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travelled in it was, & nice & clean & softly cushioned as one could wish. The canal continues very wide; the banks rise green & high on each side & the country is prettier as we recede from the coast. The excellent dinner was served by a red nosed steward, & after 7½ hours very pleasant easy travelling (9½ to 5) of a distance of 28 miles we arrived at Ghent. An old & fashionable lady of Bruges afforded us some fun. Altho the day was very warm, she would have most of the windows closed; we cheated her whenever she left the cabin by opening them, but she retorted by having them closed, till at last, we shut down every one, closed the door & leaving her in her oven, could hardly get up stairs for laughing.

The fare by the barge, our dinner & wine of Tours (which is sweet & pleasant like our own grape wine) cost 5/- each only. This is cheapness.

Ghent is a much more important town than Bruges some say & consequently less triste. The houses are better larger & more modern though there is a great prevalence of the step formed & scroll gables. The Place d’Armes in which our hotel is situated is a magnificent square, planted with trees in its centre.

We visited the Beguinage & at Vespers service too. Five hundred nuns in black dresses with white head drapes & a tablecloth disposed gracefully over their heads like a veil – all kneeling in their chapel while the organ & an

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