Travel Essays · Chapters

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Chapter companions for Travel Essays by Robert Louis Stevenson.

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Chapter 1
An Inland Voyage
The chapter opens with a poetic epigraph from Marvell, setting a reflective tone for the journey ahead. It introduces the beginning of an inland voyage, likely by canoe, through the waterways of France, emphasizing the spirit of travel and discovery.
Chapter 2
To Sir Walter Grindlay Simpson, Bart.
Stevenson dedicates the chapter to Sir Walter Grindlay Simpson, recalling their shared adventures and misadventures on the river, including the procurement and eventual loss of their canal barge, the Eleven Thousand Virgins of Cologne, and the subsequent sale of their boats, the Arethusa and the Cigarette.
Chapter 3
Preface to the First Edition
In the preface, Stevenson humorously reflects on the act of writing a preface, comparing it to an architect showing off plans. He confesses his fear that his book may go unread and offers it as a light, unphilosophical work, thanking his traveling companion for at least being a reader.
Chapter 4
Antwerp to Boom
The chapter describes the departure from Antwerp docks with the canoes Arethusa and Cigarette, the author's first experience sailing a canoe, reflections on courage and self-discovery, the journey up the Scheldt and Rupel rivers, and the arrival at Boom with its brickyards and the disappointing Hôtel de la Navigation.
Chapter 5
On the Willebroek Canal
The travelers navigate the Willebroek Canal in rain and wind, observing the leisurely life of bargees and enduring a comically disastrous lunch ashore before paddling onward toward Brussels.

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An Inland Voyage

To Sir Walter Grindlay Simpson, Bart.

Preface to the First Edition

Antwerp to Boom

On the Willebroek Canal