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Passage Illustrated: Seasickness overwhelms the passengers

The throbbing motion of the engine was but too perceptible. There was a large, substantial, cold boiled leg of mutton, at the bottom of the table, shaking like blancmange; a previously hearty sirloin of beef looked as if it had been suddenly seized with the palsy; and some tongues, which were placed on dishes rather too large for them, went through the most surprising evolutions; darting from side to side, and from end to end, like a fly in an inverted wine-glass. Then, the sweets shook and trembled, till it was quite impossible to help them, and people gave up the attempt in despair; and the pigeon-pies looked as if the birds, whose legs were stuck outside, were trying to get them in. The table vibrated and started like a feverish pulse, and the very legs were convulsed — everything was shaking and jarring. The beams in the roof of the cabin seemed as if they were put there for the sole purpose of giving people head-aches, and several elderly gentlemen became ill-tempered in consequence. As fast as the steward put the fire-irons up, they would fall down again; and the more the ladies and gentlemen tried to sit comfortably on their seats, the more the seats seemed to slide away from the ladies and gentlemen. Several ominous demands were made for small glasses of brandy; the countenances of the company gradually underwent most extraordinary changes; one gentleman was observed suddenly to rush from table without the slightest ostensible reason, and dart up the steps with incredible swiftness: thereby greatly damaging both himself and the steward, who happened to be coming down at the same moment. — "Tales," Ch. 7, "The Steam Excursion," p. 191-92.

Commentary

"The Steam Excursion," the seventh of the stories in the "Tales" section of the collected edition of Sketches by Boz, was originally published in The Monthly Magazine in October 1834. The story is a young man's light-weight narrative — one can well imagine the agreeable "young-man-about-town" with rooms at Gray's Inn in Holborn, one of the old Inns of Court, as being an extension of twenty-two-year-old law clerk Charles Dickens himself, for he worked in the offices of Ellis and Blackmore at Gray's Inn in 1827, and was living in bachelor rooms at No. 13, Furnival's Inn, in December 1836. However, the second half of the story occurs not in Noakes's bachelor rooms, but on the General Steam Navigation Company vessel on the downward leg (during which the Misses Briggs give a performance on their guitars), and then returning from The Nore upriver — and encountering extremely rough weather in the sequel, The Steam Excursion — Part 2. In 1839, Cruikshank had provided two contrasting scenes, the first for the concert on the downward leg, on the rear deck of the steamer, the second in the cabin below decks as the storm hits on the return leg. In the concert scene, Cruikshank focuses on the guitar-playing Misses Briggs and the "facetious" Hardy, whom Barnard makes the subject of his first large-scale illustration "in a blue jacket and waistcoat, white trousers, silk stockings, and pumps — in full aquatic costume, with a straw hat on his head" (187). Whereas Fred Barnard signals his intention to capture precise moments in the text through using lengthy quotations as captions (although the first is given in narrative rather than in dialogue), George Cruikshank, using the title of the story for both engravings, has provided prolonged scenes — the Misses Briggs' giving their musical performance — "a new Spanish composition, for three voices and three guitars" (190), and the guests' suffering from seasickness as the cabin is turned topsy-turvey by the rising wind, prior to their staggering on deck for air, a group scene in which Cruikshank tries to pack as many figures and as much detail as possible. Again, we see Barnard's tendency to particularize, to move in for the closeup, rather than pan back for a group scene.

The party had by this time reached their destination, and put about on their return home. The wind, which had been with them the whole day, was now directly in their teeth; the weather had become gradually more and more overcast; and the sky, water, and shore were all of that dull, heavy, uniform lead colour. . . .— p. 191.

Since the actual plot of the short story is slight, Dickens emphasizes the rivalries between the balloting factions in the organizing committee meetings, and between the Briggses and Tauntons, the antics of the peculiar Mr. Hardy, and the moments physical humour, rather than the development of character, internal conflict, theme, and atmosphere that one would find in a modern short story. Barnard wisely focuses on two moments of vigorous physical humour. Whereas Cruikshank had employed group studies for the ill-fated pleasure voyage, the first static, the second kinetic, with his penchant for scenes involving just two characters in action, Fred Barnard is thoroughly enjoying the dynamic nature of the accident which involves just two figures in conflict, as the young "gentleman" in trousers and tailcoat butts the steward off his feet as he endeavours to hold onto four plates (although three of them are already air-born). To add to the sense of chaos, a soup tureen has been overturned, discharging its contents in a shower upon a female diner as the youth attempts to make his rapid exit upwards, undoubtedly under the influence of a queazy stomach and a desire to get to the railing as quickly as possible. To narrated moment is brief, but Barnard sees its comic potential, and replaces a dual portrait with volatile action for Cruikshank's rather dour group study of seasickness. The contrast involves the bearded, middle-aged steward's presumably being used to a little rough weather, but the inexperience townsman becoming violently ill.

The Relevant Illustrations by George Cruikshank and Fred Barnard

Left: Cruikshank's far less engaging study of the Miss Briggses' guitar performance, Steam Excursion — Pt. 1. Centre: Cruikshank's more animated description of the chaos in the dining-room, Steam Excursion — Pt. 2. Right: Fred Barnard's illustration for the first half of the story, describing the amiable Mr. Hardy's attempting to tease the children in order to keep them out of mischief, The facetious Hardy, in fulfilment of his promise, had watched the child to a remote part of the vessel, and, suddenly appearing before him with the most awful contortions of visage, had produced his paroxysm of terror. [Click on the images to enlarge them.]

Three Other "Entertainment" Illustrations by Cruikshank

Left: Cruikshank's far more animated and engaging musical entertainment, Greenwich Fair. Centre: Cruikshank's view of the leisured middle classes ar a Sunday tea-garden, London Recreations. Right: Cruikshank's depiction of the an afternoon's musical entertainment at Vauxhall on the south bank of the Thames, Vauxhall Gardens by Day. [Click on the images to enlarge them.]

See also "The Development of Leisure in Britain, 1700-1850:

• The Development of Leisure in Britain, 1700-1850
• The Development of Leisure in Britain after 1850
• Technology and Leisure in Britain after 1850

Bibliography

Ackroyd, Peter. Dickens: A Biography. London: Sinclair-Stevenson, 1990.

Bentley, Nicholas, Michael Slater, and Nina Burgis. The Dickens: Index. Oxford: Oxford U. P., 1990.

Davis, Paul. Charles Dickens A to Z. The Essential Reference to His Life and Work. New York: Checkmark and Facts On File, 1998.

Dickens, Charles. "The Steam Excursion," Chapter 7 in "Tales," Sketches by Boz. Illustrated by George Cruikshank. London: Chapman and Hall, 1839; rpt., 1890. Pp. 288-305.

Dickens, Charles. "The Steam Excursion," Chapter 7 in "Tales," Sketches by Boz. Illustrated by Fred Barnard. The Household Edition. London: Chapman and Hall, 1876. Pp. 182-94.

Hawksley, Lucinda Dickens. Chapter 3, "Sketches by Boz." Dickens Bicentenary 1812-2012: Charles Dickens. San Rafael, California: Insight, 2011. Pp. 12-15.

Schlicke, Paul. "Sketches by Boz." Oxford Reader's Companion to Dickens. Oxford: Oxford U. P., 1999. Pp. 530-535.

Slater, Michael. Charles Dickens: A Life Defined by Writing. New Haven and London: Yale U. P., 2009.

Tomalin, Claire. Charles Dickens, A Life. New York: Penguin, 2011.

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Last modified 27 May 2017