remarkable that the suit in which you will see him will always strike
you as that which he had procured for last year's tour, and that he is
economically wearing it to shreds on the present occasion. But this
is not so. The clothes were new when he left London; but he has been
assiduous with his rumpling and crumpling here as he has been with his
hat, and at the expiration of his first week out he is able to boast
to himself that he has, at any rate, got rid of the gloss. He wears
flannel shirts, and in warm weather goes about without a cravat. He
carries in his portmanteau a dress-coat, waistcoat, and trousers,
which are of no use to him, as who would think of asking such a man to
dinner? But, as he abhors the extra package which a decent hat would
make needful, he is to be seen in Paris, Vienna, or Florence with that
easily-recognized covering for his head which I have above described.
He has a bludgeon usually in his hand, and often a pipe in his mouth.
He knows nothing of gloves, but is very particular as to the breadth
and strength of his shoes. He often looks to be very dirty; but his
morning tub is a religious ceremony, and, besides that, he bathes
whenever he comes across a spot which, from its peculiar difficulties,
is more than ordinarily inappropriate for the exercise.
These tourists for fun are known well by all that large class of men
who are engaged in supplying the wants of summer travellers. No one
ever doubts their solvency; no innkeeper ever refuses them admittance;
no station-master or captain of a steamboat ever takes them for other
than they are. They are not suspected, but known; and therefore a
certain tether is allowed to them which is not to be exceeded. They
are looked after good-humouredly, and are so restrained that they
shall not be made to feel the restraint if the feeling can be spared
them. "Three mad Englishmen! They're all right. I've got my eye on
them. They won't do any harm?" That seems to be the ordinary language
which is held about them by those to whom falls the duty of watching
them and supplying their wants. The waiters were very good-natured to
them, patting them, as it were on the back, and treating them much
as though they were children. But it is understood that they must
have wherewithal to eat and to drink well, and that their bells must
be answered if any quiet is to be preserved in the houses. Sometimes
there will be a row, and the English pride will flare up and conceive
itself to have been insulted. The United Englishman who travels for
fun has a great idea of his country's power, and resents violently any
uncourteous interference with his vagaries. But it is so generally
known that the "mad Englishman" is all right, and that he won't do
any real harm if an eye be kept on him, that such rows seldom end
disastrously.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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