hat I saw were standing against boxes
eating--perhaps corn.

I am surprised that the Gipsies should choose such an exposed, damp place
for camping-ground, as it is always partly under water, and the only
shelter afforded being a few houses at the back and one side; the rest
faces, and is consequently exposed to, the bleak winds blowing over the
marsh and the river.

At the entrance I was met by a poor woman taking a child to the doctor,
her chief dread being that if she did not the law would be down upon her.
She had put the journey off to the last minute, for the poor thing looked
nearly dead then.

Once in the camp one could not but notice the miserable appearance of the
place. Women and children, not one of whom could read and write, with
scarcely any clothing, the latter without shoes or stockings. Twenty to
twenty-five old, ragged, and dirty tents--not canvas, but old, worn-out
blankets--separated by the remains of old broken vans, buckets, and
rubbish that must have taken years to accumulate. Everything betokened
age and poverty. Evidently this field has been a camping-ground for some
years. Three old vans were all the place could boast of, and one of
those was made out of a two-wheeled cart.

I was for the first ten minutes fully occupied in trying to keep a
respectable distance from a number of dogs of all sizes and breeds, which
had the usual appetite for fresh meat and tweed trowsering, and, at the
same time, endeavouring in vain to find solid ground upon which to stand,
for the place at the entrance and all round the tents was one regular
mass of deep "slush." It soon became known that my pockets were
plentifully supplied with half-ounces of tobacco and sweets. These I
soon disposed off, especially the latter, for there seemed no end to the
little bare-footed children that could walk, and those that couldn't were
brought in turn by their sisters or brothers. I was invited to visit all
the tents, but I could gain but little information beyond an account of
the severe winter, bad state of trade, your visit in one of the black,
dense fogs, &c.

[Picture: Inside a Christian Gipsy's Van--Mrs. Simpson's]

The men followed the occupation of either tinkers or peg-makers, and all
the young women will pull out their pipe and ask for tobacco as readily
as the old ones.

The camp is one of the Lees. The majority of the men, women, and
children are of light complexion, and, as for a dark-eyed beau