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

2 2 An Inland Voyage.
joined In the talk. They were all very polite,
voluble and enthusiastic ; and their discourse
was interlarded with English boating terms,
and the names of English boat-builders and
English clubs. I do not know, to my shame, any
spot in my native land where I should have
been so warmly received by the same number
of people. We were English boating-men,
and the Belgian boating-men fell upon our
necks. I wonder if French Huguenots were
as cordially greeted by English Protestants
v/hen they came across the Channel out of great
tribulation. But after all, what religion knits
people so closely as a common sport .''
The canoes were carried into the boat-house ;
they were washed down for us by the Club
servants, the sails were hung out to dry, and
everything made as snug and tidy as a picture.
And in the meanwhile we were led upstairs by
our new-found brethren, for so more than one of