53.
Gravesend—Shipping waiting for the Tide.
54.
Sunset near Gravesend.
55.
The same ten minutes later.
Let us now go back to our steamer. The tide turns, and we leave Gravesend, passing slowly up the river towards London. The scene is often very animated at Gravesend, as several score of vessels, great and small, get up their anchors and begin to move with the running stream. Sometimes as you look westward up the Thames in the evening, the light in the sky is magnificent, for the clouds are dense with smoke. You must remember that this city of 7,000,000 people has a cold winter, and each room has a place for a fire to keep its inhabitants warm. By good fortune we have been able to photograph such a sunset from the hill above Gravesend. Do you see the river shining on the dark ground below? Here is the same sunset taken ten minutes later. These two slides have not been painted with a brush according to an artist’s imagination, they have been photographed in colour, and they are absolutely true in their effect.
56.
Arrival in Dock.
57.
Welcome on Deck.
58.
Landing.
59.
Steamers in Dock.
At last we enter one of the docks which receive ships from the river at high tide. The dock gates are closed behind us, so that when the tide falls in the river our steamer will remain afloat beside the wharf. We see here the great vessel being pushed slowly into her berth by steam tugs which were waiting for her. And here we have a scene on deck when the gangways have been opened to the shore, and friends have come on board to welcome our British fellow-passengers, many of them returning home after years of absence. Now we set foot on land, and run by train past miles of houses until we come into the centre of the vast city, and reach our hotel. Meantime the captain of the ship and the crew have gone to their homes, and the great ship lies at rest in the dock—silent after her long voyage.