The author’s wherry boat, the Maid of the Mist, makes her way through morning mist in Norwich. From the Introduction of On English Lagoons:

“But here we are alongside our future home. She looks clumsy as you step aboard, but is very handy and sails very close to the wind, is comfortable and well found, and Jim there is obliging and musical- what would you? Go below, kind reader, and be careful not to slip on the narrow plankways. “Now, please judge what comfort you can get in a twelve-ton wherry. Down the steps there before you is a pantry. On the right, you see, is the kitchen; hasn’t Jim made the pots and pans shine? On the left, through that sliding door, is the saloon- if you are six feet high you can just stand there, if you are over a fathom long then you can lie on the seat along one side, or you can sit on the other lockers by the tortoise stove- how that will roar in midwinter, and boil our grog water, when the Great Bear sparkles with a new beauty in the frosty skies. ..

Yes; open the door. There is the cabin two good berths and shelves for our library and guns- cosy, isn’t it? Never mind the rooms looking small now; they will grow bigger to you as the days shorten.:. Yes; the polished match-boarding is cleaner than paint, and wears better… Jim? He sleeps outside in his cabin, and is quite comfortable with a stove of his own. Come now, messmate, make yourself at home, and arrange your household gods for a year’s cruise, whilst I cook an omelette and curry you some shrimps freshly snared from the cold North Sea.” (p. 2)