Three Men in a Boat 1891, "Three Women in One Boat: A River Sketch" by Constance MacEwen was published. This book relates the journey of three young university women who set out to emulate the river trip in "Three Men in a Boat" in an effort to raise the spirits of one of them, who is about to be expelled from university. To take the place of Montmorency, they bring a cat called Tintoretto. Three Men in a Boat is referenced in the 1956 parody novel on mountaineering, "The Ascent of Rum Doodle", where the head porter Bing is said to spend "much of his
Three Men in a Boat set off the following Saturday. George must go to work that day, so J. and Harris make their way to Kingston by train. They cannot find the right train at Waterloo station (the station's confusing layout was a well-known theme of Victorian comedy) so they bribe a train driver to take his train to Kingston, where they collect the hired boat and start the journey. They meet George further up river at Weybridge. The remainder of the story describes their river journey and the incidents that occur. The book's original purpose as a guidebook is apparent as J., the narrator,