The Foreign Tour of Messrs. Brown, Jones and Robinson Being the History of What They Saw, and Did, in Belgium, Germany, Switzerland & Italy.

Excerpt

AFTER A ROUGH PASSAGE, BROWN, JONES, AND ROBINSON ARE HERE SEEN LANDED AT OSTEND, SURROUNDED, AND A LITTLE BEWILDERED, BY THE NATIVES, WHO OVERWHELM THEM WITH ATTENTIONS—SEIZE THE LUGGAGE, THRUST CARDS INTO THEIR HANDS, DRAG THEM IN SEVERAL DIRECTIONS AT ONCE, ALL TALKING TOGETHER (WHICH PREVENTED THEIR DIRECTIONS BEING SO CLEAR AS THEY OTHERWISE WOULD HAVE BEEN)—AND, FINALLY, ALL EXPECTING MONEY!

 

THEY ARE AT THE DOUANE, WAITING FOR THE OFFICIALS TO SEARCH THE LUGGAGE.

ROBINSON AND JONES (ALARMED BY EXPRESSION OF BROWN’S COUNTENANCE). —“WHAT’S THE MATTER NOW?” BROWN (IN A VOICE OF AGONY). —“I’VE LEFT THE KEY OF MY BAG AT HOME!”

OSTEND TO COLOGNE.

 

A SKETCH MADE AT MALINES.

 

HOW THEY SAW BELGIUM.

COLOGNE.

 

THE ARRIVAL AT COLOGNE.

TRAVELLERS PASSING THEIR EXAMINATION. IN THE FOREGROUND IS JONES’S PORTMANTEAU UNDERGOING THE “ORDEAL BY TOUCH.”

 

MANNER AND CUSTOM OF THE PEOPLE, AS SEEN FROM THE RAILWAY BY BROWN, AND MADE A NOTE OF.

 

B. J. AND R., WHO TOOK THEIR PLACES ON THE ROOF THE BETTER TO COMMAND THE VIEW, ARE SEEN AT THE MOMENT WHEN THE IDEA OCCURRED TO THE TWO FORMER THAT THEY MIGHT POSSIBLY NOT “FIT” UNDER THE ARCHWAY. ROBINSON IS SO WRAPPED UP IN THOUGHT, AND A CIGAR, THAT HE IS UNCONSCIOUS OF ALL ELSE.

THIS REPRESENTS THE COLOGNE OMNIBUS ON ITS JOURNEY FROM THE STATION INTO THE CITY, WHEN STOPPED BY THE MILITARY, AND MADE TO “STAND AND DELIVER” THE PASSPORTS.

 

ARRIVAL AT THE HOTEL, AND FIRST COMING IN SIGHT OF THAT AMIABLE AND OBLIGING RACE, THE GERMAN WAITER. HE IS SMALL IN STATURE (SCARCELY THE SIZE OF LIFE, AS JONES REMARKED), AND REMAINS ALWAYS A BOY.

 

“SPEISE-SAAL” HOTEL, COLOGNE—ENTER BROWN, JONES, AND ROBINSON, FATIGUED, AND SOMEWHAT DISORDERED BY TRAVEL, AND “SO HUNGRY.”

 

HOW AN AGENT OF JEAN MARIA FARINA ADDRESSED THEM, WHO WAS KIND ENOUGH TO PUT SOME OF THE CELEBRATED “EAU” UPON THEIR HANDKERCHIEFS, AND TO RECEIVE ORDERS FOR THE SAME.

 

THE REAL EAU DE COLOGNE, AND ITS EFFECT UPON THE NOSES OF THREE ILLUSTRIOUS INDIVIDUALS.

 

“KELLNER” PRESENTS THE BILL.

 

THEY “DO” COLOGNE CATHEDRAL.

COLOGNE TO BONN.

 

THE RAILWAY FROM COLOGNE TO BONN. —B. J. AND R. “JUST IN TIME.”

 

FIRST GLIMPSE OF RHINE SCENERY.

BONN.

JONES’S LITTLE ALL IS CONTAINED IN THIS SMALL PORTMANTEAU.ROBINSON, ON THE CONTRARY, FINDS IT QUITE IMPOSSIBLE TO MOVE WITH LESS THAN THIS.

 

THIS SCENE REPRESENTS THE RHINE BOAT ABOUT TO START FROM BONN, AND PASSENGERS FROM THE RAILWAY EMBARKING. IN THE FOREGROUND AN ACCIDENT HAS OCCURRED, A PORTER HAVING UPSET THE LUGGAGE OF AN ENGLISH FAMILY, THE HEAD OF WHICH IS SALUTING HIM WITH THE NATIONAL “DAMN,” WHILE THE COURIER OF THE PARTY EXPRESSES THE SAME IDEA IN GERMAN.

THE RHINE.

 

BROWN’S FIRST IMPRESSION OF THE RHINE.

From an ORIGINAL SKETCH in the possession of his family.

 

HEADS OF THE NATIVES.

A Leaf from Brown’s Sketch Book.

 

COMPANY ON BOARD THE RHINE BOAT.

AMONGST THEM WAS A TRAVELLING TUTOR, AND THREE YOUNG GENTLEMEN, HIS PUPILS. HE STOOD IN THE MIDST OF THEM SMILING BLANDLY, AN OPEN VOLUME IN HIS HAND, (PROBABLY A CLASSIC AUTHOR,) BETWEEN WHICH, AND HIS PUPILS, AND THE SCENERY, HE DIVIDED HIS ATTENTION IN ABOUT EQUAL PARTS. THERE WAS A SPECIMEN OF THE ENGLISH GRUMBLER, BIG, BURLY, AND AS IF IN DANGER OF CHOKING FROM THE TIGHTNESS OF HIS CRAVAT. EVERY ONE KNOWS HIM, HIS PLEASANT WAYS, AND HIS CONSTANT FLOW OF GOOD HUMOUR AND CHEERFULNESS; THAT IS HE, SITTING TO THE RIGHT....