3. Chapter 1
• Three friends- Harris, George and J. live
in Kingston.
• Each of them is suffering from one or
another problems due to old age.
• J. thinks that he is suffering from
numerous diseases except for housemaid’s
knee.
• J. goes to his doctor but to his surprise no
medicines are prescribed to him.
4. • The three men discuss their problems with each
other upon their states of health due to their old
age.
• They decide that they want a break from their daily
routine to restore their mental equilibrium.
• They think of taking a sea trip which was objected
by J. when he told the story of his cousin’s-not-so-
good-sea-trip.
• They discuss a few things about the sea trip like it’s
route.
• All agreed to take the sea trip but Montmorency.
However, they still decide to take the trip as they
were three to one.
5. Chapter 2
• The men start planning the trips they decide to
start on Sunday.
• George and J. wanted to camp out while Harris
warns them of rains.
• J. describes Harris as the man who does know a
place round the corner where one can get some
really first class nectar.
• They finally decided to camp out on fine nights
and in a hotel or an inn when it was wet.
6. • J. describes his initial fears for
Montmorency as J is worried that how
would Montmorency survive.
• These fears get dismissed later on through
the series of complaints against
Montmorency.
• He discovers that Montmorency’s idea of
life was to march around the slums with the
most disreputable dogs.
7. Chapter 3
• They settle the arrangements for the things that
they have to take with them.
• J. describes Harris as the one who is ready to
take the burden of everything himself and put it
on the backs of other people.
• J. feels Harris reminds him of Uncle Podger
and that Harris will grow up to be like his uncle.
• So J. takes up the responsibility to do things
himself than to give it to Harris.
8. • They make a list and then remake another list.
• George sensibly helps to make the list.
• J. describes a lot of things people carry on the
boat that do not get used even once.
• He compares this to life and expresses how
people make their lives complex and heavy to
pull off.
• They plan to take a boat with cover instead of a
tent and also plan other essential amenities.
9. Chapter 4
• The next subject the men consider is food.
• Based on their previous experience they all agree not
to take oil stove with them, as oil tends to get on
everything, ad makes a sooty, smelly mess.
• Similarly, they decide their food stocks should not
contain any cheese, as cheese tends to "make to much
of itself" flavoring everything else in the hamper.
• J. tells an amusing story of a time he volunteered to
carry some large cheeses for a friend on
a train journey. Entering a crowded train carriage, he
notices that all the other passengers find excuses to
leave him alone and he ends up in an empty carriage in
an otherwise crowded train.
10. • The men gather the items they intend to
take, push aside the furniture, and pile everything in
the center of the room. J. volunteers to pack and is
dismayed when George and Harris seem to take no
interest in the packing.
• After J. has finished the packing he remembers that he
has to put his toothbrush in his bag.
• After J. was finally done with his packing George and
Harris start with their packing and everything would
become a chaos.
• While George and Harris were packing Montmorency
started creating nuisance and got all the men mad an
him.
• At the end when the packing was done they all went to
sleep.
11. Chapter 5
• The next day begins with the housekeeper waking the
men at 9:00 in the morning, each blaming the others
for not waking them all up sooner.
• At breakfast, they check the weather forecast. J.
remarks that weather forecasts are useless things, as
they forecast "precisely what happened yesterday or the
day before, and precisely the opposite of what is going
to happen to-day.
• After breakfast, Harris and J. move the luggage
outside to wait for a cab. This is the first time it has
all been in one place, and J. is surprised at the bulk
of it all.
12. • As they wait for the cab, a group of boys gathers
around starts teasing the men. The group gets larger
and the teasing continues that the men must be
embarking on a long journey into Africa, or across the
Atlantic.
• An empty cab finally arrives and takes them to
Waterloo.
• The men reached the Waterloo station at eleven to
catch the eleven-five train.
• After a lot of confusion they finally boarded the train
at the eleventh hour.
• When they got to Kingston they found their boat
waiting for and so they finally set off for their journey.
