There was not even room for one! 
    They crowded by degrees—­
  Ay, closer yet, till elbows met,
    And knees were jogging knees.

  “Good sir, you must not sit a-stern. 
    The wave will else come in!”
  Without a word he gravely stirr’d,
    Another seat to win.

  “Good sir, the boat has lost her trim,
    You must not sit a-lee!”
  With smiling face and courteous grace
    The middle seat took he.

  But still by constant quiet growth,
    His back became so wide. 
  Each neighbour wight, to left and right,
    Was thrust against the side.

  Lord! how they chided with themselves,
    That they had let him in;
  To see him grow so monstrous now,
    That came so small and thin.

  On every brow a dew-drop stood,
    They grew so scared and hot,—­
  “I’ the name of all that’s great and tall,
    Who are ye, sir, and what?”

  Loud laugh’d the Gogmagog, a laugh
    As loud as giant’s roar—­
  “When first I came, my proper name
    Was Little—­now I’m Moore!”

Hood’s Whims and Oddities Second series.

* * * * *

Manners & Customs of all Nations.

* * * * *

No.  XV.

LIVING AT CALAIS.

Calais may, for various reasons, be looked upon as one of the dearest towns in France.  An excellent suite of furnished apartments may be had in one of the most respectable private houses in Calais, consisting of a sitting-room, three bedrooms, and a kitchen, for twenty shillings a week, and smaller ones in proportion, down to five shillings a week for a bachelor’s apartment.  This, however, does not include attendance of any kind; and, with few exceptions, the apartments can only be taken by the month.  The price of meat is fixed by a tarif, at a maximum of sixpence per pound for the very best.  It varies, therefore, between that price and fourpence; and this pound contains something more than ours.  Poultry is still cheaper, in proportion, or rather in fact.  My dinner to-day consists, in part, of an excellent fowl, which cost 8d. and a pair of delicate ducks, which cost 1s. 6d. The price of bread is also fixed by law, and amounts to about two-thirds of the present price of ours in London.  Butter and eggs are excellent, and always fresh:  the first costs from 9d. to 10d. the pound of 18 ounces; and the latter 10d. the quarter of a hundred.  Vegetables and fruit, which are all of the finest quality, and fresh from the gardens of the adjacent villages, are as follow:—­asparagus, at the rate of 8d. or 9d. the hundred, peas (the picked young ones,) 3d. per quart; new potatoes (better than any we can get in England, except what they call