no room in, and so, through
respectable Helstone, remarkable for a florid Gothic arch erected
to some modern worthy of the town, to decent Penryn, and then by
midnight, to the narrowest of all towns, Falmouth. I longed to get
back to my darlings, and resolved to see them by next morning, so
booked an outside (no room inside, as before) for an immediate
start. Now, you can readily imagine that I was by no means hot, and
though the night of Thursday last was rather mild, still it was
midwinter: accordingly I conceived and executed a marvellous
calorificating plan, which even the mail-coachman had never heard
of. Haying comforted my interiors with hot grog of the stiffest, I
called for another shillingsworth of brandy, and deliberately
emptied it, to the astonished edification of beholders, into my
boots! literal fact, and it kept my feet comfortable all night
long. And so, wrapped all in double clothing, sped I my rapid way,
varying what I had before seen by passing through desolate Bodmin,
and its neighbourhood of rock, moor, and sand: hot coffee at
Liskeard, morning broke soon after, then the glorious sun over the
sea. Hamoaze, the ferry, and Devonport at 1/2 past 8. Much as I
longed to get home, I went forthwith into a hot bath at 102, to
boil out all chills, and thence went spick and span to my happy
rest, having within 48 hours seen the best part of Cornwall and its
wonders, and rode or walked 250 miles. And so, brother David,
commend me for a traveller. HERE ends my Cornish
expedition. Does it recall to thee, O sire, thine own of old time,
undertaken (if I remember rightly) with Dr. Kidd?--Mails then did
not travel like the Quicksilver, averaging 12 miles an hour, and
few people go 40 miles before breakfast. Now, I feel able to get
nearer my Albury destination, and in a week or so, shall hope to be
residing at Dorchester, near the Blandford of paternal
recollections. Did you, dear mother, get a letter from me directed
to Albury? I hope so, for it sets all clear: and if not, I'll set
the nation against cheap postage. I don't feel the least confidence
now in the Post Office, forasmuch as they have no interest in a
letter after it is paid, and many will be mislaid from haste and
multiplicity. Please to say if it came safely to hand, as I judge