A great point to remember is, that the possessors of the Broads set as much store by their bulrushes and water lilies as the admiring visitor; therefore, do not gather any off the Broads. All flowers and grasses which grow in such luxuriance by the riverside, within the river wall, or the three yards from the river margin where the navigator has an indefeasible right, may as well be gathered for pleasure as die and rot. Here there is abundance for everyone; but to penetrate into quiet nooks of Broads and help oneself to other people’s valued property, is an indefensible act, which by oft repetition has much irritated owners against the public. It is in this respect also that visitors from a distance are most prone to err, because, without reflection, it appears that no harm is done. Nor would there be much harm in a single instance, but “many a little makes a mickle.”
As a general rule, visitors from a distance behave exceedingly well, being educated persons with a due sense of law and order. The bottle shooters, coot potters, and noisy revellers, the swan’s egg robbers and grebe destroyers, the persons who use one’s boat-houses as luncheon rooms or dust bins are, unfortunately, home products. Of course, I hear of all offences that are committed, and by some people I am actually saddled with the responsibility of any breach of good manners on the part of the public, because I am supposed to have brought the latter to the Broads. I therefore beg the large unknown public (of whose friendliness to me as an author I have had so many proofs), when they visit the Broads, not to allow the exhilaration of an enjoyable holiday to interfere with a due propriety of behaviour.
The hitherto unwritten rules of the Rivers and Broads are these:—
Do not, in the neighbourhood of other yachts or houses, indulge in songs and revelry after eleven p.m., even at regatta times.
Bathe only before eight o’clock in the morning, if in sight of other vessels or moored in a frequented part of the river. Ladies are not expected to turn out before eight, but after that time they are entitled to be free from any annoyance. Young men who lounge in a nude state on boats while ladies are passing (and I have known Norwich youths to do this) may be saluted with dust shot, or the end of a quant.
Adhere strictly to the rule of the road when boating, according to the instructions contained in a subsequent chapter, and when angling, moor out of the way of sailing craft, as afterwards explained.
Do not throw straw or paper overboard to float to leeward and become offensive; but burn, or take care to sink all rubbish.
Do not light fires, place stoves, or throw refuse on the banks in the path of others, whose yachts may be moored to the same bank.
Steam launches must not run at full speed past yachts moored to the bank, particularly when the occupants of the latter have things spread out for a meal.
Don’t take guns on board unless you have leave to shoot on somebody’s land.