the East India Company sergeant, and last but not least came
the recruiting for the Spanish legion. They all had their gangs of
harpies and hangers on, as the sergeant spent money freely, every recruit
being worth five to six pounds to him. It was a common practice to get a
lad half drunk over night, and in the morning to bounce him that he had
enlisted, and there were always plenty to swear that he had done so. The
recruits for the Spanish legion were a rare motley crew, and would go
singing through the streets, half drunk, in gangs, that they were going
fighting for the Queen of Spain, and collect drink and money. A good
part of the crowd would be loafers and not recruits at all. The great
recruiting ground was along the riverside, and at the public houses along
the roads leading to the fair at Wandsworth, which was held on a piece of
land in the York Road, just beyond where Wandsworth Station now stands.
The recruits for the Spanish legion were a poor miserable lot, as they
were the refuse from the others. They would take them at any age, from
sixteen to fifty, and were not at all particular about size or health; in
fact, there is little doubt that lads of fourteen were sent out. They
used to assemble by Northumberland Passage, Charing Cross, and march in
gangs to Tower Hill to pass the Board of Commissioners that sat in a room
over a sailmaker's, and having passed, would go by steamboat to Gravesend
ready to embark; and it was generally asserted that they never shipped
above two-thirds of the recruits they enlisted. The balance would desert
and enlist again, and were assisted in so doing by the recruiting
sergeant.

CHAPTER 8.--The London Docks.

People had to walk more in those days, as there was no riding to your
employment. I know the first employment I obtained was at the London
Docks as checker to the landing of goods, and I had to get there by eight
and leave at four. No time for meals, which I had to eat behind the desk
flap. I had to stand all day on a wheeled platform, with a desk in
front, that was moved along the quay wherever it was wanted. It used to
take one and a half hours to get there; it was a long drag, but as I got
twelve shillings per week I thought it an important post. I could
sometimes if the tide served, get a ride home by taking a scull and
dropping up with the tide; they were generally glad of a hand. I should
think the dock labourer was very much worse off in those d