o have been held for the
purpose of ascertaining, by experiment, the greatest degree of heat which
the human frame is capable of supporting. That they should choose such a
place for their deliberations upon the welfare of the island, appeared to
me extraordinary, and only to be accounted for upon the supposition that
it was intended to carry off, by evaporation, that internal heat to which
the assemblies of legislators of some other countries are known to be
subject. Judging from the grave and melancholy countenances of the
persons assembled, I councluded the affairs of the island to be in a very
disasterous state; and I could discover very little either said or done,
at all calculated to advance its interests. Of the capital itself, some
members said a few words; but, to use the language of our Globe, in so
inaudible a tone of voice, that we could scarcely catch their import. The
principal subject of their discussion consisted of complaining of the
extreme heat of the bath, and mutual inquiries respecting their intention
of immersing themselves in any others that were open the same night."

He next satirizes a fashionable dinner, the parks, the Horticultural
Society, some pleasant jokes upon a rosy mother and her parsnip-pale
daughters, and an admirable piece of fun upon the female oligarchy of
Almacks.

"From hence I made a trip to Crocky's Island, situated on the opposite
side of the Strait. On landing at Hellgate, within Fools' Inlet my
surprise was much excited by the prodigious flocks of gulls, pigeons, and
geese, which were directing their flight towards the Great Fish Lake,
whither I, too, was making my way. I concluded their object was to
procure food, of which a profusion was here spread before them,
consisting of every thing which such birds most delight to peck at; but
no sooner had they settled near the bank, than they were seized upon by a
Fisherman, (who was lying in wait for them,) and completely plucked of
their feathers, an operation to which they very quietly submitted, and
were then suffered to depart. Upon inquiring his motive for what appeared
to me a wanton act of cruelty, he told me his intention was to stuff his
bed with the feathers; 'or,' added he, 'if you _vill_, to feather my
nest.' Being myself an admirer of a soft bed, I saw no reason why I
should not employ myself in the same way; but owing, perhaps, to my being
a novice in the art, and not knowing how to manage the birds properly,
they