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

14 An Inland Voyage,
There is not enough exercise in such a life
for any high measure of health ; but a high
measure of health is only necessary for un-
healthy people. The slug of a fellow, who is
never ill nor well, has a quiet time of it in life,
and dies all the easier.
I am sure I would rather be a bargee than
occupy any position under Heaven that required
attendance at an office. There are few callings,
I should say, where a man gives up less of his
liberty in return for regular meals. The bargee
is on shipboard — he is master in his own ship —
he can land whenever he will — he can never
be kept beating off a lee-shore a whole frosty
night when the sheets are as hard as iron ;
and so far as I can make out, time stands as
nearly still with him as is compatible with
the return of bed-time or the dinner-hour. It
is not easy to see why a bargee should ever
die.