The Mysteries of London; or, Lights and Shadows of London Life — page 131: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

LIGHTS AND SHADOWS OF LONDON LIFE. and the houses built along the sides are mere than half untenanted. Long lines of buildings not yet completed—and apparently never likely to be—meet the eye in every direction. Desolate-looking carcases of bricks and mortar, roofless and windowless, with staring apertures on every story through which the _ rain is drifting in, to the mockery and damp discom- fort of the poor vagrant who has helplessly clambered for shelter within their hospitable walls, give a dreary look of hopeless bankruptcy to the abandoned spot. The footpaths, unillamined by gas and unprotected by paving, are at nearly oll pericds of the year little better than continuous quagmires of sloppy clayey mud, into which the foot that once descends is only extricated with difficulty to plunge into another swampy chasm equally as dangerous. These ap- proaches to the spot whither we are about to conduct the reader are generally of themselves sufficient to deter the explorer in this direction from extending his investigation, and the topography of the district is as little known as though the surveyor’s chain and theodolite had never unravelled the intricacy of its precincts. A ghastly animation is given here and there to the thoroughfares by the recently-painted exterior of some newly-opened alehouse, but other shops are only met with few and far between, and these—for customers are scarce about them—have a palpable struggle to maintain a flickering existence, It is no light matter to venture on an expedition into the heart of Agar Town. The perils attending the explorer are by no means fabulous, and there is that degree of hazard in a tour through its mazy alleys that may serve to tempt the adventurous traveller who delights in having the quiet tenor of his way spiced with a dash of danger that may stimulate his progress whilst it varies its monotony, Even passing round the boundary of its eircle and only skirting the worst portions, those inquisitively disposed may see enough in the course of their partial perambulations to screen us from the charge of exaggerating the de- scription. On the day and at the time when the Sabbath bells are ringing forth from the surrounding steeples, and when a more decent and orderly popula- tion might be with reason expected, the local peculia- rities are as strongly manifest as ever. You may travel hundreds of yards and pass hundreds of men without counting more than a dozen coats the entire distance. The ordinary conventionalities of apparel are contemptuously disregarded; groups of hard- favoured, famished-looking children are seen dabbling in the kennels at the doors of miserable hovels; oaths and blasphemous execrations, that jar frightfully upon the ear, are heard at every turn; and on sume way- side plot of ground, blackened and scorched by the lime-kilns in the vicinity, a desperate battle bet ween two bull-headed pugilists, or a bratal dog-fight elicit- ing furious demonstrations of delight from a crowd of encouraging spectators, make up the refined pastimes of the place, and form the principal relaxation in which the inhabitants are wont to indulge. There is one part, indeed, of this lawless locality, which seems to be recognised as a kind of modern Alsatia, for all attempts to violate its sanctity are forcibly and successfully resisted. The police are daunted by the resolute band of marauders that have taken possession of this colony; even the stoutest- hearted and strongest-limbed member of the force shrinks from the certain disadvantage of prevoking an encounter by himself; and you will consequently see them gathered in a formidable body when their pre: sence is demanded, or walking in couples through the eee ee ee — 125 thoroughfares that abut on these scenes of riotous pa pk cely a quarter of a mile from the Model Prison, and almost within sight of the great stone tower that faces this remarkable region, there is a spot especially requiring mention, It is a tract of ground about two acres in extent, covered with a few dilapidated cottages and their gardens, and isolated from the other portion by a broad ditch. This completely surrounds it, and cuts off all communication with the interior except by two small wooden bridges that span the ditch at each narrow- ing point. After heavy rains, this barrier of fetid stagnant water swells into a sluggish brook of inky blackness, and, overflowing its banks, leaves behind a dark slimy deposit, that spreads the terrors of typhus into the miserable dwellings within reach of its influence, A first glance at the pervading characteristics of the place will reveal little more than the same objects that are to be met with in most of the suburban haunts of } poverty and wretchedness. A shattered caravan, long past service, and now drawn partly into a recess to be broken up for firewood; a few old cart-wheels, with fractured spokes, left mouldering away piecemeal round the outer rim; crumbling casks, with the iron torn off, or hanging in rusty fragments; these, with a huge clumsy swing thrust aside until the next fair- time, will be probably all that the,eye can recognise; but a further investigation will lead to more peculiar and, perchance, more suspicious features, The cottages are mostly of one story, and none of more than two stories in height, The entrance is chiefly through a patch of garden-ground in front, overrun with weeds, and closed in by a wooden gate, or wicket, usually kept fastened. The windows are nearly all broken, and mended with rags and paper stuffed into the apertures to exclude the light as well as air; and where an opening is visible, a stout bar of iron will be noticed to run along the inner side, so as to preclude the possibility of an entrance in that direction. The men who are occasionally found loung- ing in the doorways, or lolling over the threshold, have not the open look of the honest labourer, who battles manfully with poverty, and strives, by toil and industry, to gain the victory. There is a sheepish and yet ruffianly look about them, They are always idle; and should you come athwart their haunts, they either slink from your gaze in sullen apathy, or follow your movements with a threatening scowl. It would be no agreeable predicament for a pedestrian, who had accidentally strayed hither out of his track, to find himself face to face with one of these gentry in the darkness of a winter’s night. To this isolated portion of Agar Town there is given, in the vernacular of the district, the signifi- cant appellation of “Skull Island,” It was about seven o'clock in the evening following that on which Celestine met the Italian in the park, that two figures, coming from the back of the gas works in Maiden Lane struck aside into a narrow and unfrequented footpath leading to one of those wooden bridges we have mentioned, and emerged upon the little territory thus designated. Stopping before the gate of a cottage, or rather hovel, for it exhibited even less promise of interior comfort than any of the rest, the foremost pushed open the outer wicket, and advancing to the door, closely followed by his companion, he gave a peculiar whietle in a low tone, as an intimation of his arrival. Presently the sound of a heavy chain being drawn _—_-—-o A IE A I ty -_- -——_—_—_ CORNICLOO Ss (E()