"He got all the wood
That ever he could,
And he stuck it together with glue so;
He made him a hut.
And in it he put
The carcase of Robinson Crusoe."
One evening, when walking in the Temple-gardens, he accosted three ladies, by asking them if they ever saw a man swim; "No," said one, "nor do we wish to see such a sight." "But you shall," said he, and immediately jumped into the water with his clothes on; upon which they were alarmed; and he, after some time swimming about, upon coming to shore, made them a most elegant bow, and though in his dripping state, was recognized as the eccentric Mr. Cussans. He then joined his friends at Jemmy Yerrel's, at the "Salutation,"[1] in Tavistock-street, and commenced his nightly quantum of wine: he would sometimes take eight pints at a sitting without being the least intoxicated. Cussans subsequently went to Barbadoes, where he stayed about three years, after which, on his return to England, he died.
- ↑ The old sign of the Salutation, at the corner of Tavistock-court, Tavistock-street, was pulled down by Mr. Yerrel, the landlord; who informed me that it consisted of two gentlemen saluting each other, dressed with flowing wigs and square pockets, large enough to hold folio books, and swords at their sides, being the dress of the time when the sign was put up, which is supposed to have been about 1707, that being the date on a stone at the Covent-garden end of the Court.
