e was from a boat moored opposite the "Adam and
Eve," turning round a boat moored off Lambeth Palace, and back to the
starting point. Races were arranged to start at about three-quarter's
flood so that they would finish on the ebb of the tide. They were small
tubby-looking, half-decked boats, not above three tons, and would carry
an immense amount of canvas, and when there was a breeze and the river
was a little bit lumpy they would dance about merrily and were a very
pretty sight. They were generally sailed by the owners.

CHAPTER 6.--Public Gardens.

The first public garden that I recollect, long before Cremorne, was the
Manor House in the King's Road, between Little's Nursery and Shawfield
Street, where Radnor Street and the Commercial Tavern now stand. It was
a detached house with carriage drive in front, and grounds reaching to
where the bottom of Radnor Street is. It used to be occupied by one,
Colonel Middleton, and in about 1836 it was taken by a man of the name of
Smith, and turned into a tea and recreation garden, a sort of little
Vauxhall with coloured lamps, statuary, shrubbery, winding path and
fountain, with music and dancing. Flexmar the clown, when a youth, was
one of the regular visitors and would amuse the company with a break-down
dance, and the great Mackney, the negro delineator and stump orator (I
believe still on the music hall stage), as a youth was a very clever
violinist, and would entertain the company by playing in almost any
position and imitating almost any sound. It was carried on only a few
years, after which the owners built the Commercial Tavern, with a large
room behind, now Radnor Chapel. The grounds were laid out for builders,
and Radnor Street was built, leaving the old Manor House standing at the
corner in the King's Road. It was then turned into the Chelsea Literary
and Scientific Institution, and so continued until removed to the Chelsea
Town Hall. It struggled on for a few years and then came to grief.

CREMORNE.--The first I recollect of Cremorne was a man known as Baron de
Barranger, who used to ride about in grey military uniform with his two
sons, tall, military-looking men. They carried on a sort of livery
stable and tavern at Cremorne House, by the river, and called it the
Stadium Canteen. It was on a road by the river, leading from the bottom
of Cremorne Lane past Cremorne and Ashburton House and the cottage to the
Lammas Lands, known as the Lots mead