My life : a record of events and opinions - Wallace-online.org

134 MY LIFEvery well, and was very easy to row. One day Ipersuaded my mother to let me row her to Swansea,where we made a few purchases ;and then came backquite safely till within about a mile of home, when,passing under a bridge, my mother put her hand outto keep the boat from touching, and leaning over alittle too much, the side went under water, and upsetus both. As the water was only about two or three feetdeep we escaped with a thorough wetting. The boatwas soon^baled dry, and then I rowed on to NeathBridge, where my mother got out and walked home,and did not trust herself in our boat again, though Iand my brother had many pleasant excursions.My chief work in 1846 had been the survey of theparish of Llantwit-juxta-Neath. The agent of theGnoU Estate had undertaken the valuation forthe tithe commutation, and arranged with me to dothe survey and make the map and the necessarycopies. When all was finished and the valuationmade, I was told that I must collect the paymentfrom the various farmers in the parish, who wouldafterwards deduct it from their rent. This wasa disagreeable business, as many of the farmerswere very poor ; some could not speak English, andcould not be made to understand what it was allabout ; others positively refused to pay ; and theseparate amounts were often so small that it was notworth going to law about them, so that several werenever paid at all, and others not for a year afterwards.This was one of the things that disgusted me withbusiness, and made me more than ever disposed togive it all up if I could get anything else to do.My brother John and I also obtained a littlebuilding and architectural work, and amongst otherstructures we designed and supervised the erection of