On the Banks of the Amazon | Page 5

the bow on the left side,
and heard that it was the Lizard, which I explained to Ellen was not a
creature, but a point of land at the west end of England. With a fine
breeze, studdingsails on either side, the colours flying, the sky bright
and the sea blue, the big ship, her canvas glittering in the sunlight
glided proudly up Channel. Even the gruffest old seaman began to
smile, and every one seemed in good spirits. At last a little one-masted
vessel came dancing over the small waves towards us, our sails were
brailed up, a boat put off from her, and a big man with huge whiskers,
and rough greatcoat, and broad-brimmed hat climbed up the side, and
shook hands with the captain; and I heard that the pilot had come on
board, and that we were sailing into the Downs. I went below, and on
returning on deck I looked up and saw, instead of the broad sheets of
white canvas which had so long been spread, the long yards above my
head with the sails closely furled. The ship was at anchor. In a short
time the boat came alongside, and my mother and sister and I, with our
attendants, were lowered into her. We rowed on shore, and went to a
big house, where all the people were wonderfully polite. I asked if this
was to be our future home, but my mother told me it was an inn--very
unlike the resting-places we had stopped at on our journey from Quito.

The next day we were all seated inside a yellow carriage, with
Domingos and Maria on the outside, and rolling away over the smooth
road at a great rate. We went on and on, changing horses every now
and then, through a country dotted about with houses which looked
very large and grand, and green trees which looked very small after
those I had been accustomed to see. At length the houses became
thicker and thicker, and we were driving through long streets with
numberless carriages dashing here and there, and carts, and vans, and
vehicles of all sorts; and my mother told me we were in London. We
drove on, and I thought we should soon be on the other side; but I
found that we had not got nearly into the centre of it. I had thought
Quito a large city, but this, I guessed, must be ten times larger. All the
houses, too, looked wonderfully high, and I thought if an earthquake
were to occur, how quickly they would all topple down. I asked my
mother how people could venture to build such tall houses. She laughed,
and said that happily in England there were no earthquakes; and that, in
another city in the north, there were houses ten stories high.
We stopped at last before a house in a long, dull-looking street, and a
gentleman came to the door and handed us all out, and kissed my
mother and Ellen and me, and welcomed us to England; and I found
that he was Uncle James, my mother's brother; and there was our aunt,
his wife, and a number of cousins, boys and girls; and we were all soon
quite at home and happy, though I did not exactly know what to do
with myself.
A few days after that, Uncle James and my mother and I drove out in a
carriage, and there was a box on the top of it full of my clothes, and
several other things; and then I found that I was going to school. I was
rather pleased than otherwise; not that I wished to leave my mother and
Ellen, but I wanted to know what sort of a place school was. We went
some distance away from London, and stopped before a house with an
iron gate, and a huge stone lion on each side of it. We got out, and were
shown into a drawing-room, and there we sat, till a tall gentleman
dressed in black, with a very white head, made his appearance, and my
mother and Uncle James talked to him for some time; then he called me
up, patted me on the head, and told me he hoped that I should be a good

boy, and learn my lessons well. I did not feel quite comfortable when
my mother got up and kissed me again and again, and looked
somewhat sad; and then Uncle James wished me good-bye; and out
they went, while the tall gentleman kept me by the hand.
"Now, Harry Faithful," he said, "I will introduce you to your
school-fellows;" and he conducted me through a passage, at the end of
which was a door which opened out into a large open space covered
with gravel, with