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140 The water of the river Thames is very heavy, and not at all good for the digestion, nor could it ever produce an appetite. Yet the people of this country do not use water as a drink; when it is necessary they take a little, once in three or four days," With regard to our dogs, the travellers relate that the English people make them so serviceable that sometimes they are sent on business, and they add, "For instance, if a man wants something from a shop that is known to his dog, he will write a note to the shopkeeper, asking for what he may want; then he puts the note into a basket, and hangs it on the dog's neck, and gives him a sign, and the dog will carry the message immediately, and return to the satisfaction of his master." The "Opera of the Horse," as they term Astley's Theatre, was also visited by the princes, who declare that fifty thousand ladies were present, and gave splendour to the place. After this they went to a cutler's shop, and saw two millions of knives of different descriptions. We are told, too, by these travellers, that there are about two millions of stage-coaches in the United Kingdom; that many houses have gold knockers, of a hundred tomans value; and that there are more than five hundred thousand clocks fixed on the churches and other edifices in London. There is no doubt that much of this singular style of description is due to the oriental habit of exaggeration; but the book affords a curious example of the unauthentic character sometimes attaching to "travellers' tales."