Autumn time, with the cooler sun' and the fresh, clean air with a pleasant nip in it which accompanies this season of the year takes one's thoughts back to England, where even now trees sre spreading a covering of russet brown over the ground, and the weather, which has been wintry enough all summer, is heralding the approach of the cold season, Autumn time In England is usually rather delightful. Just as in Shanghai, the weather is mild and the sun bright, although one never can tell what the next day will bring, so eccentric is the English weather. From whatever part of the country the Shanghai Englishman may' come, his thoughts will surely turn fondly back to his home country in that delightful period "twixt summer and winter which usually forms one of the pleasantest seasons of the year, Down in Sussex, in the old Cinque Port, Town of Hastings, which for hundreds of years has bred fishermen, to gain but a meagre livelihood from the seas, the autumn scene will be the same as ever, The fishing fleet, a long line of blackened hulls, will be drawn up on the' beach, while the fishermen themselves will either be sitting on the decks mending nets, and repairing sails and ship's tackle, or in one of the ancient ale-houses which abound in their quarter of the town, They are a bluff, burly crowd of men, these Hastings. fishermen. 'They spring from historic stock, which for centuries have been living. in the same old Ashmarket in the eastern quarter of the town, well away from all the modern build~ ings, and consisting of narrow, cobbled' streets, rising gradually up from the sea, Old timbered cote tages, "pubs" which have been the favotirite resorts of the fisherfolk for generations, Norman churches, tone of which bears the name of Titus Oates on its register, and almost the last to survive in the whole of the British Isles, a line of old, ramshackle huts on the beach for the drying of fishing nets—these go to make up the Hastings fish-market Adjoining the drying-huts is the MWfeboat house, and peeping inside tone can catch a glimpse of the towering bulk of the lifeboat, whose crew have behind them a splendid record of lives snatched from the sea. The Hastings fishing fleet goes out on expeditions lasting over three or four days, and there is no telling when the mountainous seas for which this part of the coast is famous may not arise to endanger the lives of these hardy Asherfoll, One of the most inspiring sights it 48 possible to see in a seacoast town is the launching of the lifeboat, especially at night. the distress rocket flares up into the sky, and all at once an anxious crowd gathers around the—boathouse, Within a flash the lifeboat's crew, clad in oilskins and_sou'westers, arrive bringing with them the two sturdy horses which are to pull the lifeboat down to the water's edge. Then, surrounded by men waving flares, the lifeboat comes crashing Out of the boathouse, with the harness chains making a deafening noise, while the big wheels of the carriage to which it is attached thunder along the road, and add to the ear-splitting crescendo of sound which heralds the departure of the massive hull from its resting-place, Arrived on the beach, the doat is towed down to withia a few yards of the water's edge, and then slid off the carriage on to a runway of wooden boards. With the boat perched at a perilous angle on the steeply sloping shingle, the crew enter, and the coxswain takes up his position at the wheel, "Let her. go!" he roars, and the fishermen, hanging on to her sides release their hold. The engine starts up with a. roar, the propeller whirls, madly around, and down the runway lurches the boat, splashing into the stormy waters. The night soon swallows her up, and all that can be hourd is the pounding of the breakers on the shore. Now and! again, a distress signal can be seen faring into the sky from far out at sea. The most dramatic moment, of course, is when a chugging sound can be heard through the darkness, and the tossing bows of the lifeboat come slowly into view from out of the mist. The crowd on shore roars itself hoarse as the lifeboat is beached, and strong arms lift out the drenched figures who have missed death by hardly so much as the masthead to which, perhaps, they had been clinging until help arrived. Deliriously the crew, heroes for the hour, are thumped fon the back, as they step from the boat. Press cameras click, while reporters rush around trying to: get eye-witness stories from the. survivors. Such a scene is common enough at Hastings, but it is one that, seen by a stranger to the town, cannot be forgotten in a lifetime.
Towering above the town, as if! callously oblivious to the hardships and dangers which the fishermen below count as part of their daily toil, there looms the ancient castle of Hastings, once an impregnable stronghold, now but a handful of crumbling ruins, For a small sum one may see the ancient dungeons which extend far into the steep hill fon which the castle is perched. Down and down they go, and, lit by a torch carried by the guide, one may seo strange marks on the walls. They are, he says, the marks of hands and feet nailed to the wall, for many a prisoner was crucified here in the dark recesses of the: dungeon. Here and there at the side of the passage are diminutive cells, just large enough to hold a man. At night, the ruins are flood lit, and standing at the foot of the hill one may gaze up and see, amid the darkness, a crumbling tower and a massive wall, which are practically all that is left of the stronghold built soon after the Janding of William the Conqueror.
It Is a treat to see the fisher-folk, accustomed to a life of unceasing labour, taking part in mass festivities such as the Jubilee Celebrations last year, While most folk were in bed with never a thought.
the festivities to come, the Hastings fisher-folk were early as 430 am. and even at this early hour one solitary figure could be seen stretched out helpless in the fish market, All the morning, running, walking, singing, eating, drinking and other competitions were being held, while crowds surged around the market square and shouted themselves hoarse. To the music of the "Winkle Club Band," the vast assembly danced in the open street up to a late hour, and the next morning the streets were thick with confetti, streamers and paper hats that one had to wade through a slough several inches deep. While staying in Eastbourne, not far from Hastings, with his Late Majesty King George V last year, the Queen paid a short visit to Hastings. Her visit had been awaited for a long time by the townspeople, and not least by the fisher-folk. ' Finally one sunny afternoon the familiar Daimler with the gold crown painted on its humber-plate could be seen coming slowly down one of.the main streets of the town. The ear, to the jubilation of the fisher-folk, made straight for their quarter of the town. Stopping outside one of the main shops in the fish market, selling mostly fishing tackle ahd other ace cessories, the Queen got out, went Inside, and purchased a Sussex tru basket, chatting cheerily to the keeper of the shop. Her next visit was to one of the many antique shops in the cobbled streets of the fish market, and here she purchased tone or two articles to add to her collection. It is visits like this that breed in the hearts of the fisherfolk, and all English people, that affection for the Royal Family which finds expression in the jubilant outpourings. of loyalty! Ike those which distinguished the jubilee celebration us in Hastings.
There are plenty of exciting episodes along the coast around Hastings. There is no telling when {fishing vessel from the other side of the channel may not creep up
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.