ty he had
been round the Ness Buoy and home again--a wonderful performance if, in
addition to his age, you remember the dangerous set of the currents
thereabouts.'

There is also a story, which comes to me from another quarter, of Borrow
skating upon the ice of Oulton Broad a few months before his death, and
remarking that he had not skated since he was in Russia. The following
passage from Mr. Baldrey's narrative is interesting as showing that
Borrow did not in later life quite lose sight of his birthplace:

'Apparently I interested him in some way, for twice while I was at
school at East Dereham he came over specially to take me out for the
afternoon. He had ascertained from my mother which were the school
half-holidays, and purposely chose those days so that I might be free.
We would start off at half-past twelve and return at bedtime. Where we
went I could not tell you for certain, but I know that once we went
through Scarning and once through Mattishall. What we talked about of
course I cannot recall, for I was then a boy between 13 and 15 years of
age, and I had no sort of inkling that my companion was even then a
celebrity and destined to be a still greater one in the future. But I do
remember that sometimes I could not get a word out of him for an hour or
more, and that then suddenly he would break out with all sorts of
questions. "I wonder if you can see what I can," he once remarked. "Do
you see that the gypsies have been here?" "No," I replied. "And you are
not likely to," said he. And then he would tell me no more. He was
rather prone to arouse one's curiosity and refuse to pursue the subject.
I do not mean that he was morose. Far from it. He was always very kind
to me. After I had left school and returned to Norwich he frequently
called for me and took me out with him. Once or twice I went with him to
Lowestoft.'

[258] One of them is entitled _The Present Crisis: The True Cause of Our
Indian Troubles_, by William MacOubrey of the Middle Temple. There are
also countless pamphlets in manuscript. MacOubrey was an enthusiastic
and indeed truculent upholder of the Act of Union.

[259] The farm referred to was Oulton Hall farm, often referred to as
Oulton Hall.

[260] Another letter from Miss Harvey, dated 1st August, is one of
sympathy, and there are passages in it that may well be taken to heart
when it is considered that Miss Harvey was the most intimate friend of
Borrow and his stepdaughter: