and took great pains to corroborate the accuracy of her descriptions
of barge life for it.[24] I remember our inspecting a barge on the
canal at Aldershot, with a friend who understood all its details, and
we arranged to go on an expedition in it to gain further experience,
but were somehow prevented. The allusions to Dartmouth arose from our
visit there, of which I have already spoken, and which took place
whilst she was writing the tale; and her knowledge of the intricacies
of the Great Eastern Railway between Fenchurch Street Station and
North Woolwich came from the experience she gained when we went on
expeditions to Victoria Docks, where one of our brothers was doing
parochial work under Canon Boyd.

[Footnote 24: Letter, July 22, 1874.]

During 1874 five of her "Verses for Children" came out in the
Magazine, two of which, "Our Garden," and "Three Little Nest-Birds,"
were written to fit old German woodcuts. The others were "The Dolls'
Wash," "The Blue Bells on the Lea," and "The Doll's Lullaby." She
wrote an article on "May-Day, Old Style and New Style," in 1874, and
also contributed fifty-two brief "Tales of the Khoja,"[25] which she
adapted from the Turkish by the aid of a literal translation of them
given in Barker's _Reading-Book of the Turkish Language_, and by the
help of Major Ewing, who possessed some knowledge of the Turkish
language and customs, and assisted her in polishing the stories. They
are thoroughly Eastern in character, and full of dry wit.

[Footnote 25: "Miscellanea," vol. xvii.]

I must here digress to speak of some other work that my sister did
during the time she lived in Aldershot. Both she and Major Ewing took