Having had, from childhood, an aversion to the water, he had not inquired.

He was aware that some rash people had gone through the Tunnel, but for himself he did not think the Tunnel a safe mode of transit.
Another gentleman belonging to Rotherhithe, who was obliged to be almost daily at Blackwall, maintained two horses for the express purpose of going backwards and forwards, round by London Bridge.
They cost him L70 per annum each.

Such a bridge as that now proposed, and which the gentleman declared that he regarded as an embryo monument of national glory, would save him L140 per annum.
He then proceeded to make a little speech about the spirit of the age, and the influence of routine, which he described as a gloomy gnome.

But his oratory was cruelly cut short by Mr.Vigil, who demanded of him whether he ever used the river steamers.

The witness shuddered fearfully as he assured the committee that he never did, and referred to the _Cricket_, whose boilers burst in the year 1842; besides, he had, he said, his things to carry with him.
Another witness told how unsafe was the transit of heavy goods by barge from one side of the river to another.