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

On the Willebroek Canal. 13
man dreaming at the tiller sees the same spire
on the horizon all day long. It is a mystery
how things ever get to their destination at this
rate ; and to see the barges waiting their turn
at a lock, affords a fine lesson of how easily the
world may be taken. There should be many
contented spirits on board, for such a life is
both to travel and to stay at home.
The chimney smokes for dinner as you go
along ; the banks of the canal slowly unroll their
scenery to contemplative eyes ; the barge floats
by great forests and through great cities with
their public buildings and their lamps at night ;
and for the bargee, in his floating home, " tra-
velling abed/' it is merely as if he were listening
to another man's story or turning the leaves of
a picture book in which he had no concern.
He may take his afternoon walk in some foreign
country on the banks of the canal, and then
come home to dinner at his own fire-side.