October 11th.--We all left London on Sunday morning, between ten and
eleven, from the Waterloo station, and arrived in Southampton about two,
without meeting with anything very remarkable on the way. We put up at
Chapple's Castle Hotel, which is one of the class styled "commercial,"
and, though respectable, not such a one as the nobility and gentry
usually frequent. I saw little difference in the accommodation, except
that young women attended us instead of men,--a pleasant change. It was
a showery day, but J----- and I walked out to see the shore and the town
and the docks, and, if possible, the ship in which S----- was to sail.
The most noteworthy object was the remains of an old castle, near the
water-side; the square, gray, weed grown, weird keep of which shows some
modern chimney-pots above its battlements, while remaining portions of
the fortress are made to seem as one of the walls for coal-depots, and
perhaps for small dwellings. The English characteristically patch new
things into old things in this manner, materially, legally,
constitutionally, and morally. Walking along the pier, we observed some
pieces of ordnance, one of which was a large brass cannon of Henry
VIII.'s time, about twelve feet long, and very finely made. The bay of
Southampton presents a pleasant prospect, and I believe it is the great
rendezvous of the yacht-club. Old and young seafaring people were
strolling about, and lounging at corners, just as they do on Sunday
afternoons in the minor seaports of America.
From the shore we went up into the town, which is handsome, and of a
cheerful aspect, with streets generally wide and well paved,--a cleanly
town, not smoke-begrimed. The houses, if not modern, are, at least with
few exceptions, new fronted. We saw one relic of antiquity,--a fine
mediaeval gateway across the principal street, much more elevated than
the gates of Chester, with battlements at the top, and a spacious
apartment over the great arch for the passage of carriages, and the
smaller one on each side for foot-passengers. There were two statues in
armor or antique costume on the hither side of the gateway, and two old
paintings on the other. This, so far as I know, is the only remnant of
the old wall of Southampton.
On Monday the morning was bright, alternating with a little showeriness.
U----, J-----, and I went into the town to do some shopping before the
steamer should sail; and a little after twelve we drove down to the dock.
The Madeira is a pleasant-looking ship enough, not very large, but
accommodating, I believe, about seventy passengers. We looked at my
wife's little stateroom, with its three berths for herself and the two
children; and then sat down in the saloon, and afterwards on deck, to
spend the irksome and dreary hour or two before parting. Many of the
passengers seemed to be Portuguese, undersized, dark, mustachioed people,
smoking cigars. John Bull was fairly represented too. . . . U---- was
cheerful, and R----- seemed anxious to get off. Poor Fanny was
altogether cast down, and shed tears, either from regret at leaving her
native land, or dread of sea-sickness, or general despondency, being a
person of no spring of spirits. I waited till the captain came on board,
--a middle-aged or rather elderly man, with a sensible expression, but,
methought, with a hard, cold eye, to whom I introduced my wife,
recommending her to his especial care, as she was unattended by any
gentleman; and then we thought it best to cut short the parting scene.
So we bade one another farewell; and, leaving them on the deck of the
vessel, J----- and I returned to the hotel, and, after dining at the
table d'hote, drove down to the railway. This is the first great
parting that we have ever had.
It was three o'clock when we left Southampton. In order to get to
Worcester, where we were to spend the night, we strode, as it were, from
one line of railway to another, two or three times, and did not arrive at
our journey's end till long after dark.
At Worcester we put ourselves into the hands of a cabman, who drove us to
the Crown Hotel,--one of the old-fashioned hotels, with an entrance
through an arched passage, by which vehicles were admitted into the
inn-yard, which has also an exit, I believe, into another street. On one
side of the arch was the coffee-room, where, after looking at our
sleeping-chambers on the other side of the arch, we had some cold
pigeon-pie for supper, and for myself a pint of ale.
It should be mentioned, that, in the morning, before embarking S----- and
the children on board the steamer, I saw a fragment of a rainbow among
the clouds, and remembered the old adage bidding "sailors take warning."
In the afternoon, as J----- and I were railing from Southampton, we saw
another fragmentary rainbow, which, by the same adage, should be the
"sailor's delight." The weather has rather tended to confirm the first
omen, but the sea-captains tell me that the steamer must have gone beyond
the scope of these winds.