The Boys Own Paper

Drawing of the Lobster Smack 1899

This is an extract from a story serialised in ‘The Boys Own Paper’ on the 5th August 1899. The story was called ‘Down Stream: A trip in Quiet Waters’ by H F Horden (Author of “A Coasting Trip in a Steam Launch”)

‘We had the creek entirely to ourselves again, and on reaching towards the entrance anchored while we had dinner, and then leisurely steamed on to Benfleet without meeting a single craft, bringing up for the night down below the ferry.

It was a cold and very dark night, the wind came in gusts and it looked like a storm brewing, but the wind blew the clouds away, and on Wednesday it was clear again overhead; but a bitterly cold easterly wind nipped us up, and made us fancy it was winter time. However, we wanted to explore Canvey Island thoroughly and make some sketches, so spent most of that day and the next ashore, getting back to the launch about 9 p.m.’