We were now in what was formerly called Flanders, the Austrians possessing the larger part with this city for their capital; the French, the south-west, comprising Lisle and Dunkirk; and the Dutch, the north-east, with the strong fortress of Sluys.
On the following morning we breakfasted at seven o’clock, and, after taking a short walk into the town, set off for the barge to Bruges, which lay at a considerable distance from the hotel, and starts at nine o’clock in the morning. The day was unfavourable; it blew hard, and we had frequent showers of rain; however, we were better situated for these gales than had we been in the packet midway between Ostend and Margate. Between twelve and one o’clock, a better dinner was placed before us, than I had met with at any table d’hôte in France, Germany, or the Low Countries, and the wine was universally praised. I certainly had as good a pint of Burgundy as I had met with on the continent, for which, with my dinner, and the fare for thirty miles’ journey, including the conveyance of baggage, I was only charged seven francs and a half. Our dinner concluded with a magnificent dessert; we had more baskets of peaches than we could make use of, grapes (the first I had met with this season), and abundance of the more common fruits. We arrived at Bruges at half-past three, and, without tarrying, immediately traversed the city to the barge for Ostend, on a canal at the opposite side of it. All I know of this place is, that we walked through the town for nearly two miles before we reached the boat.
Our barge from Bruges, as well as our party, was much smaller than the one we had travelled with from Ghent; soon after seven o’clock we arrived at Sas van Ghent, a small village, about a mile from Ostend, where we rested a few minutes, after which we proceeded into the town, when about eight o’clock I reached the Wellington hotel, an inn conveniently situated for the custom-house, and the packets sailing to and from England, and which has been established by an Englishman, lately the head waiter from Nicholson’s hotel.
On our arrival at Ostend we found two packets intending to sail for England, a private one for Margate and London, on the following day, and a government one for Dover on the succeeding day to that; those to whom time is of importance, however, unless a vessel is on the point of sailing from hence, and the wind favourable, will do well to take the barge to Dunkirk, and travel from that place to Calais by the diligence.
On the Friday the wind was unfavourable, and we had nothing to do but amuse ourselves as we pleased; in the morning we walked about the town, and in the evening visited again the village of Sas van Ghent, with the object of examining Paren’s museum, which, as the sole collection of a humble individual, the proprietor of a small inn at this place, is by no means contemptible. He had great variety of land and sea animals, several of the former coming under the head of lusus naturæ. No remuneration is expected for seeing his curiosities; but we could not do less than take refreshment at his house of business; and I presented him with a small piece of Mosaic work which I had brought from Rome, with which he appeared highly pleased, never having seen any before. On returning to our hotel we found the captain intending to sail at midnight, and therefore we did not go to-bed until we ascertained that he had abandoned this intention.
On Saturday the morning was delightful, and the wind favourable; at one o’clock, a.m. we took leave of the town and harbour of Ostend, in the Fox packet, commanded by Captain Fox, with whom I engaged to be landed at Margate. The Dover packet immediately followed, but soon steered a more westerly course. The wind, at first fresh, gradually decreased until midnight, when it became calm, and the weather foggy. At day-break a slight breeze sprung up; at eleven o’clock the fog cleared off; we found ourselves close under the North Foreland; and at twelve myself and a few other passengers were put on board a lugger, which soon landed us upon the pier of Margate.
The indescribable delight with which I hailed my native land, after so long an absence, was not a little enhanced by the general improvement my health had experienced; the restoration of which, had formed one of my leading motives for undertaking the journey.
On a retrospective view of the various incidents and circumstances to which I had been exposed, I found no reason to think that my tour had been defective in interest, or that I had returned without commensurate advantages. Amongst other results, I felt enabled to contrast the advantages of our happy isle, with the less substantial comforts, and more specious characters, of its continential neighbours, and to appreciate its superiority; an inference, which, should it be deemed erroneous or unphilosophical, I am proud to attribute to that spirit of patriotism, which ought to pervade every human bosom, and like the magnetic influence, incline its affections to their native pole.
“Such is the patriot’s boast! where’er we roam,
His first, best country, ever is at home.”