SOME PARTICULARS OF REMARKABLE OBJECTS AND PLACES
MENTIONED IN “THE TRIP.”
SECOND EDITION.
LIVERPOOL:
PRINTED BY E. SMITH AND CO. 75, LORD-STREET, AND SOLD BY THE BOOKSELLERS
1826.
[PRICE SIXPENCE.]
Liverpool.
J. S.
A TRIP TO THE CHAIN-BRIDGE, &c. &c.
I had never been in Wales beyond the border counties of Flint, Denbigh, and Montgomery, and was, of course, a stranger to the best scenery of the Principality. Business, however, required that I should visit some parts of the north-west, and as curiosity prompted me to see the new Chain-bridge over the straits of Menai, I determined upon commencing my trip from Liverpool by the Llewellyn steam-packet; and, accordingly, on Tuesday, the 26th July, about ten o’clock in the forenoon, I embarked on board that fine vessel, which was just on the point of weighing anchor. The river Mersey was a scene of general bustle, the liveliness of which was heightened by the brightness of the sun, and the beauty of a fleecy sky. A light breeze from the northward gave freshness to the air; every appearance was favourable to such an excursion as I had projected; and a goodly company, assembling on all parts of the vessel’s deck, indicated that “all the world and his wife” were in a rambling humour this summer. Amongst other objects on the river an arrival from Dublin suddenly attracted universal attention. A steam-ship came close past us with such a cargo as I never before beheld, although in the summer season there may be many such. There were probably between seven and eight hundred persons, chiefly Irish harvest-labourers, standing on the deck of the vessel, as closely packed as the crowd at a town meeting; and so much did this upper weight preponderate in the balance against the cargo (if any) below, that the vessel continually heeled, or swayed, from one side to the other to such a degree, that her gangway ladder at one moment touched a boat alongside, and at another arose out of the boatman’s reach. The crowd on board were alternately visible, as on an inclined plane, towards each shore, as if the vessel were proud of its miserable cargo, and was determined that the farmers both in Lancashire and Cheshire, should be apprized of the arrival of the poor reapers. It was an advertisement for them, free of duty. In a few minutes our engine commenced its herculean labours, and, amidst the exchange of kind wavings of the hand between us and our friends on shore, we began, not to sail, for we had no canvas extended, but, to use a sailor’s phrase, to “plough the deep.”