We do not find, from a careful perusal of Mr Pickwick's notes of the four towns, Stroud, Rochester, Chatham, and Brompton, that his impressions of their appearance differ in any material point from those of other travellers who have gone over the same ground. His general description is easily abridged.

'The principal productions of these towns,' says Mr Pickwick, 'appear to be soldiers, sailors, chalk, shrimps, officers, and dockyard men. The commodities chiefly exposed for sale in the public streets are marine stores, apples, flat - fish, and oysters. The streets present a lively and animated appearance, occasioned chiefly by the conviviality of the military. It is truly delightful to a philanthropic mind to see these gallant men staggering along under the influence of an overflow both of animal and ardent spirits; more especially when we remember that the following them about, and jesting with them, affords a cheap and innocent amusement for the boy population.

'Nothing,' adds Mr Pickwick, 'can exceed their good humour. It was but the day before my arrival that one of them had been most grossly insulted in the pub. The barmaid had positively refused to pour him any more liquor; in return for which he had (merely in playfulness) drawn his bayonet, and wounded the girl in the shoulder. And yet this fine fellow was the very first to go down to the house next morning and express his readiness to overlook the matter, and forget what had occurred!

Vocabulary:

Perusal: Reading
Material point: Particular way
Abridged: Made shorter
Shrimps: Edible animals from the sea
Dockyard: A place for repairing boats
Commodities: Things used in business or trade
Occasioned: Here it means 'caused'
Conviviality: Cheerfulness and friendliness
Gallant: Brave and polite
Ardent spirits: e.g. Gin, vodka, brandy
Jesting: Joking
Grossly: Greatly, horribly
Bayonet: The knife on the end of a rifle