'Anvers. And the whole
populace, men, women, and children, have gone out of the Porte d'Anvers.
And all the infants have also gone, because the mothers could not leave
them at home. And the generals, and their staffs, and the officers, and
all the troops, and all the artillery, have also left Brussels, and gone
out at the Porte d'Anvers, to keep the said populace quiet and in good
order. So that there is no one left at Brussels, and Brussels must for
one day take care of itself.

And now you of course wish to know why they have all left Brussels, and
further, why they have gone through the Porte d'Anvers.

Because there is this day the commemoration of the inauguration of the
_Chemin de Fer_, which has just been completed from Brussels to Malines,
and which is on this day to be opened, that is to say, that three steam
tugs, whose names are the Stephenson, the Arrow, and the Elephant, are
to drag to Malines and back again in the presence of his majesty, all
his majesty's ministers, all the ambassadors who choose to go, all the
heads of the departments, and every body else who can produce a
satisfactory yellow ticket, which will warrant their getting into one of
the thirty-three omnibuses, diligences, or cars, which are attached to
the said three steam-tugs, the Arrow, the Stephenson, and the Elephant.
I shall go and see it--I will not remain at Brussels by myself, the
"last man."

May 6.
It was a brilliant affair, and went off well, because the trains went on
well. We were tugged through twelve miles of the most fertile pasture
in the universe, the whole line of road so crowded with spectators, as
to make evident the extreme populousness of the country. For the first
mile it was one mass of people--and a Belgian crowd has a very agreeable
effect, from the prevailing colours being blue and white, which are very
refreshing, and contrast pleasantly with the green background. Every
man had his blouse, and every woman her cap and straw bonnet; but if the
Belgians look well _en masse_, I cannot say that they do so in detail:
the men we do not expect much from, but the women are certainly the
plainest race in the whole world--I will not except the Africans. In
some of our men-of-war it was formerly the custom to have an old knife,
which was passed from one to the other, as the men joined the ship,
being handed to the ugliest man they could find; he held