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3 but dull & slowgoing where I saw it. The whole country from near Basle to the foot of the alps is one huge gravelbed. [Telling] ice action & [washing] of gl [glacial] waters on the grandest scale. Indeed the whole country from Ostend seems one glacial wash The sand & silt & ground becoming finer & finer the farther from the Alps, like the silt & fine sand of Nebraska & other states along the Rocky mtns [mountains] flanks. Where the range is [broad] & rocks easily ice-crushed. Saw laughable [incident] at Brussels. In front of the hotel there is a wide pavement on wh [which] many small tables are set. Here the evening being hot a great number of people were [seated] mostly in family or friendly groups drinking beer or eating dinner. Among these was a party of 3, an old gray important man about 65, heavy eyebrows, heavy mustache & moderate hair cut rather short & inclined to stand up, a doublechin or two mounded abdomen [lively] [ ] looking [Bismarckian] good natured & half [benevolent] looking. A younger man rather pompously & fussily 4 important with a grave way of doing common things & a lady 45 or thereabouts rather thin mouth habit of [falling] open like an ill hung gate seemed to be ever on the point of remonstrating about something, had a jaunty over adorned hat much too young. The 3 were enjoining a substantial dinner of meat, wine etc. The lady and young fuss were very [defferential] to the grand old patriarch who took all their care with kindly dignity & [hauteur] of the old French school. A little careworn timid nervous dog came along, a kind of Scotch terrier, but more slender & shorter haired evidently a mother & perhaps overtimid & nervous from bearing too many children. The poor ill-fed shrinking careworn thing came gleaning crumbs under the tables nervously starting back at every movement of the peoples limbs as if accustomed only to kicks & cuffs of outrageous fortune. The grand old man noticed it as she nervously gleaned under his table & taking a plate with an assortment of meat shreds & crumbs of bread leaned over
Date Original
1893
Source
Original journal dimensions: 8.5 x 14.5 cm.
Resource Identifier
MuirReel28Journal07P03-04.tif
Publisher
Holt-Atherton Special Collections, University of the Pacific Library
Rights Management
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Keywords
John Muir, journals, drawings, writings, travel, journaling, naturalist
