s picture of
alarm and composure combined. He was on his way to England with the
intention of presenting some musical compositions to the Queen, and
possibly had a floating idea he might do a bit of Paganini before Her
Gracious Majesty. Gradually, all the party unkenneled; and it was then
discovered that, had we run off the rails a few yards further on, we
should have had a nasty cropper down a thirty-feet bank; fortunately, we
ran off on the level, and merely stuck in the sand.

Upon inquiry as to the cause of the accident, I ascertained that it was
in consequence of a point for turning off on to another set of rails
being broken. Upon examining the said point, I found it was as worn and
rotten as time could make it. I mentioned this to the engineer, who told
me he was perfectly aware of it, and had reported it to the
superintendent a fortnight before, but that he--the superintendent--had
guessed it would do very well for some time yet; consequently, the
engineer always went slower when approaching the spot, to avoid, if
possible, an accident. By this precaution we had been saved the capsize
over the bank, which otherwise would inevitably have been our fate.
Thus, for the sake of twenty shillings, they had smashed an engine,
doing damage to the amount of twenty pounds at least, besides risking
the lives of all the passengers. What was to be done? There was nothing
for it but to go back to Wilmington, chew the cud of disgust, and hope
the rascally superintendent might break every bone in his body the first
favourable opportunity. This done, and a night's rest over, we again
tempted fate, and continued our journey, which for a long time ran
through large pine-forests, every member of which community was a victim
of laceration, inflicted on him for the purpose of drawing off his
life's blood, which dribbled into a box at the root, and, when full, was
carried off to make turpentine.

Arrived at Peterborough, we found the population so far behind the
American age, that they would not allow a railroad to pass through their
town; we were consequently constrained to shift into omnibuses, and
drive some three miles to the station on the other side. As this trip
was peculiarly barren of incident, it may gratify the reader to be
informed, that in the confusion of shifting from one station to the
other I lost my best and only hat. I hope this simple record will be
received as conclusive evidence of the monotony and dullness of th