ut of their way. I shall not forget the
remark made by a skipper on board a large steamer, when I was on my way
to pay a visit to some friends in Edinburgh. We ran stem on into a
schooner, which sank immediately; and although I hurried forward I was
only in time to see her masts disappear. `Serves them right!' exclaimed
the skipper, who was like myself a passenger. `Serves them right; they
should have kept a brighter lookout!' The poor fellows managed to
scramble on board and to save their lives."

A short distance further we came off Walton-on-the-Naze, the "Naze"
being a nose or promontory, with the sea on one side and a shallow
backwater on the other. We had to keep a bright lookout while standing
across the mouth of the Thames, having nearly a dozen steamers in sight
gliding swiftly along, and sailing vessels of all sizes, from the
magnificent Indiaman, or Australian merchant-ship, of a thousand or more
tons, down to the little coaster, measuring no more than forty or fifty;
while yachts with sails white as snow were darting hither and thither.
Besides these, there were not a few barges with yellow or tanned sails,
coming out of the numerous estuaries to the north of the river, some
even bound round the North Foreland, their deep weather-boards enabling
them to beat to windward in a way which, considering their build, at
first looks surprising. We agreed that we should not like to go to sea
on board one of them, laden almost to the gunwale, so that the water
must wash over their decks; but the fact is, they are completely
battened down, and are like casks; so that the only place the sea can
get into is the little cabin aft, or the forepeak, in which the crew,
consisting of a couple of men and a boy, are compelled to live. The
wind holding fair, we passed the North Foreland, standing out boldly
into the sea; then sighted Broadstairs and Ramsgate. We ran inside of
the ill-famed Goodwin Sands, and came to an anchor in the Downs off the
low sandy beach of Deal.

The town extends a considerable way along the shore, and a fine pier
runs off from it. At the south end is a castle in a good state of
repair, although it would be more picturesque if it were a ruin. About
a mile further to the south we saw Walmer Castle, where the Lord Warden
of the Cinque Ports resides. It was here that the Duke of Wellington
spent the latter days of his life. We went on shore, and had a good
deal of talk with some of those magni