.
But Boom and its brickyards grew smokier and
shabbier with every minute; until a great
church with a clock, and a wooden bridge over
the river, indicated the central quarters of the
town.
Boom is not a nice place, and is only remark-
able for one thing : that the majority of the
inhabitants have a private opinion that they can
speak English, which is not justified by fact.
This gave a kind of haziness to our intercourse.
As for the Hotel de la Navigation, I think it is
the worst feature of the place. It boasts of a
sanded parlour, with a bar at one end, looking
on the street ; and another sanded parlour,
darker and colder, with an empty birdcage and
a tricolour subscription box by way of sole adorn-
ment, where we made shift to dine in the company
of three uncommunicative engineer apprentices
and a silent bagman. The food, as usual i>i