Of course, its entrance is studded with posts and chains, and surrounded with notice boards, menacing all kinds of torture, imprisonment, and death to everyone who dares set scull upon its waters - I wonder some of these riparian boors don't claim the air of the river and threaten everyone with forty shillings fine who breathes it - but the posts and chains a little skill will easily avoid; and as for the boards, you might, if you have five minutes to spare, and there is nobody about, take one or two of them down and throw them into the river.
Bien entendu, pilotis, chaînes et pancartes vous assaillent a l’entrée, menaçant de mille tortures, d’emprisonnement et de mort, quiconque ferait mouiller un bout d’aviron en ses eaux – je m’étonne que les propriétaires riverains n’aient pas encore fait main basse sur l’air de la riviere, infligeant quarante shillings d’amende a qui le respire. Mais il suffit d’un peu d’adresse pour éviter poteaux et chaînes.