Note Footnote 5 — Front matter

: I do not forget the lower ponds of Hampstead, which were once magnificent sheets of water, but then they were the property of the New River Company, and bathing was strictly prohibited in them. Now they seem to be abandoned by the Water Company, but they have been allowed to drain away or evaporate, until they are little better than muddy pools with a broad margin of sticky clay which would deter any one except a London street Arab from attempting to bathe in them. It would be possible to convert one or more of them into excellent swimming baths of any required depth.] Return to text