Travel Essays · Chapter
To Sir Walter Grindlay Simpson, Bart. explained
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
What happens
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.
Free preview opens on this chapter — companions, themes, and character notes appear beside the text.
Narrative arc
Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Exposition.
- Setup
- Escalation
- Breaking point
- Aftermath
- Closing
This passage marks the dramatic climax because it reverses the narrator’s initial expectation of confrontation…
Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.
Follow the arc while readingThemes in this chapter
- Human Connection and Community
The dedication highlights the shared experiences and camaraderie between Stevenson and Simpson during their voyage.
- Mortality and the Passage of Time
The lament over the fate of the ships and the end of the voyage reflects on loss and the passage of time.
Characters to notice
- The Cigarette
The dedicatee, addressed as 'my dear Cigarette', who shared in the rains and portages of the voyage.
- The Arethusa
One of the historic vessels that was sold along with the Cigarette after the barge project failed.
Key passages
“It was enough that you should have shared so liberally in the rains and portages of our voyage; that you should have had so hard a paddle to recover the derelict Arethusa on the flooded Oise; and that you should thenceforth have piloted a mere wreck of mankind to Origny Sainte-Benoîte and a supper so eagerly desired.”
You already did more than your share by enduring the rain and carrying the boat, paddling hard to rescue the abandoned Arethusa on the swollen Oise, and then guiding me, exhausted, to Origny Sainte-Benoîte for a much-needed meal.
Stevenson acknowledges Simpson's efforts during their journey.
“The barge was procured and christened, and as the Eleven Thousand Virgins of Cologne , lay for some months, the admired of all admirers, in a pleasant river and under the walls of an ancient town.”
We obtained and named the barge the Eleven Thousand Virgins of Cologne, and for several months it was greatly admired while moored in a lovely river near an old town.
Describes the initial success and admiration of the barge.
“Now these historic vessels fly the tricolor and are known by new and alien names.”
Now those once-famous boats sail under the French flag and have been given unfamiliar names.
Stevenson laments the loss of the boats to foreign ownership.
