f 
 
■...I . I 
 
Ui)c fftobern 
 
 I' li R o ire H 
 
 EVROPE, ASIA, AFRICA, & AMERICA. 
 BY AV? ADAMS, M.A. 
 
 VOL. IV. —EUROPE. 
 
 3oilino Springs in Ireland. 
 
 PHOTEJ) PO?r FISHEli, SOT? & C? 
 
THE MODERN 
 
 Voyager 8l Traveller 
 
 THROUGH 
 
 EUROPE, ASIA, AFRICA, Sc AMERICA. 
 
 BY W. ADAMS, M.A. 
 
 IN FOUR VOLUMES. VOLUME IV. 
 
 Europe. 
 
 yiato ant) /Haps. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 HENRY FISHER, SON, AND P. JACKSON, 
 
 38, NEWGATE STREET. 
 
 1828. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The present Volume not only describes the most 
 remarkable portions of the Quarter of the World, the 
 name of which it bears, but it may be said to exhibit 
 the picture of regenerated Europe. This epithet 
 may certainly be applied to the changes, moral and 
 political, which have arisen in many parts of the 
 Continent out of the late revolutions, especially since 
 the return of peace. Much, indeed, still remains to 
 be done; but the agreeable effect already produced, 
 will appear the more interesting, when it is seen, that 
 not only the peculiarities of France, but the customs 
 and manners prevailing in the interior of Germany, 
 from the Rhine to Hungary, "Wallachia, and the 
 Turkish border, are now more intimately known than 
 at any former period. The same may be said of 
 Italy, and the Islands, &c. of the Grecian Archi- 
 pelago. The vast empire of Russia has not been 
 less explored, together with Iceland, and the other 
 frozen regions, hitherto supposed inaccessible. 
 
 In a word, the spread of civilization, with the 
 science, spirit, and enterprise of the late reign, 
 have scarcely left any recess in the habitable globe 
 unvisited or undescribed. 
 
AUTHORITIES 
 
 CONSULTED FOR THIS VOLUME. 
 
 EUROPE. 
 
 Travels in France, in 1818. By Lieutenant Hall, of the 14th Light 
 Dragoons. London, 1819. 
 
 Travels in Italy, Greece, and the Ionian Islands, in a Series of Let- 
 ters, descriptive of the Manners, Scenery, and the Fine Arts. By H. 
 Williams, Esq. 2 vols, royal 8vo. London, 1820. 
 
 A Tour through Sicily, in the year 1815. By George Russel, of his 
 Majesty's Office of Works. London, 1819. 
 
 An Autumn on the Rhine ; or, Sketches of Courts, Society, and 
 Scenery, in some of the German States bordering on the Rhine. 8vo. 
 London, 1818. 
 
 Letters of a Prussian Traveller, descriptive of a Tour through Swe- 
 den, Prussia, Austria, Hungary, Istria, the Ionian Islands, Egypt, Syria, 
 Italy, the Tyrol, Banks of the Rhine, Hanover, Holstein, &c. By John 
 Bramsen. 2 vols. 2d edition. London, 1819. 
 
 Italy, its Agriculture, &c. From the French of M. de Chateauvieux, 
 being Letters written by him in Italy, in the years 1812 and 1813. 8vo. 
 London, 1819. 
 
 A Classical Tour through Italy and Sicily, tending to describe some 
 Districts which have not been described bv Mr. Eustace in his Classical 
 Tour. By Sir Richard Colt Hoare, Bart.' London, 1819. 
 
 Travels from Vienna through Lower Hungary, with some Remarks on 
 the State of Vienna during the Congress in the year 1814. By Richard 
 Bright, M.D. Edinburgh and London, 1818. 
 
 Travels in the North of Germany, describing the present State of the 
 Social and Political Institutions, the Agriculture, Manufactures, Com- 
 merce, Education, Arts, and Manners, particularly in the kingdom of 
 Hanover. By Thomas Hodgskin, Esq. 2 vols. Edinburgh, 1820. 
 
 Journal of a Tour in Germany, Sweden, Russia, and Poland, during 
 Wie years 1813 and 1814. By T. James, Esq., Student of Christ Church, 
 Oxford. Second Edition. London, 1817. 
 
 Travels through Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, &c. with a 
 Description of Petersburgh during the Tyranny of the Emperor Paul. 
 By Dr. E. D. Clarke, LL.D. Vol. V. 4to. London, 1819. 
 
 A Picturesque Journey to the North Cape. By A. F. Skioldebrand, 
 Translated from the French. 1813. 
 
 Travels in the Island of Iceland, during the Summer of 1810. By Sir 
 George Stuart Mackenzie, Bart., Fellow of the Royal Society of Edin- 
 burgh. London, 1816. 
 
 Journey of a Tour in Iceland in the Summer of 1809. By William 
 Jackson Hooker, F.L.S., and Fellow of the Wernerian Society. Lon- 
 don, 1815. 
 
 Travels through Norway and Lapland, during the years 1806, 1807, 
 and 1S08. By Leopold Von Buch, Member of the Royal Academy of 
 Sciences at Berlin. London, 1819. 
 
 A Voyage of Discovery, made under the Orders of the Admiralty, in 
 his Majesty's ships Isabella and Alexander, for the purpose of explor- 
 v ing Baffin's Bay, and inquiring into the probability of a North-West 
 Passage. By John Ross, K.S., Captain of the Royal Nary. London, 
 1819. 
 
FLOWERS 
 
 OF 
 
 MODERN VOYAGES & TRAVELS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Mr. Hall arrives at Boulogne— French Diligences 
 — Mode of Travelling — Bonaparte s Column — 
 Sunday Amusements — Montr e /< 7 — \ Voodof Cresr.y 
 — Abbeville— Rouen —Ma : d of Orleans — Lillt- 
 bone Caudebec —A nov. l Scene - - A Norman Castle 
 — Roman Theatre— Par': of La Maillvrai — Ab- 
 bey of Jumieges — Parti Afltt unlike London — Jw- 
 lianas Thermal Palace— Abbey of St. Gennains 
 — Church of St. Genevieve — St. Gervais — St. En- 
 enne du Mont — .S7. /VA —St. Sulpice — The In- 
 valids — The Pantheon — Cemetery of Pere Lj 
 Chaise — The Catacombs. 
 
 Mr. Hall, in ISIS, travelled from r alais to 
 Boulogne in a diligence, and very aptly observes, 
 that the superabundant vivacity of the French is 
 by no means evinced in their mode of travelling ; for 
 though a coach runs from Calais to Paris in thirty- 
 hours, it is an imitation almost forced on them by 
 the crowd of English visitors, and is at complete 
 variance with the spirit or rather matter of their 
 diligences. That in which Mr. H. journied, set out 
 from the " Hotel de Flandres/' The office whence 
 it departed was situated at the end of a yard en- 
 cumbered with vehicles of grave and ponderous as- 
 
 * VOL. IV. B 
 
2 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 pect, apparently better fitted for residences than 
 conveyances. The team consisted of three rope- 
 linked steeds, one of them a blind English charger, 
 and they were five hours travelling the twenty miles 
 between Calais and Boulogne, though the road was 
 well paved. 
 
 The intermediate country resembles the greater 
 part of Dorsetshire, with its dips and short hills. 
 It is dreary ; for though cultivated it is uninclosed. 
 
 The town of Boulogne is divided into the upper 
 and the lower. The former is surrounded by an anci- 
 ent wall, with round towers ; the latter spreads round 
 the harbour, formed by the discharge of the little 
 river Liane, a stream too contemptible to be called 
 a river, and scarcely discernible from the mud when 
 the tide is out. Bonaparte constructed basins here 
 for the reception of his flotilla, but they are now 
 little used, and it is probable they will soon be 
 choaked up as the harbour has too little depth for 
 commercial purposes. 
 
 A winding road from the town leads to the sum- 
 mit of the cliff, where the white cliffs of Albion may 
 be distinctly viewed. Here the ruin of a Roman 
 Pharos, said to be erected by Caligula, arrests the 
 attention. It is an almost shapeless mass of brick- 
 work, but the solidity of its construction is such 
 that it seems to have been destined for everlasting 
 durability. Its foundation has outlasted the rock 
 on which it rested, and now projects several feet 
 over the precipice. The dimensions of the work 
 are now undistinguishable, but the whole appears 
 to have been faced with stone. 
 
 There is a small arched recess at the north-east 
 end, and the traces of a stair-case are visible at the 
 west; these, with two apertures, which have the 
 appearance of drains, are all that bear any marks 
 of regularity in the present ruin. About two miles 
 north-east, stands the unfinished column designed 
 by Bonaparte for a similar purpose. The basement 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 3 
 
 and a few feet of the shaft, are all that is yet raised 
 of it, but the scaffolding is still standing, and the 
 materials are collected and prepared for completing 
 it, though it is doubtful if the present French go- 
 vernment will take up the work. The style and 
 decorations of the plan are Egyptian ; and a statue 
 of Napoleon was to have overlooked the shores of 
 England from its summit. Mr. Hall passed a Sun- 
 day at Boulogne, and had thus an opportunity of 
 visiting a fete, or fair held at a neighbouring village. 
 The hilarity of which formed a striking contrast 
 with the extremes of fanatical sanctity, or sottish 
 intemperance observable in the manner of passing 
 that day, on the opposite side of the straits. On 
 a little green, shaded for the most part by rows of 
 elm trees, booths were erected decked out with bon- 
 bons, cakes, ribbons, and various other trifles. At 
 various intervals rings were enclosed, not for box- 
 ing or bull-baiting, but dancing. The music 
 sounded from beneath the trees, while the young 
 men and lasses tripped " on the light fantastic toe," 
 with a correctness and grace which would have ho- 
 noured Almack's. 
 
 The nymphs were generally clad in white gowns, 
 to which was superadded a shawl mostly red, and 
 a cap closely fitted to the head, from which how- 
 ever, their curls were suffered tastefully to escape, 
 and hang round their pretty faces ; while an air of 
 refinement diffused over their whole persons and 
 manners, seemed to indicate that nearly the whole 
 of them might have been elevated to a higher place 
 in society, without the question being asked, of 
 "how they got there." 
 
 The same superiority of appearance was not ob- 
 servable among the men, the smartest of whom had 
 the air of a shop boy, but their mirth was unmixed 
 with vulgarity, and the evening passed off without 
 either a fight or a drunken frolic. A passport, the 
 want of which had detained Mr. Hall at Boulogne, 
 
 b 2 
 
4 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 how arrived at the Bureau de Police ; he proceeded 
 to present himself before the mayor, a plodding 
 mercer, who granting his carte de surete, with dis- 
 patch, did not fail to appeal to the generosity 
 of the Englishman for two francs above the 
 usual charge, " pour son expedition.'' — " O^te^* 1 
 observes the traveller, " one would not easily find 
 the mayor of an English corporation who would 
 take an official bribe of twenty- pence, but the 
 French are no despisers of small profits.*' Mr. H. 
 being thus at liberty to pursue his way towards 
 Normandy, proceeded through Montreuil and Ab- 
 beville, 
 
 Before entering Montreuil, a number of draw- 
 bridges, fortifications, and sentries are passed. In 
 many places the faces of the works are covered 
 with fruit trees. The ditches are supplied by the 
 little river Canche^ ^hich then escapes down a fer- 
 tile valley to the sea. 
 
 Several of the churches were destroyed during 
 the Revolution. The principal one remaining is a 
 Gothic edifice, with a facade richly decorated with 
 sculpture, but eight saints which adorned the porch 
 suffered decapitation during the Revolution. The 
 high altar is still very plentifully supplied with the 
 bones, Sec. of their favourite saints. The pointed 
 arches of the central aisle, are supported by octa- 
 gonal columns. 
 
 The country between Montreuil and Abbeville, 
 is dull, flat, and open, like the whole of Picardy. 
 The only object which it presents worthy of notice, 
 is the wood of Cressy, twenty-two miles in circum- 
 ference, and further famous for its vicinity to the 
 field of the celebrated battle. 
 
 The town of Abbeville has a motley appearance, 
 many of the houses being old and of wood, with 
 pointed roofs, projecting stories, and their fronts 
 chequered with wood work ; others are in the heavy 
 Solemn style of the age of Louis XIV. having abun- 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 5 
 
 dance of stone balustrades, urns, and gateways, 
 while the remainder are in the neat flimsy fashion 
 of the present day. The principal church, dedi- 
 cated to St. Wilfrid is a magnificent edifice, its fa- 
 9ade with two lofty towers, is in the most lavish 
 style of Gothic architectural splendour. The por- 
 tals are ornamented with colossal statues, ably 
 executed, and in perfect preservation. The inte- 
 rior is no wise striking. The roof is plainly vaulted ; 
 the central arches rest on clustered columns. 
 Those pictures which appear the best and are most 
 worthy estimation as the works of some of the old 
 masters, are neglected and covered with dirt and 
 cobwebs ; on this being pointed out the sacristan, 
 he replied, " Ah, Monsieur, ils sont tres vieux,'' 
 and then pointed out some recent daubings as more 
 worthy the curiosity of the traveller. The French 
 nation are so insensible to the magnificent taste of 
 their forefathers, that the existence of these splen- 
 did monuments of their piety would pass totally 
 unnoticed, were it not for the curiosity of English 
 travellers, while at the same time they extol the 
 poorest modern production to the skies, bestowing 
 the epithets superbe, magnijique y on the feeblest ef- 
 fort. English curiosity on these subjects is ludi- 
 crously misinterpreted, and set down, not to ad- 
 miration, but national vanity. An opinion is 
 current, that most of their Gothic edifices were 
 built while we had possession of the country; an 
 observation which, true or false, is generally re- 
 peated at each cathedral as peculiarly grateful to 
 English ears. 
 
 The next place described by Mr. Hall is Rouen, 
 of which he observes, that we may take for granted, 
 upon the mere testimony of its physiognomy, that 
 it is a city of great antiquity, and he adds, that 
 he never saw one, excepting our own Chester, 
 which has an appearance so thoroughly Gothic. 
 The houses are nearly all built of wood, with each 
 
 b 3 
 
6 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 story projecting over the one below it, until their 
 pointed roofs almost meet from the opposite sides 
 of the narrow and crooked streets ; into which, 
 under such inauspicious circumstances, light and 
 sunshine can be expected to pay but feeble tributes. 
 Door posts, window frames, beam ends, and the 
 wood work with which the fronts of almost every 
 building are chequered and intersected, are very 
 frequently decorated with rich carvings of grotesque 
 heads, flowers, and other fanciful ornaments ; every 
 turning presents some relic of antiquity, a pointed 
 arch, the mutilated statue of a saint, or a Gothic 
 fountain continually strike the eye ; while the moul- 
 dering magnificence of the cathedral churches, Pa- 
 lais de Justice, and other public edifices, carries 
 the imagination four or five centuries backward. 
 
 The only considerable innovation of modern 
 times, has been the demolition pf the fortifications 
 and castles which defended the approach to the 
 city, these have been replaced by boulevards, or 
 broad avenues of trees, forming stately promenades. 
 The cathedral stands the most prominent among 
 the public edifices, and was raised to its present 
 splendour by Archbishop Maurillus in 1063. Its 
 facade is superb, and terminated by two lofty 
 towers. This pious Archbishop also built the 
 tower on the left of the facade, which is called the 
 butter tower, and is reported to have been erected 
 with the money raised by the sale of indulgences 
 granted to certain persons, allowing them, on 
 the plea of indisposition, to eat butter during lent. 
 This beautiful specimen of the most elaborate 
 Gothic, is terminated by a flat roof surrounded by 
 balustrades of stone, and adorned with rich Gothic 
 pinnacles, which give it, at a distance, the appear- 
 ance of being surmounted by a rich crown. The 
 space between these towers is divided by four pin- 
 nacles of the richest and most delicate sculpture, 
 ■which, like eastern minarets, crown the centre of 
 
 5 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 7 
 
 the facade and portal. The latter consists of three 
 entrances, of which the two lateral are argives, 
 richly sculptured. The door> in the centre are 
 carved, and crowned by a basso relievo, represent- 
 ing the genealogical tree of " the root of Jesse." 
 The pointed roof of the porch is adorned with three 
 bands of images, in alto-relievo, each figure stand- 
 ing beneatli a Gothic tabernacle. Over this cen- 
 tral entrance, is a pyramidal pediment carved, con- 
 taining a handsome dial. It is also flanked by two 
 graceful pinnacles, one of which is partly in ruins ; 
 towards the bases of which are niches filled with 
 colossal images of saints and bishops. But the 
 richness of the architecture and sculpture are too 
 complicated and beautiful to admit any adequate 
 description in words, and scarcely could the artist's 
 pencil do justice to a pile, the whole of which dis- 
 plays so strikingly the extent and variety of the 
 architect's conceptions. 
 
 The Abbey of St Ouen, though founded by 
 Clotaire I. is now a modern edifice. Since the Re- 
 volution it has been converted into an Hotel de title, 
 a museum, and public library. The superb portals 
 of the church of St. Macloud next attracted our 
 traveller's attention, they were sculptured in the 
 reign of Henry III. either by, or under the direc- 
 tion of John Goujon, they are ornamented by in- 
 numerable figures; the detail, precision, and deli- 
 cacy of which, and the various other ornaments 
 arrest the attention of every visitor possessing ar- 
 chitectural taste or discrimination. There are 
 several other churches in this place very little in- 
 ferior in architectural magnificence, which are 
 walled up, while others are converted into remises, 
 stables, &c. 
 
 The Palais de Justice strongly resembles West- 
 minster Hall, not only in its architecture, but even 
 in its interior divisions and uses. Its roof is of 
 xrood, and is not unlike the inui ted hull of a ship. It 
 
8 
 
 FLOWERS OP MODERN 
 
 was completed in 14<99, and here the ancient Parlia- 
 ment of Normandy held its sittings. It consists of 
 a quadrangle, surrounded on three of its sides by 
 buildings of various dates and orders. Towards the 
 street it is enclosed by an embattled wall having 
 two gates. 
 
 The Salle de Procureurs, is a noble room 170 
 feet long, and fifty wide, it is entered from the 
 street by several flights of steps. 
 
 In the Place de Pucelle, which is a market, sur- 
 rounded by old buildings, and having a fountain in 
 the centre, stands a statue of the heroic and basely 
 persecuted Maid of Orleans ; this was erected by 
 Paul Stodts, but is every way unworthy of her to 
 whom it was raised. On this spot the cruel sen- 
 tence of the Bishop of Beauvais was executed on 
 this high minded woman. 
 
 An ancient building with its facade towards the 
 street, stands in one corner of the Place de Pucelle, 
 its date is as ancient as the time of Charles VII. 
 It was long the habitation of the Intendants of 
 Rouen ; and Francis I. is said to have taken up his 
 temporary residence here. Diana's car, drawn by 
 stags, the well known device of Diana of Poitiers, 
 and the salamander, that of Francis, were carved 
 in honour of him, over the principal entrance, and 
 are still to be seen on different parts of the building. 
 But the most curious piece of carving is on the wall 
 to the left of the court yard. It consists of a series 
 of groups and figures. These, antiquarians have 
 agreed, represent the interview of Francis and 
 Henry VIII. Rouen possesses a museum, situated 
 on the second floor of the Hotel de mile. It is 
 divided into two large apartments, and contains a 
 considerable collection of the works of the French, 
 Flemish, and Italian masters. 
 
 From Rouen Mr. Hall made an excursion as far 
 as Lillebonne, being accommodated with one of 
 those hackneys for this purpose, of which he says, 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 9 
 
 they are lent to strangers " upon the principle that 
 no usage can deteriorate, nor any profligacy tempt 
 to steal them." 
 
 Passing along a picturesque country, our travel- 
 ler arrived at Caudebec, once a place of great 
 strength, but in the time of Henry IV. the fortifi- 
 cations were totally demolished. The church is 
 now the most interesting object in this place. The 
 spire is encircled by fillets of roses, beautifully 
 carved in stone, and carried to the summit. The 
 principal entrance is as richly sculptured as that of 
 St. Macloud at Rouen, and displays equal delicacy. 
 The middle aisle is enriched by ten massive circular 
 columns ranged on each side; their capitals are 
 fancifully decorated with vine leaves, and other 
 embellishments that may vie in beauty with the 
 Corinthian acanthus. One of the chapels encloses 
 a monumental effigy of the founder of the edifice. 
 It is of a peculiar character, consisting of a small 
 skeleton, drawn in black lines against a tablet in 
 the wall; beside it are placed a level and trowel, 
 with the plan of a building, an inscription in rude 
 characters informs us, that the architect, when he 
 had built also endowed this church with certain 
 lands, and was interred here in 1 184. 
 
 It being fair-day when Mr. Hall arrived at Cau- 
 debec, the terrace which runs along the edge of 
 the Seine, and is used as a public promenade, was 
 crowded witli stalls for trinket-, Punches, merry 
 Andrews, and dancing dogs, displaying all the hi- 
 larity conspicuous at the country fairs of this 
 laughter loving country. 
 
 Between this place and Lilltbonne, Mr. H. con- 
 trived to lose his way romantically enough tb have 
 furnished no uninteresting scene in a modern novel, 
 and as he was within a short distance of a mill 
 stream, his adventure might have terminated rather 
 tragically, had not the timely arrival of a peasant 
 relieved him from his perplexities ; having bar- 
 
10 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 gained with his deliverer to pay half a franc for his 
 conveyance to the inn door, the bargain was faith- 
 fully abided by ; but our traveller conceiving by 
 its appearance that this house promised but indif- 
 ferent accommodations, he asked his conductor if 
 it was the best inn ; but being overheard by the 
 landlord, who at that moment opened the door, he 
 was saluted with the question, " are you then the 
 best man, that you want the best inn ?" 
 
 Perceiving, however, that his guest was an Eng- 
 lishman, the host immediately apologized, though 
 Mr. H. quaintly enough remarks, that his merits 
 were certainly infinitely small if they should be 
 exactly measured by his evening's entertainment. 
 The Chateau of Lillebonne, which had principally 
 attracted Mr. H. to this spot, was visited by him 
 the next morning. He conjectures the castle to 
 have been raised on the site of the Roman tower 
 which once watched the entrance of the Seine. 
 Under the Dukes of Normandy this fortress was of 
 considerable note, and here the council was held 
 in which William finally decided on the invasion of 
 England. The Duke D'Harcourt is the propietor 
 of its present remains, and he has a kind of land 
 steward residing at a small house erected within 
 its battlements. The ditch, though dry and over- 
 grown with weeds is still crossed by a bridge. Its 
 exterior presents a very interesting appearance. 
 One grey massive round tower is still remaining 
 unimpaired; a second has been cleft down the mid- 
 dle, and thus displays the inner vaultings of its 
 different apartments, while beyond these towers 
 the hall of state rises above the fosse. These build- 
 ings surround the great court yard, and the round 
 tower now entire was formerly used as the donjon 
 keep. The stair-case remains entire, as are the 
 vaulted roofs of the three lower stories, but that 
 of the upper has fallen in. The tower which has 
 been rent by time appears to have been the work 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 11 
 
 of a later period than the rest of the castle. Its 
 form is hexagonal ; it is very lofty, and it was pro- 
 bably part of the chapel as appears to be indicated 
 by the pointed form of its windows. The side walls, 
 with two rows of windows, and one gable end, are all 
 that remain entire of the great hall which has lost 
 its roof. The upper windows are double arches 
 divided by two small columns ; the latter are simple 
 circular arches, and the ivy claiming its usual pri- 
 vilege, has twisted itself round them, and hangs in 
 fanciful festoons among the apertures. The bot- 
 tom of the hall is grown over with bushes and 
 smaller plants ; but the battlements surrounding the 
 court yard still remain entire, and from them there 
 may be enjoyed a most enchanting prospect. 
 
 Within a quarter of a mile of the chateau, and 
 close to the town, are the remains of a Roman 
 theatre. This is a recent discovery, and the earth 
 having been carefully removed, the two entrances 
 with considerable remains of the outer wall, are 
 plainly visible, as are the end walls of the stage, 
 and the pa-sages leading to it. The walls appear 
 to be nearly fifty feet high. They are built of 
 stone of the form and dimensions of bricks, these 
 are intermixed at intervals of about three feet, with 
 layers of red tiles which are carried round the 
 whole building. The site of this building occupies 
 about an acre. 
 
 From the discovery of this theatre Mr. H. con- 
 jectures Lillebonne to be the Julia bona of Ptolemy 
 and Antoninus, in which he is borne out by ancient 
 tradition, the direction of Roman roads, and va- 
 rious discoveries in the neighbourhood, of coins, 
 arms, &c. 
 
 The park of La Maillerai, is opened every Sun- 
 clay for the recreation of persons of all ranks. It 
 is laid out in the most stiff and formal manner, 
 completely French, with nothing admirable about 
 it but its situation and the liberality of its lady 
 
 S 
 
12 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 owner. From La Maillerai Mr. H. turned towards 
 the Abbey of Jumieges, his way lay through a 
 romantic road, through a wood bordering the 
 Seine, which occasionally enlivened the landscape, 
 as its bright surface sparkled through the valley 
 beneath him. Crossing this river b}' the ferry he 
 found the abbey about half a mile beyond it. This 
 abbey had been suppressed during the Revolution, 
 and was now undergoing complete demolition. 
 The materials were tearing away to erect houses 
 within the site ; even the Inn was wedged into part 
 of a demolished cloister. The fine carved work of 
 the church was broken down and piled as a fence 
 to keep the cattle within their allotted portion of 
 the ruins. The only parts of this edifice remaining 
 entire, were the lofty towers at each end of the 
 facade. These are in the most severe and simple 
 style of Norman architecture, more resembling 
 a fortress than a church. The centre aisle is un- 
 roofed, but the walls and side aisles remain entire. 
 
 The chapel dedicated to the Virgin is not so an- 
 cient, and is richly finished with the most delicate 
 sculpture. The whole mass of these buildings that 
 now remains, affords a spectacle of ruined grandeur, 
 and our traveller could not but lament its destruc- 
 tion, even while he admitted the propriety of dis- 
 placing those holy drones who had inhabited it. 
 
 " Nothing, " observes Mr. Hall, " can less re- 
 semble London than Paris, " the difference he 
 principally alludes to is the bustle and activity 
 every where observable in the roads and avenues 
 leading to the former, and the stillness and inanity 
 in those of the latter. " No suburbs," he con- 
 tinues, " spread over the adjacent country, the 
 avenues to the metropolis are as dull and silent as 
 those of a country village. " 
 
 Nothing but a few waggons and peasants can be 
 seen to diversify the broad paved roads, which are 
 all lined with trees, though their appearance ac- 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 13 
 
 cording to Mr. H., is not very umbrageous. And 
 this monotony is never so completely relieved, as 
 by the equipage of an English traveller, which if 
 now and then whirled along with whips cracking, 
 and rope-ends flying, banishing for a mordent the 
 surrounding stillness. Nor is this scene much 
 changed, when you traverse the quiet fauxbourgs, 
 surrounding the inner boulevards. Afterwards in- 
 deed the bustle of active life increases, till you reach 
 the centre of the hive, the Palace of the Tuilleries, 
 where it glows at its height. 
 
 All the beauties of art and architecture appear 
 to be centered within the region of the court ; and 
 a stranger may from this point, within a few mi- 
 nutes walk, visit all the most interesting objects in 
 Paris, excepting indeed the Pantheon, P lais de 
 Luxembourg, and the church of Notre Dame. He 
 has only to turn out of the Boulevard lies Capu- 
 cines, pass down the elegant Rue de la Paix, to 
 the Place Vendome, gaze on its bronzed column, 
 standing immediately opposite the garden of the 
 Tuilleries, passing through which, he will arrive 
 at the Place de Louis XV. and Pont de Louis 
 XVI. at the farther end of which he will view the 
 chaste and beautiful Palais Bourbon, and Les Inva- 
 lides, with its gilt dome in the distance. Return- 
 ing by the Quai del Tuilleries, he arrives at the 
 Pont Royal, and the Palais de Tuilleries, will pass 
 the gallery of the Louvre, and the pdace of the 
 same name ; thence proceed to the iron Pont des 
 Arts, and by crossing the court of the palace into 
 the Place du Carousel, will find the triumphal arch 
 and Tuilleries before him, and he need not have 
 employed more than twenty minutes in his whole 
 perambulation. 
 
 Pont Neuf connects Pile de la Cite w ith those 
 quarters which lie on the opposite side of the river, 
 and is embellished with an equestrian statue of 
 Henry IV. in bronze. In this island are the cat:.e- 
 
 VOL. IV. C 
 
14 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 dral of Notre Dame, the hotel Dieu, and the Palais 
 de Justice, all extremely ancient : a still more ve- 
 nerable structure is the Hall of Julian's Thermal 
 Palace, now appropriated to the purpose of a 
 cooper's shop ; it is situated in the Rue de la 
 Harpe. The roof is vaulted, and of so solid a con- 
 struction, as to have supported, for many years, a 
 garden, several feet deep in mould. It is con- 
 structed with stone, cut in the shape of bricks ; 
 these are diversified with rows of red tile, laid ho- 
 rizontally, at the distance of two or three feet from 
 each other. This is the only vestige now remain- 
 ing in Paris, of the Roman Lutetia ; but it is so 
 much encumbered, that the use and the distribu- 
 tion of its parts can only be guessed at. 
 
 Our traveller now proceeds to enumerate the 
 churches of Paris, and then gives a circumstantial 
 description of that of Notre Dame. Its erection 
 was commenced in 1010, by Robert the Pious. It 
 was completed, with the exception of the transepts, 
 by Peter de Nemours, about 1 220. The inscrip- 
 tion over the southern portal informs us, that the 
 transepts were not completed till about l c 257. The 
 western front is surrounded by streets and houses, 
 as shabby as those which, a few years since, dis- 
 graced the neighbourhood of our Westminster 
 Abbey. But the architectural description of this 
 superb edifice, is to be met with in every <e Guide 
 to Paris," and we therefore forbear to follow Mr. 
 H. through his detail of its beauty, defects, and 
 embellishments. 
 
 The abbey church of St. Germain des Pres is 
 next described by our traveller ; and, by its high 
 antiquity, appears to have been well worth his at- 
 tention. It was founded in 558, by Childebert, in 
 honour of St. Vincent's shirt, which was brought 
 by that monarch, among other trophies from Sara- 
 gossa. The founder himself, as well as St. Ger- 
 main, was interred in this edifice. Antiquaries are 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. Id 
 
 of opinion, that part of the western tower belonged 
 to the original structure. The Normans destroyed 
 the greater part of this building by fire three seve- 
 ral times. The abbot Morand employed the inter- 
 val between 990 and 1014, in restoring it nearly to 
 its present state; and, according to Mr. YYhitting- 
 ton, " the lower walls of the choir and nave, the 
 eight eastern chapels, most of the columns and 
 arches of the nave, and all the columns and arches 
 of the choir, are parts of this structure. " In 1646 
 it underwent considerable repairs ; and the roof, 
 for the first time, was then vaulted with stone, the 
 windows were enlarged, and the columns crowned 
 with capitals ; but though various alterations were 
 made, nothing was done which essentially changed 
 the character of the edifice, which, notwithstanding 
 its high antiquity, is gloomy and mean. Several 
 ancient tombs adorned this church, which have 
 been removed to the Musee des Monumens Fran- 
 cais, from whence they are soon expected to be 
 restored to their original situations. 
 
 Among the most ancient edifices of France, may 
 be reckoned the abbey church of St. Genevieve ; 
 and part of the existing structure is supposed to be 
 as ancient as the time of Clovis, by whom it was 
 founded, and dedicated to St, Peter and St. Paul, 
 though it was mostly rebuilt in 1 177- It is without 
 transepts, and the whole structure has a mean ap- 
 pearance. The columns of the nave arc of unequal 
 size, and of Lombard architecture. St. Germain 
 l'Auxerrois, though a gothic edifice of the ele- 
 venth century, is only estimable as containing the 
 tombs of the count De Caylus, the chancellor Ole- 
 vier, Malherbes the poet, and madame Dacier, and 
 those of several artists, and other celebrated cha- 
 racters. 
 
 St. Gervais was originally a gothic structure, of 
 no small elegance; it was rebuilt in 1212, and re- 
 paired in 15S1 ; but in 1619, the whole character 
 
 c 2 
 
16 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 of the edifice was changed, by the erection of a 
 towering pile of porches, raised one above another 
 to the height of 150 feet. The first story of co- 
 lumns are Doric, the central Ionic, crowned by four 
 of the Corinthian order, which support a pediment 
 of a circular form, and terminate this specimen of 
 modern architecture, obscuring the more solemn 
 specimens of ancient taste and grandeur. 
 
 The church of St. Etienne du Mont, though 
 clumsy in its general appearance, is beautified by 
 its bold screen, which is of an arched form, and 
 separates the nave from the choir. At each end of 
 this is a spiral stone stair- case of fretted massiveness 
 of such admirable construction, as to appear, not- 
 withstanding their weight, suspended in air. Here 
 are the tombs of Pascal and Racine, that of Des- 
 cartes is expected to be soon restored. In the 
 cloisters are some beautiful specimens of painted 
 glass, by Pinargrier. 
 
 The church of St. Roche, which is rich in deco- 
 rations, is most admired, as containing the chapel 
 of Calvary : this is so constructed as to resemble a 
 dark cavern, exhibiting the particulars of the cru- 
 cifixion. It certainly has merit in its way, which 
 is allowed by Mr. H. ; while he not unaptly com- 
 pares it to an hermit's grotto, fitted up in a tea 
 garden. The light is thrown with very striking 
 effect on the marble figure of Christ on the cross. 
 In the Luxembourg gallery, there is a picture of 
 this chapel, painted by Bouton, which surpasses 
 even the original in an impressive and pleasing ap- 
 pearance. 
 
 Our traveller totally condemns the church of St. 
 Sulpice, as a most elaborate effort of bad taste ; 
 and the much admired manner in which the light 
 has been made to fall on a statue of the Virgin, he 
 stigmatizes as a trick of the same kind as that em- 
 ployed in the chapel of Calvary, with the same de» 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 17 
 
 sign; and declares it unworthy of admiration, ex- 
 cepting as a French trick of theatrical effect. 
 
 The Dome des Invalides, Mr. H. considers as the 
 chef d'ceuvre of church building, in the age of Louis 
 XIV.; but while he admits it to be a magnificent 
 edifice, he declares it strongly characterized by the 
 architectural defects of that period. After censur- 
 ing almost every part of the exterior, Mr. H. ac- 
 knowledges the interior to be magnificent, in the best 
 sense of the word. The pavement is of variegated 
 marble, in which the lilies, and arms of France, 
 and other ingenious emblems, are represented in 
 various compartments. The apotheosis of St. Louis 
 is painted on the cupola, by La Fosse. Several 
 productions of Jouvenet, Boullogre, and Covpel, 
 decorate the chapels and aisles. 
 
 The happiest effort of French architecture, in 
 the opinion of Mr. II., is the Pantheon. Its form 
 is that of the Greek cross. The principal entrance 
 is a porch, formed by a triple range of fluted Co- 
 rinthian columns, surmounted by a triangular pe- 
 diment. The dome has two stories : the lower sur- 
 rounded by thirty Corinthian columns, supporting 
 a gallery and balustrade. The upper story is plain, 
 and surmounted by the cupola, which is lighted by 
 a small circular lantern, the height of which, from 
 the pavement of the interior, is 282 feet. On the 
 first view of this edifice, one is impressed with the 
 beauty of its portico, of a single story projecting 
 with an impressive depth of shade and magnifi- 
 cence, of columns behind the transepts, giving that 
 breadth and solidity to the whole building, which 
 well preserve its proportions. The dome is light 
 and graceful; but Mr. H. is of opinion, that its 
 three gradations prevent its rising to the character 
 of sublimity. The only traces of republican France, 
 excepting Dessaix's monument, are discernible in 
 this church, where the inscriptions " les droits de 
 Phomme," and " la loi est l'expression de la vo- 
 
 c3 
 
18 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 lonte generale," with other revolutionary phrases, 
 are still visible, though they will soon be effaced, to 
 make way for the pious falsehoods told in favour of 
 the tutelary saint. 
 
 The monument alluded to, as also bearing the 
 stamp of republicanism, stands in the Place Dau- 
 phine, and forms a fountain, over which is a figure 
 of victory, crowning the bust of the young hero. 
 On the pedestal are chronicled his exploits, and the 
 last words with which he closed his gallant career, 
 in the eighth year of the Republic. 
 
 The interior of the Pantheon is declared to be 
 eminently graceful, even in spite of four massive 
 buttresses, which support the dome, in the place 
 of columns It is richly decorated, the pillars are 
 of the Corinthian order, and the roof is vaulted, 
 and adorned with good basso-relievos. An air of 
 vacancy, however, was observable, from the indefi- 
 nite application of this structure. The heroes, Mr, 
 H. observed, were moving off, and the saints had 
 not arrived. In fact, the only statue it then con- 
 tained, was that of general Le Clerc, brother in* 
 law to Bonaparte, who died at St. Domingo : but 
 even this was displaced from its pedestal, and 
 driven towards a side door, provided perhaps for 
 his escape from the uncongenial company ex- 
 pected. 
 
 The vaults and galleries beneath the Pantheon, 
 are appropriated for the purposes of sepulture. 
 Each vault is designed to contain several rows of 
 stone coffins ; and many eminent characters, both 
 of the state, and of literary reputation, are here 
 deposited. Among them may be enumerated Ge- 
 neral Regnier, Admiral De Winter, and Marshal 
 Lasnes. Voltaire and Rousseau occupy separate 
 vaults. Their tombs are of wood, and already dila- 
 pidated ; and it is more than probable, that even 
 here their bGnes will not be suffered to rest in peace. 
 Though Voltaire was dragged from his repose at 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 19 
 
 Ferney, and Rousseau torn from lvis favourite isle 
 of Poplars, to be immured in these splendid dun- 
 geons, yet Parisian versatility has left their bones 
 without the common protection of a stone cofiin. 
 There is a statue of Voltaire hid in these gloomy 
 vaults; but probably, observes Mr. II., the bigots 
 think him not yet low enough. 
 
 The next object, towards which Mr. Mall directs 
 travellers to turn their attention, is the cemetery 
 of Pere la Chaise. 
 
 In 1804, a decree was issued to prevent the bury- 
 ing in churches; hence the cemeteries of Mon- 
 ceaux, Montii artre, Popincourt, St. Catherine, and 
 Mount Louis, or the cemetery of Le Pere la Chaise. 
 This latter is the most remarkable, and lies to the 
 north-east of Paris, in front of the barrier d'Aunay ; 
 and on the north side of the boulevard of that name, 
 Louis XIV. built a handsome house on this spot 
 for his confessor, Le Pere la Chaise, aJesuit, who, 
 for the long term of thirty-four years, had the keep- 
 ing of this monarch's conscience. Over the ground, 
 which is very much broken and hilly, are scattered 
 various kinds of fruit trees, the remains of the gar- 
 den and orchard belonging to the Maison du Pere 
 ia Chaise. The principal entrance, where funerals 
 are admitted, is through a handsome gate, opening 
 to a broad road, planted on each side with a dou- 
 ble row of linden trees, at the end of which is a 
 wood, with another avenue of lindens through it. 
 Though bearing the name of Mount Louis, this is 
 .strictly a continuation of the heights of Mont Mar- 
 tre. It extends to a considerable distance ; and 
 its irregular and undulating surface is shaded in 
 many parts with clumps of trees, giving it the ap- 
 pearance of an English pleasure-ground, rather 
 than a repository for the dead. It is divided into 
 plots by serpentine gravel walks ; each plot is the 
 private property of a family, and is cultivated as 
 assiduously, and with as much taste, as if still a 
 
20 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 garden. The grave-stones, bordered and over- 
 shadowed with flowers, are inclosed by trellis work, 
 or light hedges. Exotic and scarce plants, con- 
 tained in pots, are placed round many of the tombs, 
 and garlands, or ribbons, &c. are tastefully sus- 
 pended over others. 
 
 Moliere and La Fontaine rest here, in two stone 
 sarcophagi. The epitaph of the former is short, 
 but rendered copious by its merit, " Moliere est 
 dans ce tombeau." That of the latter well ex- 
 presses the feelings of a philosopher, who was inca- 
 pable of being changed by a world so little worth 
 regarding. It is in the same simple style of hu- 
 mour that marks his fables: " Jean s'en alia 
 comme il etoit venu." Among other literary cha- 
 racters interred here, may be mentioned Delille, 
 Fourcroy, Sonnini, and Madame Cottin. Here too 
 reposes Madame Raucour, the actress, uho was 
 refused a grave by the curate of St. Koche. To- 
 wards the east is a small platform, formerly called 
 the Belvidere ; it is a shady square, formed by eight 
 linden trees ; in the midst of the tombs occupying 
 the space, is a fine monument to Mestrezat, the 
 Genevan pastor. From this place there is a fine 
 view of the capital. The Protestants have selected 
 the ground about here for their burial place. A 
 little to the north of this is the grave of Labe- 
 doyere, enclosed with stakes, nearly as rough as 
 when cut from the hedge ; but roses and mignio- 
 nette grow profusely in the borders. A wooden 
 cross, painted black, stands within the inclosure, 
 which is shaded by a weeping willow. No monu- 
 mental stone marks the spot where his remains lie ; 
 but some one has scratched upon the wooden cross, 
 44 Honneur aux braves." 
 
 North-east of this, at the farthest extremity, rests 
 Marshal Ney, the bravest of the brave. He now, 
 according to Mr. Hall, reposes without a stone or 
 name ; however, a small elegant cenotaph, of white 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 
 
 21 
 
 stone, tvas erected to his memory. It stood in a 
 square inclosure, surrounded by a neat wooden 
 railing, painted olive green, a weeping willow hung 
 over it, and roses bloomed the space. The inscrip- 
 tion was simple: 44 Ci git le Marchal Nev, Due 
 d'Elchingen, Prince de la Moskowa." What shall 
 we say to the narrow-minded miscreant, who could 
 hope to destroy the remembrance of the gallant 
 hero, by tearing down his modest sepulchre ? More 
 respected have been the ashes of the two unfortunate 
 lovers, Heloise and Abelard : a Gothic mausoleum 
 is here consecrated to their memory. Each side of 
 this monument presents a triangular pediment, sur- 
 mounted by an ornamented cross, and resting on 
 open arches, supported by light columns, somewhat 
 in the Corinthian style ; a beautiful spire of open 
 arch-work springs from the centre of the roof, ter- 
 minated by a rich pinnacle, resembling a pine 
 apple. In the centre of this erection stands a 
 tomb, with the statues of the unfortunate pair, in 
 a recumbent posture. It is adorned with the images 
 of several saints, and presents us with this inscrip- 
 tion : 4f Les restes d'Heloise et d'Abelard sont 
 reunis dans ce tombeau." When saved from the 
 ruins of Paraclete, this tomb was transmitted to the 
 Musee des Monumens, and thence transferred to 
 its present situation. 
 
 There is a third receptacle of mortality in the 
 southern fauxbourg of the city. This is the cata- 
 combs, and wholly differs from the grand and ele- 
 gant vaults of the Pantheon, or the fragrant ceme- 
 tery of Pere la Chaise, which literally 44 blooms at 
 once a garden and a grave." The subterranean 
 quarries, which had for ages supplied the good city 
 of Paris with stone, were afterwards appropriated 
 to the reception of the bones, which had lain ex- 
 posed in the various burying- grounds, and scat- 
 tered 44 pestilential odour far and wide." Parisian 
 
22 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 genius erected these relics of their departed proge- 
 nitors, into a superb and subterranean city. 
 
 Mr. Hall's description of these astonishing mo- 
 numents of human mortality and human industr)^ 
 is so short, that we think our readers will be grati- 
 fied by the perusal of the account, as given of them 
 in Tronchet's Guide to Paris, a book containing all 
 that local information so necessary to a stranger on 
 his first visit to a foreign city, abounding with ob- 
 jects of interest and curiosity. 
 
 The cemeteries of Paris were originally without 
 the walls of the city ; but as its boundaries were 
 gradually extended, they became surrounded by 
 buildings. Of these the cemetery belonging to the 
 church of the Innocents, was the most capacious. 
 For more than seven centuries it had served as a 
 receptacle for the dead of many parishes. The 
 number of corpses interred in it had been annually 
 increasing, each year averaging about 3000 ; and 
 in the course of thirty years previous to its suppres- 
 sion, upwards of 90,000 persons had been buried 
 there. Most of these were deposited in pits of 
 about eighteen or twenty feet in depth, in which it 
 was the practice to suffer the dead to accumulate 
 to the number of 12 or 1500; the separate inter- 
 ments not amounting to more than 150 annually, 
 at most. Such a vast assemblage of dead bodies, 
 many of them covered with little more than afoot 
 of earth, could not but prove highly injurious to 
 those who resided in the immediate vicinity. So 
 early as the year 1554, the suppression of this ce- 
 metery had been ineffectually demanded : in 1725, 
 and various successive years, the inhabitants of the 
 neighbouring quarters presented strong addresses 
 to the parliament of Paris, on the subject ; but it 
 was not till the year 1785, that the council of state 
 issued an ordinance, directing that the site of the 
 cemetery of the Innocents should be converted into 
 a public square, proper for establishing a market 
 
VOYAGES AS I) TRAVELS. 23 
 
 thereon, after the requisite canonical forms were 
 complied with. Mount Souris having been fixed 
 on as a suitable spot for the reception of the bones 
 of the great charnel-house of the Innocents ; the 
 requisite works were executed for rendering the 
 quarries secure in this part ; and on the 7th of 
 April, 1786, the catacomb^ of Paris were solemnly 
 consecrated, ami bones first deposited in them. 
 The business of exhumation was continued, at in- 
 tervals, till January 17S8. The utmost order pre- 
 vailed in carryiog on the different works, the ar- 
 rangements of which frequently presented a truly 
 picturesque appe arance. The vast number of flam- 
 beaux and rows of torches, which were every where 
 burning, and shed a dim a funereal light on the 
 surrounding objects ; crosses, tombs, and epitaphs, 
 intermingled; the silence of the night; the thick 
 cloud of smoke that concealed the place where the 
 labourers were at work, whose operations could 
 not be distinguished, and who appeared to flit along 
 like shadows; the various ruins, caused by the pull- 
 ing down of edifices; the subversion of the soil, 
 in consequence of the exhumations; altogether 
 formed a scene most impressively awful. The so- 
 lemnity of thifl spectacle was heightened by religi- 
 ous ceremonies ; by the conveyance of coffins ; by 
 the splendour which accompanied the removal of 
 the tombs of the most distinguished personages ; 
 by the funeral cars and cenotaphs ; by the hearses 
 filled with bones, and slowly proceeding, at the 
 close of day, towards the new catacombs, without 
 the walls of the city, prepared for their reception; 
 by the appearance of these vast excavations, and 
 the solid arches, which seemed to cut off the abode 
 of the living from the dead; by the dismal light of 
 the place ; the frightful crashing of dry bones j 
 which, as they were thrown in, rolled along with a 
 terrific noise, re-echoed through the long series of 
 arches : every thing, in short, concurred to inspire 
 
24 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 the most solemn recollections of man's universal 
 doom, and final catastrophe. 
 
 During the revolution the construction of the 
 catacombs, like every other public work, was in- 
 terrupted, and it was not till the year 1812, that 
 these vast receptacles of the dead were finally com- 
 pleted, under the direction of Count Frochot and 
 M. de Thury. Three stair- cases form the channels 
 of communication between the catacombs, and the 
 surface of the earth. That of the Bariere d'Orleans 
 or d'Enfer, is generally descended by visitors, hav- 
 ing previously been amply supplied with wax can- 
 dles and tinder boxes, by the guides. From this 
 point it is that we now propose to make a tour of 
 the catacombs with our readers, and to point out 
 to them the most remarkable objects that present 
 themselves by the way. Our tapers being then 
 lighted, we descend the winding stair-case, consist- 
 ing of ninety steps, to a depth of nearly seventy 
 feet below the surface of the ground : hence we pro- 
 ceed, for about a quarter of an hour along a wind- 
 ing gallery or passage, varying both in breadth 
 and height, but considerably larger than those in 
 the catacombs at Rome ; guided by a black line 
 which is traced along the roof of the passage, and 
 serves the visitors as a clue through this awful and 
 prodigious labyrinth. Its roof is supported partly 
 by the rock itself, in which the quarries have been 
 worked, and partly by massive stone pillars, on 
 which are inscribed the date of the year when they 
 were executed, and the initial letters of the inspec- 
 tor's name who superintended the work. At dif- 
 ferent distances to the right and left, we perceive 
 vast excavations or quarries, which would com- 
 municate with innumerable others that extend to 
 a considerable distance beneath the plains of Mont 
 Rouge, and under the Fauxbourg of St. Jacques, 
 had it not been found necessary to intercept these 
 communications, on account of smugglers, who 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 25 
 
 contrived to carry on their illicit traffic by means 
 of these subterraneous passages. 
 
 Having traversed these galleries for a consider- 
 able distance, in a line with the subterraneous 
 aqueduct of Arcueil, the way takes a direction 
 through an irregular gallery of something more 
 than six hundred and fifty feet in length, and con- 
 ducts us to a stair-case leading to a lower and ancient 
 quarry, called the Quarry of Port Mali on. We 
 now arrive at the vestibule of the catacombs. It is 
 of an octagonal form ; the principal gate is of a 
 black colour, ornamented with two columns of the 
 Tuscan order, on which is inscribed the following 
 sentence, originally composed for the cemetery of 
 St. Sulpice, " Has ultra metas requie^cunt beatam 
 spcm expectantes." On the lintel of this gate the 
 following verse of Delille is cut in the rock : 
 " Arrete! e'est ici l'empire de la mort." On entering 
 the catacombs the mind is awfully impressed by 
 the long galleries and numerous apartments, all 
 furnished, or, if we may be allowed the expression, 
 ornamented with bones. The largest sculls and 
 thigh bones are symmetrically disposed in compart- 
 ments, and form as it were the facing of these 
 mournful walls, behind which are placed the 
 smaller bones. «* What f fi ghtfal decorations! (ex- 
 claims a recent traveller) walls, arcades, and pil- 
 lars of bones, adorned, not with garlandf of roses 
 and myrtles, but with arabesques of arm and leg 
 bones; and instead of heads of genii and cornuco- 
 pias, with ghastly sculls and altars of death's heads 
 in symmetrical order gradually growing smaller 
 towards the top, and crowned with crossed bones; 
 a mosaic work, which by its regularity and harsh 
 contrast of the white lime-wash, with the dark 
 brown colour of the bones, that never blanch in 
 these humid vaults, heightens che gravity, the mus- 
 ing melancholy and awe that penetrate the inmost 
 recesses of the soul in these immense repositories 
 
 VOL. IV. D 
 
2(3 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 of mortality. Death nevertheless loses some of his 
 terrors in the bosom of the catacombs : his work is 
 here accomplished : worms have consumed the for- 
 saken tenements of the spirit; its remains only are 
 consigned to the ravages of Time, who gradually 
 associates them again with the dust from which 
 they sprung.'' 
 
 The remains of nearly two millions and a half 
 of mortals slumber here, four times the whole 
 population of Paris, with all their gigantic projects 
 and all their insect cares. In some of the apart- 
 ments are altars, similar to those occurring in the 
 modern French churches ; others are made in imi- 
 tation of the antique, and are sometimes composed 
 of bones cemented with plaster. Every where in- 
 scriptions present themselves, written in black let- 
 ters on a white ground, containing sentences ac- 
 cording with every kind of system, some religious 
 others philosophical. 
 
 The Crypt of St. Laurence is an ancient and 
 very spacious excavation, the great depth of which 
 recommended it as a repository for the bodies, re- 
 moved from the cemetery of M. Laurence, at the 
 time of its suppression in November, 1804, when 
 the street of the same name was opened. All the 
 dry bones taken out of that cementery have been 
 collected and arranged so as to form a separate 
 crypt, the entrance to which is supported by two 
 columns of the Doric order of Paestum. At its 
 extremity is a pedestal, constructed of bones, the 
 mouldings of which are formed of tibiae, or leg 
 bones of the largest size ; and the dado, or square 
 trunk of the pedestal is surmounted by a head, in 
 a fine state of preservation. 
 
 The northern part of the catacombs having sunk 
 down in several places, there was reason to appre- 
 hend a general foiling in of the superincumbent 
 earth. The altar of obelisks was therefore erected 
 to prevent this disaster, M. Guillaumot, the in- 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 27 
 
 spector general, in IS 10, directed pillars, walls, 
 and counter walls to be built wherever there was 
 any appearance of danger. The high altar and 
 obelisks which decorate this crypt, are therefore 
 nothing but works of consolidation, concealed un- 
 der the ornamental form of these monuments. 
 'I he altar is copied from a magnificent ancient 
 marble tomb, discovered a few years since between 
 Vienne and Valance, on the banks of the Rhone ; 
 the obelisks are reduced models of ancient ones ; 
 and the two pedestals, on the right and left of the 
 altar, are constructed of bones in a similar manner, 
 to that in the crypt of St. Laurence. This chapel 
 or crypt, contains several appropriate inscriptions, 
 chiefly scriptural. The Sarcophagus of theLycry- 
 matory, is another great work of consolidation, to 
 which a sepulchral form has been given : it is also 
 known under the name of the tomb of Gilbert. 
 
 The pedestal of the sepulchral lamp, owed its 
 origin to the necessity of obtaining a more free 
 circulation of air in the catacombs. This induced 
 the workmen to place a large vessel with tire on a 
 block of stone; and the appearance of this sug- 
 gested the idea of substituting a sepulchral lamp 
 in its place. The lamp is in the form of an antique 
 cup, and was the first monument erected in the 
 catacombs. Opposite to it is the Pillar of the 
 Memento, a large and massive cruciform column 
 or triangular cross, which has received its name 
 from the following striking sentence, extracted 
 from the mass for Ash-Wednesday : Memento, 
 homo, quia pulvis es, et in pulverem reverteris: 
 and behind the latter column is the Pillar of the 
 Imitation, so called, because the four inscriptions 
 that ornament it have been taken from the cele- 
 brated work of Thomas a Kempis, de Imitatione 
 Jesu Christi. 
 
 The Fountain of the Samaritan Woman, is an 
 d 2 
 
9B FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 appellation given to a spring that was discovered 
 in the soil of the catacombs by the workmen, who 
 formed a reservoir here to collect the waters for 
 their use. As the waters gushed out of this bason 
 into the works, it became necessary to take their 
 level ; and advantage was taken of the difference 
 of levels to construct over this spring a stair-case, 
 a bason, and a subterranean aqueduct: and the 
 roof or top, being intersected in different directions 
 by fissures and cracks, the workmen were obliged 
 to erect pillars and contreforts, the monumental 
 forms of which have greatly contributed to the 
 embellishment of this fountain. On the 28th of 
 November, 1813, four gold fish were thrown 
 into the bason of this fountain, where they have 
 become perfectly domesticated. They answer to 
 the signs and calls of the keeper, but have not 
 hitherto propagated their spepies ; three of them 
 retain their colour in all its primitive lustre* but 
 the fourth is distinguished by some dark spots. 
 
 The Tombs of the Revolution is an appellation 
 given to the spacious crypt, which contains the 
 tombs of those who were the earliest victims of the 
 period its name refers to. The place of interment, 
 and the period when the remains of these unhappy 
 persons were committed to these vaults, are re- 
 spectively marked by inscriptions. An altar of 
 expiation has been raised, called the Tombs of the 
 Victims of the Massacres on the 2d and 3rd of 
 September, 1792. Under the direction of M. 
 Guillaumot, M. Laplace, keeper of the tomb of 
 Isoire, protected by the silence of the night, caused 
 the remains of those who had perished on these 
 different days, to be interred in the catacombs, 
 with as much decency as circumstances would 
 permit. Their bones are concealed from view be- 
 hind a wall, painted black, which for a long time 
 presented only this brief notice. 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 89 
 
 D. M. 
 II. et III. 
 
 S EP mbr. 
 
 MDCCXCII. 
 During those days of* terror no expiatory altar 
 could be raised; but two marble tablets now com- 
 memorate the names of the most illustrious of these 
 victims. The other side of the tomb presents two 
 inscriptions in verse, from the works of John 
 Baptist Rousseau. A solemn service is now cele- 
 brated in the catacombs, on the anniversary of this 
 sad tragedy. In addition to the objects described 
 here, is also a Mineralogical Cabinet, not usually 
 shewn to strangers. It contains specimens of all 
 the sands, clays, flints, and stones of which the bed 
 is composed that is over the heads of the spectators, 
 to the thickness of eighty feet. The order in which 
 they are arranged is ingenious. This cabinet also 
 contains a great number of extraneous fossils, found 
 in these quarries. And on one side is exhibited, 
 on two tables, a collection of bones of a singular 
 construction. Such are the catacombs of Paris, 
 an establishment not only convenient, but abso- 
 lutely necessary in so populous a city, where, how- 
 ever capacious its cemeteries may be, they are 
 liable to be re-opened after the lapse of a few years, 
 and long before the bones can possibly be decayed. 
 It has been already observed, that these excava- 
 tions were originally quarries. They were made at 
 first as chance, or perhaps the facility of working 
 them directed. These quarries being exhausted, and 
 the entrances to them having either fallen in or 
 been filled up, their existence was for a long time 
 totally forgotten, until several fatal accidents hap- 
 pened in 1774, when the attention of the French 
 government was directed to them, and the extent 
 of the very imminent danger that menaced Paris 
 became known, together with the necessity of tak- 
 ing the most prompt and effectual measures for 
 
 d 3 
 
30 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 averting it. Orders were issued for a general in- 
 spection of the excavations, of which plans were 
 also taken towards the close of 1 776. The vague 
 reports, which had been in circulation, were now 
 converted into certainty ; and the fact was proved, 
 that the churches, palaces, and most of the public 
 roads, belonging to the southern quarters of Paris, 
 were on the point of being precipitated into an 
 immense gulf. By a series of long continued la- 
 bours, however, they have so admirably disposed 
 of the solid works in these excavations, that each 
 subterranean street corresponds with the street 
 above : hence if the ground should sink in any part 
 of Paris, a suitable remedy may instantly be applied. 
 These excavations reach beneath the extensive 
 plain of the Fauxbourg of St. Germain, forming 
 nearly the whole of the southern half of Paris, and 
 also under a small part of the department of the 
 Seine, in the northern division. 
 
 There is no external appearance to designate the 
 site of the catacombs. The well-stair-case is co- 
 vered by a mean building, resembling a toll- house- 
 The catacombs are at some distance from the stair- 
 case, and are kept locked. 
 
 The escape of two Russian officers, after having 
 been shut in the gloomy abode of the dead for 
 twenty-four hours, may serve as a caution to per- 
 sons visiting these subterraneous abodes, not to 
 lose sight of the guide or party with him in their 
 perambulations : it is related on the faith of a re- 
 spectable recent traveller, and its authenticity has 
 not been questioned. 
 
 " Judge of our astonishment, (says our author,) 
 when on turning a corner we perceived at a dis- 
 tance, by the light of our torches, two Russian 
 officers, who hastened towards us with an exclama- 
 tion of the most lively joy, which was answered with 
 equal warmth by two of their comrades who hap- 
 pened to be with our party. They had come the 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. Si 
 
 preceding day to see the catacombs: out of curi- 
 osity and a romantic desire for discoveries, they 
 had deviated from the black line, lost the guide and 
 the company, and were not missed by him when 
 lie counted over the party at going out, because his 
 attention wjm diverted by a posse of English tra- 
 vellers. After a long, fatiguing, and dangerous 
 ramble in these labyrinths, they at length found the 
 line again, but too late : when they reached the 
 outlet all was silent, their companions were gone, 
 and they found themselves alone in these abodes of 
 death. In this critical situation, the most rational 
 course they could take was to wait patiently for 
 the moment of their deliverance. One hour passed 
 after another ; a reference to their watches by the 
 last gleam of their expiring tapers informed them 
 of the approach of night, and deprived them of all 
 hope of revisiting the 14 per world before the suc- 
 ceeding day. They now prepared a couch of 
 sculls and bones, and thus breouacked in a camp of 
 skeletons, more numerous than the victims of am- 
 bition, with which any conqueror ever bestrewed a 
 field of battle. 
 
 44 They depicted to their deliverers, in lively 
 colours, their feelings amidst this everlasting nigh:, 
 and in this prodigious company of ghostly bed- 
 fellows their anxiety no way lessened by the con- 
 sideration of the dreadful possibility that hungt c 
 might possibly soon add them to the number of the 
 victims of death; and their excessive joy on hear- 
 ing the sound of human voices, and perceiving the 
 light of torches, which announced the termination 
 of their painful captivity. Our guide, (continues 
 the relater,) who was considerably a head, had not 
 remarked the extraordinary increase of our num- 
 ber. The Russians anticipated his surprise and the 
 expression of his reproving conscience, when he 
 should come to count over the party and discover 
 the addition. The appearance of his features was 
 
32 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 truly striking, when upon mustering his troop he 
 found the number of Russians doubled • a few 
 words of explanation, however, soon removed his 
 astonishment, and he begged pardon in the hum- 
 blest terms, entreating us to say nothing about the 
 matter. " Never mind it,' replied one of the in- 
 voluntary inhabitants of these nether regions, a 
 veteran with silver hair, 4 indeed it is scarcely 
 worth my while to go up again.' A tear of sensi- 
 bility glistened in the eye of our fair Parisian com- 
 panion : we all shook hands and departed, in order 
 to appear some day in the costume of the slum- 
 berers we had been visiting, though perhaps not in 
 these catacombs." 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Musee des Monumens Francais — The Palaces—* 
 The Gardens— Theatres— St. Cloud— St. Ger- 
 mains — James II. — Versailles — Church of St. 
 Denis — Jean Jaques Rousseau — Montaigne La 
 Trappe — Tours — Poitiers — Roman Amphithea- 
 tre — Church of Notre Dame — Civaux — Tomb of 
 Sir John Chandos — Saintes — Roman Remains — 
 Bourdeaux — Toulouse — Church of St. Saturnine— 
 Limoges — Massacre by the English. 
 
 When in the phrenzy of the French revolution 
 many churches were reduced to ruins; most of the 
 monuments they contained were mutilated, and 
 many of them destroyed; it was in the Musee des 
 Monumens Francais, "those that escaped the general 
 wreck were deposited. The convent of the Au- 
 gustuses, the Westminster Abbey of France, is the 
 sanctuary in which were deposited these curious 
 relics of ancient art. The building which con- 
 tains these monuments resembles a cathedral clois- 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 33 
 
 tcr. It is encompassed by four square walls, and 
 has a garden, the funeral decorations of lrlwrfi arc 
 appropriate to the situation. 
 
 This collection is now on the point of being dis- 
 sipated. Such as were saved from the church of 
 St. Denis have been restored, as have those belong- 
 ing to most other churches. There are, however, 
 still many remaining which have as yet no promt 
 place of destination. Though it cannot be re- 
 gretted that these reliques should be displaced from 
 a situation in which they lost half their natural in 
 terest by being brought together in show roorm ; 
 yet it must aot be forgotten that for their existence 
 in any state, France is indebted to the exertions of 
 If, Lenoir, who at considerable expence and per- 
 sonal hazard, saved them from the hands of igno- 
 rant and barbarian despoilers. 
 
 Of the palaces in Paris Mr. Hall observes, that 
 the only specimen of the Gothic period is tl e 
 Palais de Justice. This was the usual favourite 
 residence of the French monarchs previous to tiic 
 time of Charles the Fifth, since which it has been 
 used for similar purposes to our Westminster Hall. 
 It consists of an ancient wall, which connects four 
 round towers, terminating in conical roofs. It was 
 erected by King Robert, about the year 1000. 
 
 La Sainte Chapelle, a Gothic structure of ex- 
 quisite beauty, stands within the court. This 
 chapel is celebrated from being the principal scene 
 in Boileau's Lutrin. It was shut up at the period 
 of Mr. Hall's visit, who appeared not a little 
 alarmed lest French reparation then busy about it, 
 should deface and disfigure it. 
 
 The palace of the TuiHeries was commenced by 
 Catherine de Medicis, and completed by Lou;:. 
 XIV. This building Mr. H. considers one of the 
 worst specimens of its age, the Facade towards 
 the Place du Carrousel, of -even dissimilar parcels 
 of building, having high Dutch roofs, and tall 
 
34 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 chimneys. The columns are of all sizes, and orders, 
 and towards the garden the same discrepancy of 
 parts is observable, and the whole palace, except- 
 ing for its size, is without a single claim to admira- 
 tion. The gardens are equally at variance with the 
 taste of Mr. H. though he admits them to contain 
 some good pieces of sculpture, principally copies 
 from the antique. The walks are always crowded 
 by idlers who parade the long alleys, or lounge 
 under the trees, reading the newspapers which do 
 not escape a severe dash of Mr. Hall's pen, on 
 account of their insipidity. In the centre of the 
 place du Carrousel, fronting the entrance of the 
 Tuilleries, stands the triumphal arch of Napoleon. 
 The bas-reliefs, representing the most remarkable 
 victories of the French arms have been effaced, as 
 if, observes Mr. H., so pitiful a precaution could 
 erase them from history also. The Louvre Palace 
 is indeed an elegant pile of architecture. The in- 
 terior of the quadrangle is finished in a splendid 
 manner. The front overlooking the river is rich 
 and graceful, while the eastern colonnade is justly 
 esteemed one of the most elegant ornaments of 
 Paris. Napoleon repaired the whole of this palace 
 at a great expence, and the N.s' and eagles then 
 introduced, are, notwithstanding the labour be- 
 stowed on their erasure, scarcely now obliterated. 
 
 The Louvre Gallery connects this palace with 
 that of the Tuilleries. Mr. Hall justly censures 
 the absurdities of its jumbled architecture. A cor- 
 responding building on the opposite side of the 
 quadrangle, was commenced by Bonaparte, com- 
 pletely to unite the two palaces. It is not yet 
 completed. The ground floor of the great gallery, 
 and part of the Louvre Palace, is divided into 
 eighteen halls and apartments, filled with antique 
 sculpture. The whole extent of the upper story of 
 the Louvre gallerj' is filled with paintings of all 
 schools, ages, and masters. These are arranged 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 35 
 
 in three grand divisions or schools- The French, 
 the Flemish, including German and Dutch, and 
 the Italian. Thus by inspecting them in their 
 regular order, we reserve the sight of the best 
 pictures to crown our passage through intermediate 
 decrees of excellence. 
 
 The Palais Bourbon possesses a facade classical 
 and graceful. The portico is formed by twelve 
 Corinthian columns supporting a triangular pedi- 
 ment, adorned with political allegories, in bas-re- 
 lief. It is entered by a magnificent flight of steps, 
 at the foot of which are two colossal statues of 
 Gallia and Minerva. The colossal figures of Sully, 
 Colbert, L'Hopital, and D'Auguesseau, are placed 
 on pedestals still more advanced. This front pro- 
 duces a very pleasing and noble effect when viewed 
 from the bridge of Louis XVI. But viewed late-« 
 rally Mr. H. thinks the whole building appears 
 defective; the facade put on it like a screen, behind 
 which appears a slender naked pile, without mass 
 or dignity. 
 
 The Palais Royal Mr. 1 1 all considers as owing 
 the whole of its reputation to a fictitious notoriety. 
 Its front and principal entrance towards the Rue 
 St. Honore, consists of two small wings or pavil- 
 lions two stories high, and adorned with Doric and 
 Ionic columns; these are united by a wall, pierced 
 with arches and three gate-ways. The vestibule to 
 the second court is supported by Doric columns. 
 This court is by no means deficient in architectural 
 beauty; it is adorned with Ionic pillars and rostra 
 in alto relievo. This is strictly speaking the ter- 
 mination of the palace. You now enter a low 
 close bazaar, on each side of which are small 
 shops. This is divided into narrow alleys, having 
 no pavement, and worn by the feet of the throng 
 who frequent it into numerous holes and inequa- 
 lities. This however is the entrance into what is 
 generally represented as an enchanted region, and 
 
36 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 the most dangerous place to which the young or 
 gay can possibly resort. Mr. Hall is, notwith- 
 standing of opinion, that it is neither so dangerous 
 or so attractive, as is commonly considered. Hav- 
 ing entered the third oblong court, you find in its 
 centre a garden, or at least dusty walks divided by 
 paltry lines of chesnut trees, having a few beds 
 of flowers in the middle. The only real orna- 
 ment to the place, in the eyes of Mr. H., is the 
 circular basin, in the midst of this miscalled 
 garden, from the centre of which, the waters 
 of the Ourcq are thrown up to the height of fifty 
 feet, descending in various showers. Mr. H. admits 
 the style of building in this part to be elegant. 
 Each of the three sides is four stories high. The 
 fiicade is pierced with lofty arches, having between 
 them Corinthian pilasters, supporting a frise and 
 balustrade, decorated with urns. The interior of 
 the piazza has been compared to that of Covent 
 Garden, and is occupied by shops and coffee 
 houses. The excessive rents occasion the former 
 to he small, while their windows are crowded with 
 articles of taste and luxury; but it is not to be 
 supposed, observes Mr. II., that many men will 
 ruin themselves in trinkets, solely from the attrac- 
 tive manner in which they are displayed before 
 them. Nor though the coMee-houses possess every 
 seduction of looking-glass, gilding, marble tables, 
 and frequently elegant presiding females, is the 
 rate of their caffe eau sacre, and lemonade, so 
 high, or the commodities themselves of so in- 
 toxicating a quality, that in the opinion of our 
 author, much danger need be apprehended either 
 to the heads or pockets of those who indulge in 
 them. The most serious danger he allows to exist 
 in the gaming houses, which are here to be found 
 of all shades of respectability, or of no respect- 
 ability, from the cellar upwards. All ranks are 
 brought into immediate contact from the prince and 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVEL'S. 57 
 
 duke to their lacqueys. While the former arc 
 scattering their fortunes in the first floor, the latter 
 are as agreeably accommodated with tables in the 
 cellar. The resort is no doubt increased by this 
 arrangement, but whether the attraction is equally 
 so, may well be made a question. And all cir- 
 cumstances considered, the facility and the temp- 
 tation to gambling, is perhaps as great in any capi- 
 tal in Europe as in the Palais Royal. The Jardin 
 du Roy was called the Jardin des Plantes previous 
 to the restoration of the Bourbon family, the 
 former however was its original title, and that has 
 been again bestowed on it. 
 
 This garden is of the greatest use to the student 
 in botany or agriculture. All sorts of trees, shrubs, 
 and flowers, are arranged and properly classified ; 
 samples of every species of manure are collected,, 
 and every description offences, are displayed. There 
 also are basins for aquatic birds and plants, with 
 conservatories for the productions of foreign cli- 
 mates. A part of the grounds are allotted to the 
 reception of wild animals, who are as far as possi- 
 ble accommodated according to their habits and 
 dispositions ; the most furious kinds in dens, seve- 
 ral bears in large pits or fosses, deers and goats in 
 inclosures ; and the more gentle quadrupeds in 
 large stables; in a long room full of cages are all 
 kinds of monkeys, while birds are kept in small 
 yards or aviaries. The sight of these animals is 
 the more pleasant because their comfort is properly 
 attended to. The ground floor of the museum is 
 appropriated to the reception of fish and amphi- 
 bious animals, stuffed or otherwise preserved, witli 
 shells, fossils, and minerals. Tiie upper rooms 
 also contain preserved animals and insects. The 
 birds in particular are in a state of high preserva- 
 tion, and the smaller ones excite the utmost admi- 
 ration. The Museum of comparative anatomy 
 occupies two stories, and contains skeletons of all 
 
 vol. iv. E 
 
38 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 descriptions of animals, some preparations in wax, 
 and three anatomies in iron, displaying the veins, 
 arteries, &c. of the human body. The skeletons of 
 the larger quadrupeds, and of all the various races 
 and anomalies of the human species, are placed in 
 the lower apartments. Among them is that of the 
 Hottentot Venus. The French theatres are com- 
 pletely under the regulation of the government, 
 and while the nation pretends to pay the greatest 
 respect to genius and artists of every description, 
 the actors are held in a kind of humiliation and 
 bondage, not at all reconcilable with these high 
 sounding pretensions. The Parisian Opera is sup- 
 ported on a very grand scale as far as regards ex- 
 pense and magnificence. The orchestra abounds 
 with performers ; the chorusses form absolute 
 crowds, while the ballet is the first in the world ; 
 but their music is below mediocrity, though the 
 general effect of their operas is imposing from the 
 great care and skill employed in getting them up. 
 
 The principal objects of a loyal Frenchman's 
 pride, are the palaces which occupy the environs 
 of Paris. St. Cloud, St. Germain, and Versailles 
 form an angle. St. Cloud is at the apex on the left 
 bank of the Seine, and is consequently the nearest 
 to Paris. A handsome stone bridge crosses the 
 river to the town. The palace is surrounded by 
 terraces, with stone balustrades, from which broad 
 flights of steps descend into the gardens, in which 
 are a profusion of jets-d'eau, tritons, urns, and 
 sea-horses, placed at the intersections of the long 
 and stiff alleys. The appearance of the palace is 
 exceedingly heavy. The water-works are described 
 by Mr. Hall as being, if neither natural or sublime, 
 at least something fairy-like, having that charm 
 which always accompanies the harmony of descend- 
 ing waters. Though our traveller declares he 
 should have been more gratified by the sight of a 
 wild nameless streamlet, dashing over a few large 
 
 8 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 
 
 39 
 
 stones betwixt banks of birch and hazel, with the 
 branches of an old oak here and there, with his 
 brawny arras opposing its progress. The cascade 
 is formed by a stream falling down long flights of 
 steps into an oblong stone basin, surrounded by 
 statues, and is always played off on the Sunday of 
 a. fete. The principal walks are then lined with 
 booths and other erections, abounding with toys, 
 sweetmeats, and various refreshments, suited to the 
 taste of all classes of visitors. There are besides 
 shows, Merry Andrews, tumblers, and wild beasts, 
 with circles and saloons brilliantly illuminated for 
 dancing, in fact, every species of amusement found 
 at an English pleasure fair, without its dissipation, 
 every where gaiety without extravagance, and 
 mirth without vulgarity. 
 
 On the Sunday of a fete all Paris appears to be 
 poured into St. Cloud, and all ranks are then at 
 least mingled in the search of pleasure. Mr. Hall 
 considers the amuseability of the Trench nation as 
 the most happily distinguishing trait in their na- 
 tional character, and recommends the traveller 
 who would see the French character in the most 
 favourable light, to contemplate it as displayed at 
 these fetes. Parties of gen cTarmerie are never 
 wanting to grace every species of public assembly 
 in France ; but the populace are so well trained to 
 the sight of their tall commanding figures, and 
 military air, rendered still more impressive by their 
 long swords and cocked hats, that instead of con- 
 sidering them in the light of spies, are ever ready 
 to claim their interference, seeming rather grati- 
 fied than incommoded by their presence. It is, 
 indeed, true, that the general behaviour of these 
 gens d' amies is highly decorous and inoffensive. 
 
 A tall brick castle, surrounded by a fosse, is the 
 retreat in which the unfortunate James of England 
 passed the latter years of his life. St. Germain, 
 though gloomy, has a venerable aspect ; the apart- 
 
 k 2 
 
FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 ments are small, and for the most part unfurnished, 
 exhibiting only the fading remnants of magnifi- 
 cence, and like the fate and character of the un- 
 fortunate monarch who inhabited them, they look 
 monastic and dark. The large town is but half 
 inhabited. The principal restaurateur, however, 
 still exhibits the sign of the Prince of Wales, per- 
 haps the only record of royalty now displayed in 
 any corner of the world relative to the exiled 
 Stuarts. The park towards the valley of the Seine 
 is bounded by a superb terrace justly admired : its 
 extent is 7200 feet, and it commands a pleasing 
 prospect over Paris and St. Denis. The park, con- 
 taining 8500 acres, is well stocked with game. 
 
 Versailles, if bulk be substituted for beauty, 
 must be admitted as the most handsome of palaces. 
 The apartments are reckoned at 6000, and Mr. 
 Hall does not consider the calculation as improba T 
 ble, considering the extent of ground covered. 
 The stranger is led through hall and chamber, 
 cabinet and state room, in seemingly endless suc- 
 cession. All is gilding and glare, and Bonaparte 
 in his hour of folly expended millions in renovat- 
 ing this frippery. In the park of this palace stands 
 Le Grand Trianon. Its facade consists of a single 
 s'ory 380 feet in length, terminated by two pavi- 
 lions ; these are connected by a range of twenty- 
 two Ionic columns, the whole surmounted by a 
 balustrade and vases. The apartments are fur- 
 nished in better taste than those of the palace. Of 
 the gardens belonging to Versailles, notwithstand- 
 ing their high celebrity, our author speaks in terms 
 .of utter contempt. 
 
 The stranger, says he, passively follows his con- 
 ductor from one green pond to another, from 3 
 piece of shell work to a noiseless fountain, and 
 thence to a dry cascade. The only object which 
 attracted his regard was the orange tree planted by 
 Francis I. in 1421, and which is in full health and 
 
 6* 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 4rl 
 
 bearing. After this the most interesting thing at 
 Versailles in his opinion, is a speedy departure 
 from it; with the hope that the task of revisiting 
 it may never be again imposed. 
 
 Between St. Germain and Paris stands the mo- 
 dest Malmaison, inhabited by Eugene Beauhar- 
 nois. It is a neat white house, resembling an 
 English gentleman's seat, and to heighten this re- 
 semblance, the gardens and shrubberies are laid out 
 after the English manner. 
 
 The heights of Montmartre on the right banks 
 of the Seine, received their name from the mar- 
 tyrdom of St. Denis ; they are, however, more 
 interesting to the English traveller, as the spot 
 where the meeting of Henry II. Louis VII. and the 
 arrogant Becket took place. In the church of 
 Montmartre was founded more recently the order 
 of the Jesuits, by the vow of Ignatius Loyola, 
 and his seven companions, who were the fathers of 
 the order. The body of this church has been 
 razed, but the tower has escaped by being made 
 the station of a telegraph. Montmartre is still 
 more remarkable from the events which attended 
 the restoration of the Bourbon family. The geo- 
 logical interest of tin's spot is considerable to the 
 studier of nature with its three distinct beds or 
 stratas of gypsum ; the lower of these beds is but 
 thin, and is full of selenite crystals, intermixed 
 with shells. The second contains petrifactions of 
 fi.-hes, and is thicker than the former. The upper 
 strata contains skeletons of birds and quadrupeds - 9 
 in Borne parts this bed is sixty feet thick. 
 
 The Abbey Church of St. Denis is generally 
 allowed to have been founded by Dagobert, and is 
 supposed to have been begun about the year 621). 
 Charlemagne rebuilt it in 775. In 8(55 it was 
 sacked by the Normans, and about 1144 it was 
 restored by the Abbot Suger. It was not, how- 
 ever, completed as it now appears, till Eudes Cle- 
 
 e 3 
 
42 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 ment and Mathieu de Vendome, employed the 
 
 period between J 231 and 1281 in perfecting its 
 erection. The crypt, pr church beneath the cha- 
 pel of St. Denis is generally allowed to be part of 
 the fabric erected by Charlemagne, while to Suger 
 are ascribed the chapels of the Chevet, or round 
 point, part of the eastern arcade, and the whole of 
 the western front. The nave, choir, and transept, 
 are considered as the work of later architects. 
 These are of the most delicate proportions, united 
 with a boldness seldom equalled, certainly never 
 exceeded. During the revolution, this admirable 
 edifice was ravaged and suffered to fall to decay ; but 
 it is now in a great measure renovated, and its mo- 
 numents, preserved in M. Lenoir's collection, are 
 shortly to be restored. That of Dagobert is already 
 replaced on the left of the nave near the western 
 entrance. Its design and antiquity entitle it to the 
 notice of those who find pleasure in observing the 
 progress of taste as displayed in works of art. Thif 
 tomb evinces the advances made in sculpture in 
 Trance during the life of Abbot Suger,, by whom if; 
 was erected. The statue of the king in a recum- 
 bent position, his crown on his head, and his 
 hands joined in prayer, is laid on the tomb, placed 
 within a superb Gothic arch : at his head and feef 
 beneath tabernacles stand the statues of Matilda hi$> 
 wife, and Clovis It. The inner circumference of 
 the arch is surrounded by angels bearing censers. 
 The back of the arch exhibits a remarkable alto re^ 
 lievo divided into three compartments ; in the 
 lower, the soul of Dagobert, naked, but still dis r 
 tinguished by his crown, js seen on board Charon's 
 boat, surrounded by demons, whose apish counte- 
 nances express no good-will towards the deceased : 
 he is kindly received by a saint however in the se-r 
 cond compartment, and the devils are tumbled in 
 confusion into the water. {Saints, Denis, Martin, 
 and Maurice are seen in thp upper division lifting 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 43 
 
 Dagobert in something resembling a sheet towards 
 the regions of the blest, whence an angel, bearing 
 a censer, is stooping to receive him. The whole is 
 richly finished with various Gothic ornaments, and 
 in the greatest delicacy of style. 
 
 Iron folding gates are placed on each side the 
 choir, from which two flights of stone steps lead to 
 the royal vaults. The tombs of the ancient line of 
 French monarGhs are to be restored in their proper 
 order. They form a regular series from Clovis II. 
 to Henry II. ; many of them are already deposited, 
 but French taste has barbarously besmeared these 
 venerable remains of antiquity with yellow paint. 
 
 Montmorency was the object reserved by Mr. 
 Hall till his last excursion round Paris, and he 
 considers the sight of it as fairly worth all the rest. 
 This little town is situated about ten miles north of 
 Paris, and here Rousseau passed several years of his 
 far from happy life. It was here he composed his 
 Julie, Emilie, the Contrat Social, and his Letter 
 to M. D'Alembert The road to Montmorency 
 turns from the main, road at a short distance from 
 St. Denis. The town stands on an eminence com- 
 manding an interesting view of the delightful wan- 
 derings of the Seine through a most delicious valley 
 interspersed with orchards and vine-clad steeps. 
 Mount Louis, the former residence of Rousseau, 
 stands on the south side of a valley overlooking a 
 valley, the bottom of which cannot be discerned 
 through the thick foliage of trees scattered down its 
 slope. M. Rousseau, in his Confessions, thus de- 
 scribes his residence at this enchanting spot : u I 
 was perhaps at that time the most agreeably-lodged 
 individual in Europe. My host, M. Mathias, who 
 was the kindest creature in the world, had left me 
 the entire direction of the repairs of Mount Louis, 
 and would have me dispose of the workmen with- 
 out his interference. 1 contrived out of one room 
 on the first floor to make a complete suite, con- 
 
44 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 sisting of chamber, anti-chamber, and wardrobe. 
 The kitchen and Teresa's chamber were on the 
 ground-floor. The summer house, which I had 
 provided with a good glass door and chimney, 
 served me for a study. While I was there I 
 amused myself with ornamenting the terrace, which 
 was already shaded with two rows of young linden 
 trees; I added two more, to make a saloon of 
 green leaves, in which I placed a table and stone 
 benches, and surrounded it with lilacs, eringas, and 
 honeysuckles. I also laid out a handsome border 
 of flowers parallel to the two rows of trees ; and 
 this terrace, more elevated than that of the cha- 
 teau, with a view at least as fine, and on which I 
 had tamed a number of birds, served me as a draw- 
 ing room." 
 
 This dwelling, so pleasingly described, is still 
 very small and simple, though it has been much 
 altered and enlarged since his time. The terrace 
 still exists, but its contracted dimensions and neg- 
 lected appearance leave little to admire but the 
 memory of the past. A bust of Rousseau is placed 
 in a hole of the wall of the garden, which Mr. 
 Hall compares to a Jesus box ; a pane of glass is 
 before it, and under it some verses written by 
 Madame d'Epinay, reproaching the fickleness of 
 her friend who fled from her protection. On one 
 side of this bust grows a Portugal laurel, under 
 which the philosopher used to seat himself The 
 house is now in the occupation of a neice of M. 
 Gretry, its late proprietor, and it is an instance of 
 no small share of vanity to see the bust of Rousseau 
 thrust into an obcure hole, and that of M. Gretry 
 occupy the most conspicuous spot in the garden, 
 while near it a long piece of slate is hung on which 
 strangers are invited to pay their tribute of re- 
 spect, not to the memory of the most exalted 
 genius any age produced, but to a ci-devant musical 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS 
 
 45 
 
 composer, who, to use Mr. Hall's words, still 
 seems determined to play the first fiddle. 
 
 Mr. Hall on quitting Paris proceeded to Mor- 
 tagne. He complains much of the slowness and in- 
 convenience of the public diligences, though he 
 owns that the enclosed space from which they start 
 is far more convenient than any; either the White 
 Horse cellar, or the White Horse, Fetter-lane, or 
 indeed than any London Horse, Bear, Angel, or 
 Elephant. When Mr. Hall arrived at Mortagne 
 his first care was to enquire for a conveyance to La 
 Trappe : this monastery is situated about eight 
 miles north of Mortagne; the road lies through a 
 beautiful country interspersed with hamlets, or- 
 chards, and vineyards. It is a cross road, narrow, 
 sandy, and broken, but its picturesque scenery 
 renders it far more pleasing to the lover of rural 
 beauty, than the stiff and formal solemnity of the 
 high l oad. Our traveller arrived at the village just 
 at twilight, and the external appearance of the 
 monastery, as well as he could distinguish it by 
 that waning light, resembled a substantial farm- 
 i house. He was admitted by a monk who prostrated 
 i himself before him on his entrance, and to the 
 traveller's request of a night's lodging, replied by 
 leading him to the refectory, when he again bowed 
 to the feet of the stranger. While supper was pre- 
 paring, Mr. Hall attended the evening service in a 
 small chapel. The altar was illuminated by a single 
 lamp, which threw a feeble light on the white ha- 
 | bits of the brethren, who, w ith their cowls drawn 
 [ over their faces, were kneeling down in attitudes 
 of deep humility and devotion. This part of the 
 I service appeared peculiarly impressive. The faint 
 I breathings of their whimpered orisons were alone 
 I audible, and Mr. H , whom no one will accuse of 
 I .enthusiasm, could not refrain from regarding the 
 I scene with a feeling of almost solemn interest, 
 t After this silent devotion had continued for some 
 
46 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 time, they rose and chaunted the usual evening 
 service, which was ended in the same attitude and 
 silent meditation in which it had commenced. 
 From the chapel Mr. H. was led to the refectory, 
 where fruits, vegetables, bread, cheese, butter, 
 honey, and sweetmeats, with good wine and cider, 
 were spread for the entertainment of the traveller, 
 to whom an apology was made by the hospitaller, 
 who has the charge of providing for the reception 
 of strangers, that in consequence of its being a 
 meagre day he could offer no better fare. On re- 
 tiring to his chamber, Mr. H. found it ornamented 
 with the pictures of saints, and provided with a 
 crucifix : on quitting him for the night the hospital- 
 ler desired to be informed of his wants, and the 
 hour at which he wished to be called. According 
 to the life of the Abbe d'Rance, the reformer of 
 the order, the monastery of La Trappe was founded 
 by Routrou, count dela Perche, in 1140, and they 
 were to observe the Bernardino 1 ales ; but much 
 laxity having crept into their observances about the 
 year 1664, De Ranee undertook to reform the 
 order, since which it is called, u the reformed 
 Bernardine," or order of La Trappe. One regula- 
 tion in a volume of rules taken up by our traveller 
 on which those of La Trappe are modelled, might 
 well excuse that high feeling of disapprobation he 
 expresses on its perusal. It directs the brethren of 
 the order to consider a particular friendship as more 
 sinful than the most deadly hatred, by diverting the 
 affections from the Creator to the creature. With 
 what extraordinary logic, exclaims Mr. H. has su- 
 perstition subjugated the earth ! In the stranger's 
 refectory there is a portrait of the Abbe de Ranee ; 
 his countenance is at once mild and penetrating. 
 He possessed both learning and talents. Voltaire 
 observes of him, that " he wrote with eloquence, 
 and, as a legislator, dispensed with his own law, 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 47 
 
 which obliges those who live in the monastic tomb, 
 to be ignorant of what passes in the world. 
 
 Few, however, will question the sincerity of the 
 abbe, who spent the latter part of his life in the 
 practice of those austerities he laid down as the 
 rule of action for others. He is supposed to have 
 acquired much of his gloomy spirit among the 
 Roman catacombs, the place of his frequent medi- 
 tations, and which seem indeed to have been so 
 completely in unison with his taste, that he drew 
 the model for the order of La Trappe, upon the 
 principle of a living catacomb, in which life should 
 represent death, a cell the grave, and living men 
 the silent passionless inhabitants of the grave. 
 
 Having partook of a luxurious breakfast, during 
 which he was waited on in modest silence by the 
 hospitaller, Mr. Hall had leisure to examine a 
 printed paper which he found on his plate, con- 
 taining an account of the regulations of the order : 
 an odd commentary, observes he, on an excellent 
 breakfast, and not likely to prove the more relish- 
 ing from the contrast. In its style there was an 
 earnestness approaching to eloquence. In this 
 paper the austerities of the order are classed under 
 nine heads, and certainly all the courage it recom- 
 mends is necessary to enable any one to encounter 
 them. The endurance of the cold in winter, when 
 the use of a fire is permitted but for a few moments at 
 a time. Heat in summer, when the sweat occasioned 
 by toil, must be wiped from the brow only by the 
 hand. Early rising ; before half past one in the 
 morning on Sundays and ordinary festivals, and 
 before midnight on great festivals. Never to lean 
 against the wall while sitting, however fatigued. To 
 make but one meal a day for seven months of the 
 year, and that to consist of potatoes and herbs or 
 vegetables, without butter or oil, and seasoned 
 with Fait and water ; the bread to be brown, and the 
 drink only water; this too not to be touched but on 
 
43 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 a signal given by the superior. To work fasting 
 for five or six hours a day or more at laborious oc- 
 cupations. To sing in the choir, or pray more 
 than seven hours a day, more than eleven on Sun- 
 days, and above twelve on great festivals. Never 
 to sleep but on boards, with a pillow of straw, and 
 finally to reckon all this nothing. And every even- 
 ing to make a prostration before the cross, repeat 
 the miserere, and entreat God's forgiveness for 
 having done so little during the day, and that little 
 so ill. Even if necessary some retrenchment is to 
 be made upon this wretched subsistence, the better 
 to provide for those who may wish to become in- 
 mates of the establishment. Humility is recom- 
 mended to be carried to the extreme of a total an- 
 nihilation of volition ; every species of blame, and 
 even calumny is to be endured without an attempt 
 at defence, or even explanation : the head is to be 
 constantly bowed down, and the eyes cast to the 
 earth, in token of contrition. The will of the su- 
 perior is to be regarded as the sole rule of conduct, 
 and all previous knowledge is to be laid aside and 
 forgotten, while the mind assents with implicit sub- 
 mission to whatever is presented to it, whether of 
 thought or action. This state of self-negation is 
 indeed generally regarded as the perfection of 
 saintship, and one of the ancient fathers has de- 
 clared, that " but for self-will there would be no 
 hell." 
 
 To this detail of self privations inflicted on the 
 inhabitants of this retreat, a notice is subjoined 
 stating that property is not required of those who 
 desire to devote themselves to the order. Though 
 the present reduced state of the revenues must 
 make any acquisition of property extremely ac- 
 ceptable, as they have no means of support but 
 what those who enter the order may bring with 
 them. Neither age or education are obstacles to 
 reception. The uneducated, and those whose age or 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 49 
 
 want of health will not suffer them to practise all the 
 austerities of the order, are permitted some indul- 
 gences according to circumstances. The unlettered 
 are received as lay brothers, and on the weak or in- 
 firm, such severe fasting is not enjoined as on the 
 healthy and robust ; they are also permitted to 
 wear linen, an indulgence not granted to the mem- 
 bers generally. 
 
 Attached to the monastery is a school for edu- 
 cating the young in writing, cyphering, and Latin, 
 free of expense. The scholars are boarded and 
 lodged in the house s when their education is com- 
 pleted, they are either returned to the world or 
 received as members of the order. There is ano- 
 ther establishment for those of superior circum- 
 stances, in which students, who can pay for their 
 education, are received on the usual plan of col- 
 leges, who are instructed not only in Latin, &c. but 
 also in the modern languages, mathematics, and 
 other branches of learning. Before he departed 
 Mr. H. was conducted through every part of the 
 building. The walls were bare, and every article 
 of furniture as simple as possible. The house is 
 divided into the refectory, dormitory, and library ; 
 there are besides several apartments used as work- 
 shops, occupied by taylors, shoe-makers, and 
 book-binders ; these pursue their employments in 
 silence, which was only broken by an half-breathed 
 whisper when any occasion absolutely required it; 
 otherwise their communication with each other was 
 merely by signs. 
 
 The garden is neatly kept, and is also the burial 
 place of the members. One grave remains always 
 open ; a few others are banked up with turf, with 
 crosses at their head, and the conventual names 
 and ages of their inhabitants ; the dates of their 
 death and the simple addition of requiescat in pace. 
 The monks were busily employed repairing their 
 bakehouse and other domestic offices. Within 
 
 VOL. IV. F 
 
50 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 sight of their present humble dwelling stands the 
 noble ruins of their ancient monastery. The walls 
 and some broken arches of the church remain 
 standing, the roof has fallen in. It was built in the 
 most simple style of Gothic architecture. And the 
 monks are not without a hope of one day restoring 
 their ruined edifice to all its ancient splendour. 
 All the woods and meadows which surround their 
 convent were once their property. The woods have 
 now fallen to the possession of the crown, and the 
 monks cherish the fond hope that they may be one 
 day restored. A beautiful thicket adjoining the 
 orchard is cut into green alleys, but here the monks 
 by their order are forbidden to walk lest this indul- 
 gence should too far mitigate their state of 
 penance. 
 
 Mr. Hall very ably combats the opinion that the 
 order of La Trappe is mostly filled by men guilty 
 of crimes, the enormity of which has driven them 
 to so austere a penance for their expiation. He 
 very justly remarks, that it is rather on the weak 
 than the wicked that religion pours her chastening 
 influence ; great criminals are commonly men 
 whose powerful minds are seldom dashed by the 
 terrors of superstition, except when their intellec- 
 tual faculties are enfeebled by age or disease. 
 Among the monks of La Trappe are several of 
 Bonaparte's old guard, whom disgust and impa- 
 tience for the lost idol of their affections, have im- 
 pelled to embrace a seclusion which, however con- 
 trary to their former habits, still affords nutriment 
 to their extravagance. The hospitaller was him- 
 self once a captain of cavalry. 
 
 On returning from the examination of the mo- 
 nastery and premises, Mr. Hall was invited to pro- 
 long his visit, but on his declining, a collation was 
 spread before his departure, and on taking his leave 
 an album was presented, in which travellers enter 
 their names, and generally add some expressions of 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 51 
 
 their thanks or feelings for that hospitality with 
 which they have been entertained, and with this 
 custom Mr. H. complied by inserting some very 
 appropriate lines. In return for all the kindness 
 and good fare which you receive nothing is de- 
 manded ; but the reduced state of their finances 
 will not suffer them to refuse the willing present 
 that may enable them gratuitously to accommodate 
 the less wealthy traveller. 
 
 The old town of Mortagne exhibited marks of 
 reviving trade and confidence, stone-masons, brick- 
 layers, and carpenters were all engaged in the 
 work of renovation, and all had an appearance of 
 ease and activity. From an heathy hill just without 
 the town, a prospect may be viewed of a wide land- 
 scape of richly cultivated country; abounding 
 with trees and hedge- rows, and thickly sprinkled 
 with villages, superior to any other between there 
 and Paris. 
 
 From this place Mr. Hall went in the mail, or as 
 he expresses it, in the same covered cart with the 
 bags to Le Mans, and feelingly laments the effects 
 of the jolting ; however he contrived to alleviate 
 his sufferings by walking forward an hour at every 
 stage. In this way he proceeded to the ancient 
 town of Le Mans, formerly the capital of Maine. 
 The town stands near the confluence of the Sante 
 and the Huisne. Some of the old fortifications re - 
 main. The cathedral, however, by its beauty 
 would well repay the aching bones of him who 
 journied in the mail to enjoy a sight of it. The 
 nave is asserted to have been a Pagan temple, and 
 is obviously older than the choir and transepts. 
 Seven massive-clustered columns support the roof, 
 while four circular pillars on each side form the 
 lateral aisles. The windows in their form and 
 arrangement resemble those of the great ha!l in the 
 castle of Lillebonne ; those of the lower tier being 
 plain round arches, while those of the upper are 
 
 y c 2 
 
b2 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 double within a plain circular architrave. The 
 choir is flanked by clustered columns supporting 
 light pointed arches, and a vaulted roof : it is sur- 
 rounded by a double aisle divided by sixteen 
 Roman columns resembling those in the nave, but 
 with the addition of capitals and bases : thus con- 
 necting the older building of the nave with the 
 Gothic of the choir, and lessening the force of the 
 otherwise unpleasant contrast. Within the circum- 
 ference of this aisle are built twelve Gothic chapels : 
 that called the Lady Chapel forms a magnificent 
 termination to the eastern extremity of the edifice. 
 All the windows of these chapels, and those in the 
 upper story of the choir, are of beautiful stained 
 glass, the effect of which is splendid beyond de- 
 scription. 
 
 From Le Mans to Tours Mr. Hall travelled by 
 night, but met with a forcible example of French 
 politesse, and might have learnt had he not learned 
 the lesson sooner, to appreciate its sincerity. His 
 fellow traveller who had during the whole journey 
 been persecuting him with compliments and offers 
 of service, on their arrival at Tours, in reply to a 
 request from Mr. H. that he would direct him to 
 the best hotel, tucked his umbrella under his left 
 arm, caught his bundle from the conducteur, and 
 hastened off with as much diligence as if his com- 
 panion had endeavoured to have borrowed a franc 
 of him, probably fearing his professions of good- 
 will should be put to some further test. 
 
 Tours is described as half peopled by English. 
 It is approached by a handsome bridge of fifteen 
 arches, each seventy feet in span : the bridge is 
 1532 feet in length and 47 wide, forming the en- 
 trance to what Mr. Hall considers one of the hand- 
 somest streets in France. The castle, now used as 
 a barrack, was built in 1160 by Henry II. of 
 England, count of Touraine. It was erected on the 
 site of an ancient Roman building, and was an ir„ 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 53 
 
 regular square flanked by four towers, one of 
 ■which and part of a second still remain, as does 
 some part of the original walls. It was probably 
 one of the sculptured stones of the former Roman 
 building, that was long shewn at Tours as the 
 tomb of Turnus. One of the towers still remaining 
 bears the name of the Guise Tower, being that 
 from which the duke of Guise let himself down from 
 a window while a prisoner in the year 1591. The 
 estates of the province met at Tours in 1789, in 
 order to elect deputies to the states general. The 
 Marquis of Lusignan, who traces his descent from 
 the kings of Jerusalem, and Cyprus ennobled his 
 family more than that descent from royalty, by be- 
 ing the first among the nobility to set a memorable 
 example of patriotism, in proposing the resolution 
 which follows : " The order of the nobility and 
 bailiwick ofTourain, considering that its members 
 were men and citizens before they were nobles, can- 
 not better indemnify itself for the long silence to 
 which the abuse of ministerial power had condemned 
 it, than by declaring to its fellow-citizens, that it 
 purposes no longer to enjoy those pecuniary privi- 
 leges, whicli custom had conferred on it. Jt 
 makes by acclamation a solemn vow, to bear with 
 perfect equality each in proportion to his fortune 
 the taxes and general contributions which shall be 
 agreed to by the nation ; pretending to reserve none 
 but the sacred rights of property, and those dis- 
 tinctions essential in a monarchy, to enable it the 
 better to maintain the rights and liberties of the 
 people, the respect due to the monarch, and the 
 authority of the laws." This resolution was passed 
 by acclamation, and the clergv moved one to a si- 
 milar effect. The privileged orders of Touraine at 
 least, adds Mr. Hall, have thus preserved con- 
 sciences free of reproach, while their noble senti- 
 ments will be long quoted to show that all the 
 
 * .3 
 
54< FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 French nobles and clergy were not culpable towards 
 mankind. 
 
 Passing through Montbazon, and pointing out 
 the ruins of Old Poitiers, our traveller proceeds to 
 the city now bearing that name. The ancient city 
 of Poitiers rises on the steep ridge that forms the 
 left bank of the Clain. The streets are ill paved, 
 narrow, and crooked. It occupies an extent of 
 ground capable of containing five times its number 
 of inhabitants, which amount to about 2l,OO0. 
 Gardens, vineyards, and even corn fields flourish 
 within the ramparts, and within a few paces of the 
 principal streets. In some districts whole streets 
 may be found with the grass growing over it, as if 
 recently depopulated by the plague. 
 
 This town is seldom visited by foreigners or 
 strangers, it contains many good houses, but most 
 of them without inhabitants. Yet with all its dis- 
 advantages Poitiers was more agreeable to the taste 
 of our author, than any provincial city in France 
 except Saintes. It is conspicuous in history, rich 
 in antiquities, and situated in the midst of a plea- 
 sant and interesting country. The public walks 
 laid out on the ramparts are as fine as any in France ; 
 they command a view of the Clain, with its steep 
 bank of lime-stone on its bright green water- 
 meadows, vineyards, corn fields, and woods on its 
 right. Examining the remains of the Roman am- 
 phitheatre, by passing through a bookseller's shop, 
 Mr. Hall found himself within the area of Les 
 Arenes standing upon one of its vaults. The con- 
 trast of the gigantic ruins to the diminutive houses 
 by which they were surrounded, gave a view of 
 them from this spot considerable effect. Passing 
 through the yard of the hotel d'Evreux, he gained 
 admittance into the area. The building is of flat 
 slabs of lime-stone roughly hewn and put together, 
 without neatness or regularity, having most pro- 
 bably been formerly covered with small stones. The 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 
 
 55 
 
 arches still standing no where exceed the height of 
 sixty feet, and their height is not so much except 
 in one or two places, where those of the third 
 story are entire. The area of these ruins may oc- 
 cupy an acre and half of ground, which is laid out 
 in flower gardens. 
 
 The church of St. John ranks the next in anti- 
 quarian interest, though Mr. Hall sees nothing in 
 it but a contracted ruinous edifice built and orna- 
 mented in the vilest possible taste. It is situated 
 opposite the bishop's palace, near the south gate 
 of the cathedral, and is generally kept shut. Mr. 
 H. could not obtain admission to view this edifice, 
 concerning the original design of which and the 
 date of its erection there are various conjectures. A 
 large oblong stone seven feet in length and near 
 two in height is to be seen in the cathedral, bear- 
 ing a Latin inscription of the following import : 
 
 u The city of Poitiers has ordered for Claudia 
 Varenilla, the daughter of the consul Claudius 
 Varenus, funeral rites, a place for a statue, a pub- 
 lic monument. Marcus Censorinus Pavius, the 
 emperor's lieutenant, proprietor of the province of 
 Aquitaine, and consul elect, content with the hon- 
 ours decreed to his wife, has erected this monu- 
 ment at his own expense." 
 
 This stone has been geneially believed to have 
 been taken from the church of St. John, where it 
 incumbered the interior of the building ; hence it 
 has been conjectured that this edifice was origi- 
 nally the mausoleum of Varenilla. M. Siauve en- 
 deavoured to ascertain the truth of this conjecture, 
 by searching for the solid masonry on which the 
 stone must have rested. But when he thought he 
 had found the object of his search in the centre of 
 the building, he excavated an octagonal pool four 
 feet in diameter, with a descent into it of several 
 steps, and a small subterraneous drain to carry off 
 the water. This strengthened the notion that the 
 
56 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 building was originally designed for a church about 
 the fourth century. Though the monument might 
 have been removed, and the baptismal pool subse- 
 quently formed. The meanness of the building 
 answers better to our idea of an early Christian 
 church, than to a Roman public work, of which it 
 has by no means the dignity. It has however 
 marks of Roman construction, and the first church 
 at Tours is understood to have been the house of a 
 Roman senator. If, however, it is considered as 
 originally a Christian church, it is not only the 
 oldest in France, but probably in the whole Chris- 
 tian world. And it is this circumstance alone 
 which entitles it to notice. 
 
 The building which Mr. Hall considers not only 
 as the most curious in Poitiers but even in France, 
 is the church of Notre Dame : his stay in Poitiers 
 would not permit him to ascertain its history, of 
 which and* its date the generality of the inhabi- 
 tants are entirely uninformed. It is about 180 
 feet in length, and 45 in breath, and is without 
 transepts. The tower is divided into three stories, 
 the two lower are square, the upper circular, ter- 
 minated by a short pyramidical spire. The whole 
 structure is of a reddish brown stone so much cor- 
 roded by time, that our author compares its ap- 
 pearance to a ship after a storm. The western 
 facade is however the most remarkable part of the 
 structure ; this is entirely covered by statues and 
 beautiful sculptures scarcely paralleled in rich- 
 ness by Gothic architecture. This front including 
 the towers is about sixty feet wide : that portion of 
 it betwixt the towers contains three portals, of 
 which the central arch is circular, the two lateral 
 pointed ; these latter, with two small tabernacles on 
 either side the central window, are the only parts 
 of the building exhibiting traces of Gothic archi- 
 tecture. And Mr. H. considers the form of these 
 arches to have originated in the contracted space 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 57 
 
 betwixt the middle portal and the tower?. These 
 arches rest on short thick clustered columns, hav- 
 ing capitals grotesquely ornamented with leaves 
 and animals. The soffit of the central arch has four 
 rich mouldings ornamented with various carvings of 
 flowers, leaves, and arabesques. The lateral arches 
 have two similar mouldings carved with animals, 
 nail heads, and leaves elegantly executed. The 
 side doors are double, divided by a pillar sur- 
 mounted by round arches, with nail-head mould- 
 ings. The spaces of wall betwixt the three portals 
 are covered with various bas reliefs much decayed, 
 but among them the fall of Adam is tolerably en- 
 tire. A rich band or impost terminates the lower 
 stor}', above which is the west window, having 
 three broad mouldings round the top, elegant ara- 
 besques ornament two of these, while the third 
 bas the nail-head ornament very gracefully formed. 
 Between this window and the towers there are two 
 tiers of arched niches, containing statues of saints : 
 above these a corbel table supports the architrave 
 of the pediment, terminating the facade with an ir- 
 regular triangle, having in its centre an oval ele- 
 gantly encircled with mouldings, containing a mu- 
 tilated statue of the virgin. 
 
 Mr. Hall proceeds to describe the towers and 
 remainder of the ornaments which are all in the 
 same style, and concludes with observing that 
 though the whole as far as regards proportions can 
 neither be considered as either majestic or grace- 
 ful, yet it is impossible to view the profusion of 
 rich and delicate carving without astonishment. 
 He considers its decorations as worthy the Gre- 
 cian chissel, while the general plan, and structure 
 are mean and insignificant. 'Sir. H. fixes the date 
 of this edifice as prior to the introduction of Gothic 
 architecture, and refers it to the florid aera of the 
 corrupted Roman style, answering to the Norman 
 period in England, and considers it as overthrow- 
 
58 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 ing Mr. Bentham's assertion, that they had at this 
 period no tabernacles, pinnacles, or spires, or in- 
 deed any statues to adorn their buildings on the 
 outside, and will by no means admit these exist- 
 ing at the little church of Notre Dame to be post- 
 humous additions. The interior of this edifice is 
 purely Roman, with no intermixture of Gothic or- 
 nament except a shrine,, in which is a groupe of 
 figures, representing the burial of Christ. 
 
 The cathedral was only slightly noticed by our 
 traveller. It has a plain massive exterior, in the 
 corrupted Roman style. The towers are dissimilar, 
 and the entrance Gothic. The interior is ex- 
 tremely elegant, and purely Gothic; but the win- 
 dows are circular. The towers are low, terminating 
 like those of Notre Dame, in conical spires. 
 
 About a quarter of a mile from the cliffs, forming 
 the left bank of the Clain, on a spot overlooking 
 both the city and the valley through which the 
 river flows, stands the famous Pierre Levee, or 
 Cromlech. It is a flat slab of coarse lime-stone, 
 about twenty feet long, seventeen wide, and two 
 and a half thick ; this formerly rested on three up- 
 right slabs of smaller dimensions, but of the same 
 kind of rock, one only of these remains in its origi- 
 nal position ; the flat stone is consequently raised 
 but at one end, the other has fallen down, and is 
 split across. Various conjectures are stated by our 
 author, but he seems to consider the most proba- 
 ble cause of this, and similar erections, to have been 
 the perpetuating the memory of deceased relatives; 
 or perhaps they mark the burial place of famous 
 warriors. Besides the Pierre Levee, in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Poitiers, exist the tombs of Civaux, 
 which excite little less interest. Civaux is a small 
 village, situated on the high road to Limoges, about 
 six leagues from Poitiers, on the banks of the 
 Vienne. On the left of the road, near the entrance 
 of the village, is a large plain full of stone coffins, 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 59 
 
 almost all on the surface of the ground, some partly 
 buried, but very few covered by the earth. Tombs 
 of a similar kind, but in less number, are found in 
 several of the adjacent fields. The principal plot 
 of ground is supposed to have contained five or six 
 thousand coffins. These remains of antiquity were 
 first noticed by Routh ; M. Siauve has since pub- 
 lished a report on the subject. Most of the sarco- 
 phagi, he inspected, were plain, or very slightly 
 ornamented. They were full of bones, each tomb 
 appearing to have contained two, or sometimes 
 three, bodies. In the wall of a ruined chapel to 
 the north of the cemetery, he found a rude alto 
 relievo, of a man with something resembling a 
 hatchet in his hand, which, from the costume, If. 
 Lenoir supposes to have been the production of the 
 eighth or ninth century. 
 
 In the court-yard of the parsonage of Civaux, 
 M. Siauve discovered another sculpture of a female 
 and child. This, he conjectures, to have been a 
 monument of the fourth or firth century. Mr. Hall, 
 however, ably combats these suppositions ; and 
 agrees in the opinion of M. Siauve, who think* 
 they are not more ancient than the ninth century. 
 To account for the number of these stones, M. 
 Siauve refers to the ancient custom of having but 
 one burying-ground to several parishes ; and that 
 to possess a cemetery, was often a privilege conferred 
 on a particular monastery, and might very probably 
 have been granted to that of Civaux, as a religious 
 house formerly existed there. 
 
 Overthrown by the frantic actors in the Revolu- 
 tion, is seen the tomb of Sir John Chandos. It is 
 situated at no great distance from Civaux, and is 
 calculated to excite the best feelings of the English 
 traveller. He was the flower of English chivalry, 
 and met his death in a skirmish on the bridge of 
 Lussac, in the year 1370. His tomb, in its present 
 dilapidated state, consists of a flat stone, over which 
 
60 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 is raised a cenotaph, supported by two small pil- 
 lars* Beneath this ruined monument, the bones 
 of the hero are still supposed to rest in peace. 
 
 Between this place and Saintes, our traveller de- 
 scribes little of interest. The beggars appear to 
 have been the most prominent objects. They are, 
 he observes, the traveller's pest throughout every 
 part of France, in high roads, churches, streets, or 
 inns ; though to give, is not a general habit of the 
 nation. He instances an interesting female, appa- 
 rently educated above her situation, who attracted, 
 by her singing, the notice of several well-drest peo- 
 ple on the Boulevards of Paris ; they, however, all 
 moved off before the conclusion of the song, and 
 none but a sailor, and a poor woman, remained to 
 bestow a sou on the songstress. 
 
 Passing through Anguleme, he noticed the prin- 
 cipal church, dedicated to St. Peter, as of the same 
 date, and ornamented in a similar manner, though 
 less delicately, than that of Notre Dame at Poi- 
 tiers. 
 
 Our traveller now approached Saintes, conspicu- 
 ous at the distance of several miles. It is entered 
 over a handsome bridge, beneath a Roman trium- 
 phal arch of imposing simplicity and grandeur. 
 Saintes was one of the free cities of the Roman em- 
 pire, and had a capital, governed by its own magis- 
 trates. Some remains of the old Roman wall, which 
 surrounded the city, are still visible ; and the soil 
 beneath is almost wholly composed of broken ar- 
 chitectural ornaments, inscriptions, altars, and 
 coins. The objects of the greatest interest to the 
 traveller, are the triumphal arch, the amphitheatre, 
 and the late discovery of part of a Roman edifice. 
 The lime-stone, of which the triumphal arch is con- 
 structed, is considerably corroded ; but its general 
 form and appearance is little injured. It is erected 
 across the centre of the bridge, supported by piers 
 laid in the river. Its height is sixty feet, its breadth 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. CT1 
 
 forty, being the same as that of the bridge. It is 
 ten feet thick, and is pierced with two arches. The 
 facade, as high as the spring of the arches, appears 
 to have been ornamented with fluted Corinthian 
 pilasters, the cornices of which form an impost to 
 the double mouldings round the arches. Above 
 this cornice is an entablature as high as the attic, 
 at each corner of which are small fluted Corinthian 
 columns, resting on the lower cornice, and support- 
 ing an architrave; the frize of which is terminated 
 by a bold projecting cornice, having the upper 
 moulding, or cimac recta, inverted. The attic is 
 composed of three rows of large stones, and also 
 terminates in a cornice, the upper member of which 
 supports a Gothic battlement, added in the middle 
 ages. The stones are generally from three to five 
 feet long, and from two to three thick ; they are 
 laid without cement, but appear to have been mor- 
 tised with lead or iron. This, it appears, is rather 
 a votive than a triumphal arch, raised either by the 
 army or inhabitants, as a token of their hopes or 
 gratitude. Very small portions of the inscriptions 
 are now visible. They were, however, deciphered 
 by M. Bourignon, in 1780. The ruined amphi- 
 theatre is overlooked by the road dividing the upper 
 town or citadel of Saintes, from the fauxbourg in 
 the valley. This road forms a bold terrace on the 
 side of the hill, from which is seen the amphithea- 
 tre, in a hollow, in the midst ofrields; thus, though 
 on the skirt of the town, it has an air of seclusion, 
 sufficient to leave the spectator at liberty to indulge 
 his curiosity or admiration. Jt appears to have 
 been supported by one row of arches, of which 
 twelve or thirteen are tolerably entire ; as are two 
 narrow stair-cases. When entire, the theatre would 
 probably have contained about 5000 spectators. 
 
 On one side of the arena, is the fountain of St. 
 Eustella, where the daughter of the lieutenant- 
 governor of Saintognc, is said to have repaired, 
 
 VOL. IV. (t 
 
FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 when banished from her father's palace, for her 
 attachment to the Christian faith, and was here 
 strengthened in her pious purpose by the good 
 Eutropius, first bishop of Saintes, who had con- 
 cealed himself in a hut near the theatre, in the arena 
 of which he afterwards sealed the testimony of his 
 faith, by submitting to martyrdom. 
 
 Various circumstances, particularly the inscrip- 
 tions on the triumphal arch, which mention a priest 
 of Rome and Augustus, tend to prove, that a tem- 
 ple once existed at Saintes. This conjecture has 
 been recently confirmed, on clearing thg ground 
 without the citadel, from rubbish in the year 1816, 
 a building was discovered, having before it the re- 
 mains of two rows of Doric columns, five in each 
 row. Great numbers of medals of Augustus and 
 Tiberius, were dug up, as were architectural re- 
 mains, and ornaments in abundance. At the same 
 time, near the same spot, was discovered a ceme- 
 tery full of stone coffins, each containing one or 
 two skeletons. None of them had any external 
 ornament ; though they contained rings, trinkets, 
 lacrymatories, and medals, particularly of Augus- 
 tus. Small pieces of money were also found in the 
 heads of the skeletons, as if they had, according to 
 an old superstition, been placed in the mouths of 
 the dead. They had but few inscriptions; but 
 among them one is remarkable, as bearing the date 
 of the foundation of Rome ; it is in Latin, and is 
 thus rendered : " To the manes and memory of 
 Tullia, daughter of J. Martius, centurion ; who 
 died at the age of twenty, in the year of the build- 
 ing of the city, 771." Several of these tombs have 
 been converted into watering troughs, which they 
 much resemble in shape. 
 
 M. Bourignon has traced the aqueduct of Saintes 
 from the fountain called Fongeraud, issuing from 
 the foot of a hill in the parish of Ecoyeaux, three 
 leagues east of the town. After being carried over 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 
 
 63 
 
 the Charente, the water was distributed to the 
 amphitheatre, perhaps for the purpose of exhibit- 
 ing naumachia to the capitol; to the temple of Mi- 
 nerva, and to the edifice recently discovered. The 
 canals, conveying the water to all these places, 
 have at different times been traced. Besides these 
 there are numerous remains of Roman edifices, &c. 
 scattered round the neighbourhood ; but none so 
 important, or distinctly marked, as those we have 
 already described. 
 
 Mr. Hall next visited Bourdeaux, where, in spite 
 of his every effort, the cicerone of the place con- 
 trived to force on the traveller the acceptance of 
 his services. The Roman Burdigala was surround- 
 ed by a square wall, the streets planned with regu- 
 larity, and so wide, as to acquire the name of 
 plateas; the gates corresponded to the direction of 
 the streets ; the river flowed through the middle 
 of the town; and, at high tide, was covered with 
 vessels. A fountain of Parian marble of dark depth 
 gushed from its basin through twelve apertures, 
 and is thus apostrophised by Ausonius, who fM 
 born there : 
 
 u Of birth unknown, whose bounteous springs ne'er fail, 
 Blue, glassy, deep, dark, stainless fountain, hail !" 
 
 The only existing monument of this ancient 
 splendour, is the ruined amphitheatre, called 11 the 
 Palace of Galicnus." Its shape is oval, being about 
 400 feet long, by 250 wide. The doors were placed 
 at either end ; one of them is nearly entire. The 
 style of architecture is very coarse, without orna- 
 ment, except cornices and mouldings of red tiles, 
 which are also used in the construction of the 
 building, being laid alternately ■ ith the stone. 
 
 The theatre of Bourdeaux is graced by an ele- 
 gant Corinthian portico, resembling the entrance 
 of a Grecian temple. To add to its effect, it stands 
 in an open space, the streets leading from which 
 
 G 3 
 
64 
 
 FLOWERS OF ?vf ODERM 
 
 are finer than those of Paris. The objects best 
 worth a stranger's notice in Bourdeaux, are the 
 stately Gironde, bordered by broad quays ; the spa- 
 cious exchange, and its fine and elegant streets. 
 
 Our traveller's journey from Bourdeaux to Tou- 
 louse, furnished no particulars of extraordinary in- 
 terest. Of the latter city he observes, that though 
 possessing claims of an interesting and romantic 
 character, from its connection with various histo- 
 rical recollections ; yet, on inspection, it is not cal- 
 culated to gratify any high wrought anticipations. 
 Of its Roman greatness, its capitol, or amphithea- 
 tre, not a vestige is discerned, except indeed that 
 the foundation of the castle walls are of Roman 
 workmanship ; but the castle itself is Gothic, pos- 
 sessing no claims to high antiquity. 
 
 The church of St. Saturnine, in this city, was 
 consecrated by Pope Urban II. about the year 
 1090. This edifice is in a style of architecture 
 scarcely known in England, but is called Lombard 
 on the continent ; though our traveller declares it 
 to be unmixed Roman, being free from those pecu- 
 liarities found in the styles called Saxon and Nor- 
 man. It is built of brick, in the form of a cross. 
 From its centre, rises a lofty octagonal tower, of 
 five stories. The lady chapel, and all the minor 
 chapels round the aisles, are semicircular. All 
 round the building there are three rows of windows. 
 The upper row are simple arched apertures un- 
 glazed ; the second row are also arched, and orna- 
 mented with Corinthian pillars, surmounted by an 
 impost. The lower windows are larger, and have 
 no pillars. Stone cornices support the roofs of all 
 the chapels, and are ornamented with grotesque 
 medallions. The windows of the chapels are uni- 
 form all round the church, and are separated by 
 small pillars or buttresses. The architecture of 
 the interior is uniform throughout; but the appear- 
 ance of the whole is cold, correct, and plain. A 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 65 
 
 museum has been founded here nearly on the plan 
 of that of M. Lenoir at Paris, and for the game 
 uses. The cloisters of the ci-devant Augustine 
 Convent, have also been appropriated tc this pur- 
 pose. One side is occupied by Roman, and other 
 classical antiquities ; while the remaining three 
 sides are filled with monuments, tombs, or pieces 
 of sculpture. 
 
 From Toulouse to Paris, by the way of Limoges, 
 the road lies through a tract of country, forming 
 the boundary of those mountainous departments, 
 in which nearly all the rivers intersecting France 
 have their rise, and is consequently the most pictu- 
 resque that can well be imagined. But the object 
 that will be noticed with the most interest by the 
 philosopher, is the villago of Pierre Buficre, placed 
 on a mountain stream, over which there is an an- 
 tique bridge. It was in its castle, that the cele- 
 brated Mirabeau was imprisoned several years by 
 his father, a confinement not ill calculated to instil 
 into his mind his strong dislike to bastilles and 
 lettres de cachet. The building, excepting the 
 donjon keep, has been converted into a farm 
 house. 
 
 The city of Limoges is deeply connected with 
 the much-pr aised English Edward the Black Prince. 
 But if the testimony of Froissart may be believed, 
 and it is borne out by the circumstances, he here 
 most basely dyed his laurels in the blood of the 
 innocent. 
 
 " The Prince the Duke of Lancaster, the Earls 
 of Cambridge and of Pembroke, ^ir Guiscard 
 d'Angle, and the others, with their men, rushed 
 into the town. You would then have seen pilla- 
 gers, active to do mischief, running through the 
 town, slaying men, women, and children, accord- 
 ing to their orders. It was a most melancholy bu- 
 siness ; for all ranks, ages, and sexes, cast them- 
 selves on their knees before the prince, begging for 
 
 g3 
 
66* 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 mercy ; but he was so inflamed with passion and 
 revenge, that he listened to none, but all were put 
 to the sword, wherever they could be found, even 
 those who were not guilty : for I know not why the 
 poor men were not spared, who could not have had 
 any part in this treason, but they suffered for it, and 
 indeed more than those who had been the leaders 
 of the treachery.'* 
 
 There was not that day in the city of Limogvs 
 any heart so hardened, or that had any sense of 
 religion, who did not deeply bewail the unfortunate 
 events passing before their eyes ; for upwards of 
 3000 men, women, and children, were put to death 
 £hat day. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Passage through France — First View of the Alps — . 
 Dijon — Montbard — Lyons— Poligny — The Fon - 
 tane — Napoleon — Ferney— Voltaire — Geneva — 
 Rousseau — Environs and Lake of Geneva — Cha- 
 mouny — Mer de Glace — Voute de Glace — A Ca- 
 vern — New Road of the Simplon — Valley of the 
 Rhone — Como — Lausanne — Coppet — Basle — Fall 
 of the Rhine — Schaffhausen — Constance — Zurich 
 — Lucerne — Lake of Uri — The Glaciers — Cretins 
 —An hair -breadth Escape — Mont St. Got hard — 
 The Devil's Bridge — The Grand St. Bernard — 
 Mont Blanc — Jura—Staubach — Stochhorn — Ea- 
 gle of the Alps. 
 
 Mr. Williams, who passed rapidly through France, 
 and visited the Alps of Switzerland in 1816, ex- 
 presses his conceptions of this sublime scenery in 
 terms peculiarly grand and impressive. His first 
 view of the Alps of the Grisons, with the Jungfrau, 
 or virgin piercing the horizontal clouds, was from 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 67 
 
 the Lac de Biennc. " Pictures," he says, " give 
 no idea of them, and, I fear, never can. The mind 
 is struck with the wonderful work of God. Awe, 
 solemn awe, fills the soul, in looking at these su- 
 blime productions ofhis hand. In the vale of Cha- 
 mouny, people of all nations meet to see its border- 
 ing wonders. The summit too of Mount Blanc, 
 towering far above the region of clouds and tem- 
 pests, and smiling in perpetual serenity, seems to 
 court affinity with another world, and forcibly re- 
 minds us of the beautiful simile suggested to Gold- 
 smith, by the scenery of the Alps i 
 
 u As some tall clirF that lift* ir« awful form, 
 
 Swells from the vale, ami midway leaves the storm; 
 Though round its breast the rolling clouds are spread, 
 Eternal sunshine settles on its head." 
 
 Placed amidst these tremendous solitudes, while 
 the dreary silence that reigns around is broken only 
 by the occasional thunder of the avalanches, the 
 proudest of mankind must be overpowered with a 
 sense of human weakness and in silent adoration 
 do homage to Almighty power. 
 
 The route through France to Switzerland, com- 
 monly pursued from Paris to Geneva, is by Dijon; 
 and in the diligence, the journey is performed in 
 six days. Taking Joigny and Tonnere in the way, 
 we come to Montbard, where may be seen the house 
 in which Butfon spent the greatest part of his life. 
 It is in the high street, and the court is behind. 
 You ascend a stair-case to go into the garden, raised 
 on the ruins of the ancient mansion, the terraces of 
 which are formed by the walls. On the top, a lofty 
 octagon tower still remains, where BurFon made his 
 observations on the reverberation of the air. This 
 singular and picturesque garden, is well worth no- 
 tice. Upon the column erected here by the son of 
 Buffon, was once the following inscription : " Ex- 
 celsae turri humiles columna ; parente suo tilius 
 
I 
 
 68 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 Buffon." That revolution which caused these 
 words to be effaced, also condemned to the scaffold 
 the writer of them, who died at Paris, pronouncing, 
 in a calm and dignified tone, " Citizens, my name 
 Is Buffon." 
 
 Dijon, the chief town of the department of the 
 Cote d'Or, one of the most highly cultivated dis- 
 tricts in France, is situated in an agreeable and fer- 
 tile plain between the rivers Ouche and Suzon. 
 The castle, the hospital, the Rue de Conde, the 
 front of St. Michael's church, the work of Hugues 
 Sambin, the rival and friend of Michael Angelo ; 
 and the front of that of Notre Dame, a chef-d'oeuvre 
 of Gothic architecture, are worthy of particular no- 
 tice. The effect of the latter, however, has been 
 much injured by the revolutionists, who broke and 
 defaced the statues with which it was embellished. 
 Other remarkable buildings are the palace of the 
 government, and the grand square. The Char- 
 treux, once so renowned for its palaces, its church, 
 its mausoleums, and its luxurious table, fell a sacri- 
 fice to revolutionary fury. The two tombs of the 
 Dukes of Burgundy, in Parian marble, and other 
 magnificent monuments of the arts, were destroy- 
 ed ; and the plough-share has passed over a| great 
 part of the monastery, which contained them. 
 Two spires, however, still exist ; that of St. Benig- 
 nus, 375 feet high ; and that of St. John, 300 feet 
 high. 
 
 The museum at Dijon, which is in one of the 
 wingg of the ancient palaces of the Dukes of Bur- 
 gundy, possesses some good pictures, marbles, and 
 engravings. The public walks are very beautiful, 
 particularly that of the course, leading to the park. 
 Besides these, may be named those of the Arque- 
 buse, the Retreat, and Tivoli. This town gave 
 birth to Bossuet, Crebillon, Piren^and other illus- 
 trious men. Here is a large nursery of mulberry 
 trees, and a mineral spring, called St. Anne, The 
 
voyages and travels. 69 
 
 fmiversity of Dijon was formerly one of the most 
 considerable in France. 
 
 Lyons is celebrated for its antiquity, its exten- 
 sive commerce, its riches, and the calamities to 
 which it was subjected during the revolutionary 
 war. The population is about 100,000 souls. It 
 is in general well built ; but the streets are narrow, 
 and pared with small sharp stones. The remark- 
 able edifices are the government house, the Hotel 
 de Ville, where are two fine groupes in bronze, the 
 magnificent library, the cathedral, the hotel Dieu, 
 and hospital of La Charite. The useful and lite- 
 rary establishments are the lyceum, the academy, 
 the veterinary school, the athenaeum, the society 
 of agriculture and of medicine, the exchange, the 
 chamber of commerce, and the mint. 
 
 During t lie revolution, this noble city lost 30OO 
 of its inhabitants, by the siege and the guillotine. 
 The venerable M. Delandine, who has published a 
 Catalogue llaisonnee of the manuscripts in the pub- 
 lic library, narrowly escaped falling a sacrifice to 
 tin's dreadful carnage. The guillotine was erected 
 in the Place de Bellecour Poligny, which is situated 
 on the Glantine at the foot of the mountains. 
 Morey is a very pretty little town, remarkable for 
 ; the neatness of its buildings, and its romantic situ* 
 ' ation. From Morey to Gex, is a succession of the 
 wildest and most picturesque scenery. For ascend- 
 ing and descending the mountain of Gex, here is 
 t one of the truly magnificent new roads, cut bv 
 order of Bonaparte, and is part of the grand route 
 t leading to the >implon. In descending near this 
 road, is seen the fontaine Napoleon, with an inscrip- 
 tion. Those who have never crossed the Alps, will 
 i be forcibly struck with the magnificence of the 
 i Jura mountains ; and will observe with astonish- 
 I ment, the union of some of the noblest works of 
 art, with the grandest productions of nature. A 
 \ short distance before we reach Geneva, is Forney, 
 
70 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 the retreat of Voltaire, where the house in which 
 he resided, together with the furniture, is still 
 shown. 
 
 In advancing to the city of Geneva, Mount Jura i 
 no longer serving as a curtain, the prospect open3 j 
 to the admiring eye of the traveller, displaying an 
 immense lake, with a coast of eighty leagues in 
 extent, studded with towns and villages in the most j 
 agreeable manner, with good roads leading to them, i 
 a beautiful city, and a richly cultivated country all | 
 as it were beneath his feet. The first street in Geneva J 
 which presents itself runs, with a gentle inclina- 
 tion, towards the Rhone. On the other side of j 
 this river, a part of the city commands a view of 
 the Petit Saleve, so named from a cultivated piece 
 of ground separated from the rest. Above the 
 eminence are seen the three shining summits of 
 Mount Blanc, with the grand Jorasse and the 
 Geant, those gigantic heights, the bases of which 
 rest upon Italy. 
 
 The house in which Jean Jacques Rousseau drew 
 his first breath, stands at the entrance of this street, 
 and is distinguished by an inscription consecrated 
 by the government and the nation. Next to this 
 street, which the traveller leaves to the left, is an- 
 other very large one distinguished, particularly on I 
 one side by its lofty arcades. This street, enlarging j 
 as it proceeds, forms a square embellished with a 
 fountain, and leads to the bridges built over the 
 Rhone. This square is remarkable on account of i 
 a deception of the sight which takes place here ; for 
 that part of the city which is actually on the other 
 side of the siver, appears as if it was really at the 
 foot of Mount Saleve, though the latter is more 
 than a French league distant. Here the Rhone is 
 divided into two streams, and an old tower which 
 contains a clock, was built upon the foundations 
 of that erected by Julius Caesar, to defend the 
 passage of the river against the Helvetians. 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 7l 
 
 The square of Bel Air, near this spot, is the 
 rallying point for the inhabitants of both quarters 
 of the city. A number of carriages are also to be 
 seen here. To the right of Bel Air, the street 
 commences which leads to the square of the theatre, 
 and to La Porte Neuve. This large square is the 
 most spacious, as well as the finest in Geneva, on 
 account of its handsome houses and their situation. 
 La Porte Neuve is of modern construction ; the 
 bridges are elegant, and ornamented with iron bal- 
 Justrades, and the ditches filled with fresh water. 
 The bastions and works of defence about it, are 
 kept in the best order, and the verdure of the 
 ground around this spot is delightful. 
 
 The stranger entering Geneva this way, is natu- 
 rally struck with the edifices that present them- 
 selves upon a terrace elevated sixty feet, which 
 have more of the air of royal palaces than of private 
 houses ; the Theatre for Comedies is another em- 
 bellishment to this entrance. Proceeding on the 
 right towards the Menage and the Botanic Garden, 
 we enter the street of Beau Regard, formed of 
 handsome houses, and arrive at the square of St. 
 Antoine. The points of view from this spacious 
 square are magnificent. The Coteau of Cologny, 
 to the east, and the number of villas about it are 
 beautiful. 
 
 Vvom the level which embraces all these objects, 
 we descend to the Port de Rive, then turning to 
 the left, proceed alon^ the street of the same name, 
 to the corn market, and from thence to the gate 
 on the left, which is defended by chains brought 
 to a level with the water's edge, to oppose the en- 
 trance of an enemy. On this side of the gate is 
 the port au bois, where a number of barks are al- 
 ways lying charged with fuel. All the slaughter 
 houses are upon the lake, and being kept uncom- 
 monly clean, produce no bad effect upon the salu- 
 brity of the air. 
 
f2 FLOWERS OF MODERN" 
 
 The street called " La Rue de derriet e le Rhonie/'' 
 extending in its whole length from this part of the 
 city, terminates in the square of Bel Air, and con- 
 tains in its course three ports, 'i hat of Molard is 
 the most considerable, and is at times the resort 
 of Genevese, Swiss, Valasian, and other vessels, 
 besides fishing boats, which, for strangers to make 
 excursions upon the lakes, are among the most 
 agreeable enjoyments. An arcade, formerly one 
 of the ports of the lake, separates Molard from the 
 square of the custom house. From Bel Air we 
 pass under an arcade, called the Mint, near to 
 which two streets present themselves; that of de la 
 Cite, which leads to the upper part of the town ; 
 and that of Rues Basses. The former is the ren- 
 dezvous of the merchants, whose magazines and 
 shops are sheltered from the weather by wooden 
 porticoes or arcades seventy feet in height, at- 
 tached to the loftiest part of the houses, containing 
 cloths, silks, spices, &c. The north side of La 
 Rue Passagiere, is also covered with these porticoes, 
 where furriers, hatters, jewellers, and goldsmiths 
 are to be found, with confectioners, perfumers, &c. 
 In these streets are a number of coffee houses, and 
 reading rooms, where books may be borrowed by 
 the year month or day. From the lowers of the 
 cathedral, which command the lake, the views are 
 delightful. In the cathedral are the tombs of the 
 Duke de Rohan, exiled by Cardinal Richlieu, and 
 his son Tancred ; Agrippa d'Aubigne, &c. To 
 the left of this edirice is situated the chapel of the 
 Maccabees, founded by Cardinal Jean de Bragni, 
 so called from a little village near Annecey, the 
 place of his birth. The street of the canons, near 
 the Place de St. Pierre where Calvin died, has some 
 fine houses and terraces, from which the lake may 
 be seen. 
 
 The quarter of St. Gervaise, formerly one of the 
 suburbs, is tire most populous part of the city ? es- 
 
VOYAGES AVU TRAVELS. ?3 
 
 ■pecially for clock and watch makers, jewellers, 
 cnamellers, &c. In this quarter the tanners and 
 chamoisseurs, carry on their business on the banks 
 of the Rhone, and thus any ill smell is prevented 
 from annoying the other parts of the city. 
 
 The square Bourg de Four, though not regular, 
 is one of the gayest in Geneva. On the north is 
 the Lutheran church, a handsome edifice, and the 
 General Hospital, the finest building in Geneva. 
 The architecture of its front is excellent. 
 
 The place de PHotel de Ville, though small, con- 
 tains a number of pretty houses, and a fountain 
 embellished with a marble column. To the south, 
 an open portico presents a view of the distant coun- 
 try. All the government chambers in this edifice 
 are in the upper stories, including the hall of the 
 Senate, the council of Two Hundred, &c. 
 
 The Tour Maitresse, is a part of the ancient wall 
 constructed by Bishop William Marcossai in 11566, 
 and is still worthy of the stranger's notice. The 
 public library, founded by the virtuous Bonevard, 
 prior of St. Victor, who lived during the Reforma- 
 tion, is exceedingly rich in literary curiosities, and 
 is open every Tues day for several hours. The aca- 
 demy has twelve professors. One apartment con- 
 tains several models in gypsum of statu' s, groups, 
 busts, and bas reliefs, the gift of the citizens, and 
 some fine paintings of St. Ours, and de la Rive. 
 
 Geneva, with respect to its large population and 
 activity, may be compared to a bee hive, where 
 every thing is seen in motion. It is chiefly on 
 Sundays and festival days that some idea may be 
 formed of the number of its inhabitants. There 
 are few places where the female sex appear to 
 greater advantage. To the graces that naturally 
 distinguish them, they add great elegance in their 
 habiliments; they are equally well informed with 
 the men, not only in consequence of their early 
 tuition, bat on account of their application to big* 
 vol. iv. H 
 
74 FLOWERS 07 MODERN 
 
 tory, geography, the elements of literature, draw- 
 ing and music. As these accomplishments are at- 
 tended with a warm passion for reading, there are 
 a number of libraries in Geneva, where they may 
 borrow not romances alone, but history, voyages 
 and travels, and books upon other useful pursuits. 
 
 At Geneva, the female citizens love to have their 
 minds occupied, and enjoy this to the fullest ex- 
 tent, without neglecting their domestic concerns ; 
 nor have they any of that levity, generally speak- 
 ing, with which the sex are reproached in other 
 places. They also express themselves with such a 
 share of action and vivacity, as will sometimes 
 surprise strangers. Many who appear light and 
 frivolous in their early years, become most ex- 
 cellent mothers, and shew the greatest skill in the 
 management of their domestic concerns. The 
 character given of the Genevese, by Rousseau, is 
 still applicable : " The women," he says, (i love 
 reading, and if their conversation is a little inflated, 
 it is always lively and piquant ; for as the men are 
 more tender than gallant, the women are less co- 
 quettish and intelligent. The men are frank and 
 open, industrious, and good fathers ; their plea- 
 sures are simple and their hearts are generous. 
 Considered as citizens they are estimable for their 
 attachment to their country, which prevails over 
 every other consideration." 
 
 Both sexes here, are in a manner brought up 
 together ; hence the many happy attachments more 
 frequent than elsewhere. In very early life they 
 have their societies, and form parties for their rural 
 and demi alpine promenades. The men like to see 
 the women in their circles, or social meetings, and 
 the conversation there is frequently instructive. 
 
 Occupation is in Geneva deemed necessary even 
 for persons in easy circumstances, and however 
 avaricious they may be, Rousseau observes, " It 
 cannot be said they make fortunes by base and 
 servile means ; but as commerce is of all puriuits 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 75 
 
 the most compatible with men of character, they 
 prefer it to any other. " The recreations of the 
 Geneveseand their taste for numerous parties, are 
 in a manner local. On Sundays they may be seen 
 scattered in troops about the country, the neigh- 
 bouring villages, and the borders of the lake. The 
 lulls may be .-aid to resound v\ ith the cheerful par- 
 ties that cover them. Fishing forms one of their 
 amusements, and music is another recreation, with 
 the theatre, the riding school, tiring at marks, &c. 
 Thev also love dancing, but they do not give them- 
 selves up to it to excess. Since the return of peace 
 Geneva has, in a manner, experienced a daily in- 
 crease of wealth and prosperity in the addition to 
 its population. One proof of the salubrity of the air, 
 has been adduced from the number of aged persons 
 there; among them a Mr. Bellot Musseron, was 
 lately mentioned as mounting guard with the agility 
 of a young man, though eighty-seven year.- of age. 
 
 The environs of Geneva are so delightful, and 
 comprize so many roads anil walks, that there is 
 no end to their variety. About a quarter of a mile 
 from this city, on the Swiss side of the lake, we 
 begin to perceive the Mole, a high mountain of a 
 pyramidal form, covered with pastures : to the west 
 of this is the Petit Saleve, remarkable for the white- 
 ness of the rock of which it is formed. Les Yoi- 
 rons is a woody height, extending pretty far to the 
 left towards the ea-t. In advance of th.se is the 
 hill of Montoux ; and to the southward, between 
 the Mole and the Saleve, are the mountains of 
 Brez on and Vcrgi, above which Mont Blanc ma- 
 jestically rears its head. To the west and the 
 north, the horizon is circumscribed by the lorg 
 wall formed by the Jura, and the three highest 
 summits of this chain are easily distinguished. 
 Among other promenades is the Tour Sous Terre, 
 that is upon the summit of St. Jean, near the villa 
 where Voltaire resided some time ; hence we may 
 
?5 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 descend, through a narrow green alley, nearly 
 overshadowed, leading to an opening of undescrib- 
 able beauty. A similar view may be enjoyed after 
 descending from the heights of the Great and Little 
 Saconneux, through another umbrageous path, 
 which has an abrupt opening upon the country. 
 The promenades upon the opposite bank are va- 
 rious, and some of them present a number of pic- 
 turesque and even romantic views. 
 
 When Voltaire purchased Ferney, two leagues 
 from Genoa, in 1 7*59, it contained only eight cot- 
 tages ; but at his death in l7?5, there were eighty 
 houses and twelve hundred inhabitants. During 
 this interval, men of abilities from all countries re- 
 sorted to Ferney* The bed-room of M. Voltaire is 
 still in the situation in which he left it, when he 
 went to Paris, a short time before his death. The 
 Fort de l'Eclu^e is three leagues from Geneva; and 
 this spot has been celebrated in history ever since 
 the memorable expedition of the Cimbri into Italy 
 and Gaul. At present this passage is closed by the 
 fort which with the Rhone beneath, formed the 
 limits between France and Savoy before 1792. 
 Even at present the entrance of this rude defile, 
 overhung with precipices, has something about it 
 extremely awful. 
 
 The lake of Geneva, or lake Leman, according 
 to Mi De Luc is 1126 feet above the level of the 
 sea, and according to M. Pictet, 1134. In the 
 highest tides it never rises more than six feet above 
 its ordinary level. Its length along the Swiss shore 
 is about eighteen leagues, and three quarters ; its 
 greatest breadth, between Rolle and Thorion, up- 
 wards of three leagues and a quarter. Besides the 
 Rhone, forty-one small streams empty themselves 
 into tins lake. Excepting during some very severe 
 winters, it never freezes but a few paces from the 
 share, and between Geneva and the great sand 
 bank, The Rhone leaving the lake, divides into 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 77 
 
 two arms, which after forming an island, unite 
 again a little lower down. Below Geneva this river 
 receives the waters of the Arve. The Leman has 
 long passed for one of the finest lakes in the soutli 
 of Europe, and is, perhaps, only rivalled by that of 
 Constance. Voltaire used to say at Ferney, 1 1 my 
 lake is the first." The shore on the Swiss side, rises 
 gradually to an elevation of fifteen or sixteen hun- 
 dred feet, and is supported by the barrier of Jura, 
 which is from two to four thousand feet high. In 
 some parts Savoy presents rather a desert prospect, 
 as only a small number of villages are to be seen. 
 On the other hand the opposite shore has its mag- 
 nificent gulfs, where numerous towns, chateaus, 
 and viHas, make a brilliant display of cheerfulness, 
 opulence, and beauty, iiousseau lias given us a 
 magnificent description of the eastern part of the 
 lake. In fact, in the country between Lausanne 
 and Villeneuve, nature has displayed all that happy 
 union of charming landscape and sublime mountain 
 scenery, so peculiar to this part of Switzerland, 
 
 In any excursion from Geneva to the Glaciers of 
 Chamouny, a great variety of scenery is displayed . 
 Salenche is an interesting old town ; and the C ave 
 de la Frasse, a small distance from it, is worthy of 
 notice. The journey from Salenche to Chamouny, 
 which occupies about eight hours, can only be per- 
 formed on foot, on horseback, or in a char a banc. 
 The Nant Sauvage, is a dangerous torrent after 
 rain. 
 
 The lake of Chede serves to reflect on its bosom, 
 the majestic summit of Mont Blanc. Passing on in 
 the valley of Servoz one cannot help shuddering at 
 the ruins of an Alp, which in its fall menaced that 
 luxuriant spot with total ruin. The inhabitants 
 fled, though not time enough to save some of their 
 children from being crushed to death. 
 
 Quitting this village we discover from the heights 
 of the road, the singular and wonderful valley of 
 
 h 3 
 
73 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 Chamouncy, whose verdant clothing is beautifully 
 contrasted with cloud capped mountains, silvered 
 by eternal snow, gloomy forests, chiefly composed 
 of firs ; cottages and hamlets scattered here and 
 there, interspersed with glaciers of a dazzling 
 whiteness, whence rise sea green pyramids of ice, 
 which when illuminated by the sun, exhibit a pros- 
 pect more easy to imagine than describe. 
 
 It being a work of full three hours to ascend the 
 Montanvert, and then descend to the Mer de 
 Glace, it is necessary to set out early in the morn- 
 ing. The view near the little fountain called le 
 .Caillet, is worth notice : so great is the height now 
 attained, that the river Arve in the plain below, ap- 
 pears like a thread ; the Bourg like card houses, 
 and the fields and meadows like the squares of a 
 chess board, or beds in a flower garden, embellished 
 with a thousand different shades of green. 
 
 The Mer de Glace, is eight leagues in length, 
 and one in breadth ; the pyramidical rocks on its 
 margin, are called needles, whose summits are lost 
 in the clouds. 
 
 La pierre des Anglais an immense block of 
 granite, is so called from two English gentlemen, 
 who in 174-1 made it their dinner table, after they 
 had penetrated these then unknown regions without 
 a guide. 
 
 The Voute de Glace here resembles a grotto of 
 a stupendous height and magnitude the partition 
 walls of which seem cased w 7 ith the finest pier 
 glasses, and the eye deceived by this illusion, 
 thinks it discovers a long suite of chambers. Small 
 rain pours down from ever}' part and forms an aqua- 
 tic hall, in colour like the purest ether. The woods 
 are peopled with rabbits, white hares, martens, and 
 ermines ; the rocks with marmots, and the amiable 
 chamois. These last named animals live together 
 in flocks, and generally frequent vallies where no 
 sportsman can penetrate, while a few are constantly 
 detached from the main body as scouts, and others 
 
VOYAGES A5TD TRAVELS. 79 
 
 perform the duty of centinels. The manner of 
 taking them is singular : when the hunter lias killed 
 a female chamois that suckles, he sets it upon its 
 le^s again, as if it were still living, and concealing 
 himseh' under the belly of the dead chamois, waits 
 with patience till the kid returns to its dam : he 
 then seizes the little straggling an : mal and conveys 
 it home. 
 
 The magnificent cavern of Balme in the valley of 
 Chamouny, into which the sun never enters, is 
 hollowed into the middle of the mountain, above 
 the hamlet of this name. ;< To arrive at it," says 
 a Swiss traveller, " we were obliged to climb over 
 thickets, or rather underwoods, to the foot of the 
 rocks. The front presents a large portico formed 
 by the rocks with two entrances : that on the left 
 is pretty high, whereas the other on the right, 
 sinks into the body of the mountain, and the sha- 
 dows gradually deepen, till the si^ht is terminated 
 by absolute darkness. 
 
 An arch of considerable width, but narrowing 
 after one has advanced about fifty yards, leads into 
 chambers of a very singular form ; the sides, covered 
 with a shining varnish, glitter with a thousand 
 colours. Crossing these chambers, a magnificent 
 kind of chapel is entered, formed bv the hand of 
 Nature, and cruwned with a cupola of a bold con- 
 struction. The stalactites here exhibit a va- 
 riety of figures, frith jets of a very hard substance 
 but brittle as glass tubes, opaque, and transparent. 
 Even the walls are ornamented with a variety of 
 ornaments, and in some parts columns appear on 
 their pedestals, whilst others are overturned or 
 seemingly suspended, representing upon the whole, 
 the ruins of a magnincent palace. In another place 
 a person might fancy himself in an arsenal, and 
 that a profusion of arms were ranged in different 
 fjrms around. Advancing about four hundred 
 paces the guides generally recommend caution on 
 
80 
 
 flowers or moder:? 
 
 account of a deep hole in the middle of the cavern^ 
 of which the hollow sound of the voices generally 
 gives notice. At about four hundred paces further 
 in the mountain, the visitors are generally stopped 
 by the waters and obliged to return. There are in 
 many places heaps of crystallized matter, of a py- 
 ramidal figure, formed by water dropping from 
 the top and sides of the cavern, which may in 
 time completely obstruct the passage. Coming 
 down from this rock, it is often necessary to slide, 
 in which the travellers are sometimes accompanied 
 by large loose stones. One person belonging to a 
 party once absolutely rode down upon one of these 
 stones which happily carried him safe to the bottom. 
 The time necessary for visiting this cavern, is often 
 three or four hours. The walk along the Needles 
 is dearly purchased by those who are not good 
 walkers. 
 
 The valley crowned by the glacier of Tour, is a 
 collection of mountains of ice piled one upon ano- 
 ther ; its frightful aspect affords an idea of Spitz- 
 bergen and Nova Zembla, and the falls of ice are 
 too frequent to admit even a near approach to it. 
 These thundering fragments are heard several 
 miles off, and are often very alarming in the Valor- 
 sine. In fact, a succession of rapid torrents, 
 naked rocks or mountains covered with firs, are 
 enough to agitate even the most intrepid, and this 
 is the situation all the way from Chamouny to Mar- 
 tigne. The village of Epegnon is seated upon a 
 green plain almost at the top of a mountain, and 
 upon a steep declivity, which being crowned with 
 pines, produces a singular effect. 
 
 From Martigny the traveller may proceed by 
 Savoy to St. Gingulph $ but should he be disposed 
 to trace the magnificent new road of the Simplon 
 made by Bonaparte, he will bend his course to Sion. 
 It is quite impossible for language to convey any 
 adequate idea of the wonders of the Simplon. To be 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 8T 
 
 properly described it should be seen. It combines 
 throughout the awful and sublime with the pic- 
 turesque and the beautiful. There is not perhaps 
 any place in the world where the astonished tra- 
 veller will perceive, in such rapid succession, the 
 wildest and rudest scenery intermingled with 
 smiling vallies and cultivated fields. This wonder- 
 ful monument of human labour and ingenuity, 
 which may justly claim the admiration of the 
 world, extending from Geneva to Milan, was con- 
 structed by order of Uonaparte, under the direc- 
 tion of ML Ceard, on whom it confers immortal 
 honour. In the course of this grand route, more 
 than forty bridges of various forms are thrown from 
 one wild chasm to another: numerous galleries or 
 subterranean passages are not only cut through 
 the solid rock, but through the glaciers also. If 
 to these we add the aqueducts which have been 
 built, the grand canal which has been cut, the 
 walls that support and flank the whole of the route, 
 together with the innumerable works of art, which 
 must necessarily enter into, and form a part of, 
 this more than Herculean work, we are at a loss 
 which most to admire, the genius which contrived, 
 or the skill which executed so stupendous a work. 
 More than 30,000 men were constantly employed 
 in this undertaking, which was finished in 1805, 
 after three years incessant labour. This road is 
 now wide enough to admit three carriages abreast ; 
 but until 1801, it was impassable. IStill the new 
 route is exposed to falling avalanches in winter ; 
 but the greatest precautions are taken to prevent 
 any serious misfortune from these accidents, and 
 every year renders them less frequent. 
 
 '1 he valley of the Rhone is larger than any in 
 Switzerland, being between eighty and ninety 
 miles in extent from the mountains of La Fourche 
 to the lake of Geneva. It is also one of the lowest, 
 being little elevated above the sea, while Mount 
 
82 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODKRN 
 
 Rose, Mount Cervin, and other mountains border- 
 ing this valley, are among the loftiest in the old 
 continent. The Valais also, placed in a temperate 
 latitude, unites the productions of the hottest and 
 the coldest climates. The clouds attracted by the 
 elevated peaks of the mountains frequently burst 
 in torrents of rain. From Sion to Brigg we pass 
 over the theatre of the battles fought between the 
 Valaisians and the French in the bloody war of 
 179S. 
 
 After passing Brigg, and the pretty village of 
 Naters, we begin to ascend the Simplon, and to 
 take leave of the world, its palaces, theatres, and 
 buildings, and to see in their places, mountains, 
 rocks, and trees. In the contemplation of Nature's 
 most grand and awful works, the mind is as it were 
 lifted from earth to heaven. To preserve the gra- 
 dual inclination of the road, the constructors of 
 the Simplon were compelled to follow all the sinu- 
 osities of the mountain : hence the bridge of Gau- 
 ter is found at the bottom of a valley. It seems as 
 if this road was constructed to brave the fury of the 
 tempests, and resist the influence of time s it passes 
 from one mountain to another, dives under rocks, 
 fills up precipices, forms the most elegant windings, 
 and conducts the traveller by a gradual ascent to 
 the glaciers and above the clouds. At a height 
 where the trees are small and begin to languish, 
 they finally cease to vegetate ; but their place is 
 supplied by the rhododendron, which braves the 
 severest cold, and is found close to the ice. Its 
 flower, which is called the rose of the Alps, re- 
 freshes the eye which has so long been used to 
 contemplate the monotony of ice and rocks. 
 
 After two hours descent from the summit of the 
 mountain, the traveller arrives at the village of 
 Simplon. It is surrounded with huge barren rocks 
 covered with snow several months in the } f ear, near 
 a foaming torrent bordered with larch trees. The 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 
 
 S3 
 
 houses, rudely built with stone, are covered with 
 the lichen : the inhabitants are clothed in sheep 
 skins in the midst of summer, when they drive 
 their flocks into the vallies, and make their cheese, 
 almost the only repast of these humble moun- 
 taineers. The grand gallery of Gondo is the most 
 astonishing of all the works of the Simplon. It is 
 683 feet in length, cut throughout in the solid 
 granite ; two large openings scarcely admit the 
 light of day, and the noise of the horses' feet* and 
 the wheels of the carriages, mingled with the roar- 
 ing of the torrent, resound through its vaults ; and 
 over this a bridge is thrown, where the cavern 
 emerges into day. In this place some inscription 
 might naturally be expected, either the name of 
 the principal artist, cr of the emperor of that 
 country, who sanctioned and encouraged this 
 noble monument of human labour — this eighth won- 
 der of the world ; but the only inscription that 
 meets the eye is on the side of the gallery in two 
 words : 
 
 JERE ITALO MDCCCV. 
 
 In approaching the gloomy village of Gondo, the 
 traveller once more beholds the habitations of man. 
 One of them, an inn, belonging to the barons of 
 Stokalper, is remarkable for its strange architec- 
 ture ; its eight stories, and its little grated win- 
 dows, the tout ensemble of which gives it very much 
 the air of a prison. This village belongs to the 
 Yalais ; but that of Isella, about a mile further, is 
 the frontier of the kingdom of Italy. In this part 
 of the route, the road is a causeway made of stones 
 not cemented together, and which suffer the water 
 to pass through their crevices from the mountains. 
 At length in the village of Doveredo, the houses 
 appear embosomed in chesnut trees, and the vines 
 are carried up to the roofs. But having reached 
 the fertile plain of Domo, the magnificent bridge of 
 Crevola, thrown from one mountain to another, 
 
84 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 closes the valley of the Simplon. It is formed of 
 two wooden arches supported by a pillar of great 
 strength. The plain of Domo is covered with 
 plants new to the traveller, and the sides of the 
 hills and mountains are studded with buildings of 
 an elegant architecture, announcing Italy tf bright 
 as the summer." 
 
 Como is situated at the foot of some lofty moun- 
 tains at the southern extremity of the lake of this 
 name. The town is well peopled, and the inhabi- 
 tants are industrious. The cathedral, repaired by 
 Pope Innocent XI. is worth seeing, and the lake 
 will amply repay those who embark on its smooth 
 surface, if it were only to visit the villa called 
 Pliniana. Its banks are covered with country 
 houses belonging to the Milanese, which have gar- 
 dens full of flowers and fruit. The Tramenzine 
 side is peculiarly delightful. The lake is more than 
 fifty miles in length, and in its shape is thought to 
 bear some resemblance to the human figure. The 
 Lakes Maggiore, and Lugano, also afford some ex- 
 quisite scenery. 
 
 Proceeding to Lausanne from Geneva, and pass- 
 ing through the Pays de Gex, the traveller will 
 observe Coppet, where the celebrated Madam de 
 Stael had an elegant chateau beautifully situated. 
 At Morge, one of the four principal towns of the 
 Pays de Vaud, the church is dedicated by an in- 
 scription over the great door, " To the glory of 
 God. 1772." Lausanne, the capital of the canton 
 de Vaud, is situated in such a manner that its ac- 
 tual height is 432 feet above the lake of Geneva. 
 This town has been often described ; but the views 
 and promenades are delightful. The first of these 
 is from the terrace of the cathedral ; the next from 
 the house of M. Levade, where Gibbon composed 
 part of his great work on the Fall of the Roman 
 Empire ; others from the promenade of Montbe- 
 non, going out of the gate of St, Francis. Among 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. B5 
 
 the most agreeable excursions from Lausanne, that 
 to Vevay is the principal. 
 
 Neither the town nor the lake of Neufchatel ex- 
 hibit any thing extraordinary : the same may be 
 said of bienne, near the lake of the same name. 
 The charming island of St. Pierre, once the resi- 
 dence of Rousseau, is a league in circuit, and con- 
 tains about 2()0 acres, laid out in woods, walks, 
 and a variety of cultivation. 
 
 Basle or Basil, the largest city of Switzerland, is 
 capable of containing 100,000 inhabitants, though 
 the actual population does not much exceed 12,000. 
 It is built on both sides of the Rhine, which here 
 becomes a large river, having a wooden bridge over 
 it 600 feet in length. The greatest part of the 
 town on the Swiss side, contains nine or ten 
 churches, and several convents no longer appro- 
 priated to their original uses. The little town has 
 four churches and three convents. The cathedral 
 is an elegant Gothic building, disfigured by being 
 daubed all over with red. Here on a wall of the 
 church-yard of the Dominicans, is the famous fresco 
 of the Dance of Death, commonly ascribed to 
 Holbein, though certainly painted before he was 
 born, and now almost worn out. 
 
 From Basle the traveller may proceed to Schaff- 
 hausen on the northern bank of the Rhine. The 
 buildings here are old-fashioned and indifferent; 
 most of them have the name of the inhabitant, the 
 date of the building, and some device over the door, 
 and some fronts are painted all over. Here and 
 at Basle are many projecting windows, and mirrors 
 to enable the inhabitants to look up and down the 
 streets. The celebrated bridge was destroyed by 
 the French in 1798. 
 
 To view the famous fall of the Rhine in perfec- 
 tion, the traveller should either go to Lauffen, a 
 league from SchafThausen, or to Newhausen, only 
 hglf a league where the fall is seen to most ad- 
 
 VOL. IV. 1 
 
86 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 vantage. Here, however, it is necessary to cross 
 the river, to which some persons have an objec- 
 tion. The first appearance is, a back view of the 
 cascade, which plays upon the observers whilst 
 walking down to the ferry, where they may have 
 a front view. Crossing the river they enjoy this 
 sublime fall to a very considerable extent, and dis- 
 tinguish the three sheets of water rolling down in 
 large volumes. Part of the water towards the 
 opposite side, is also seen dashed back and broken 
 into spray : the whole is white with foam, except 
 here and there some green tints, especially when 
 the sun shines upon it. Having crossed the river, 
 the traveller should descend the hill to a little 
 stand built on purpose to bring people close to the 
 cascade. Here it is to be seen foaming with the 
 greatest fury, whilst the spectator is safe even 
 from the spray, unless the wind happen to set to- 
 wards him. Ascending a little higher towards the 
 castle of LaufFen, there is a fourth view, in looking 
 down upon the falling river, and tracing its pro- 
 gress. In order to see the rainbow formed by the 
 spray, it is necessary to be on the spot before nine 
 in the morning. There have been many disputes 
 about the height of this cataract, but after all it 
 is not the height of the fall, but the immensity of 
 the body of water broken in a most picturesque 
 manner by the rocks, that constitute its principal 
 beauty. 
 
 From SchafFhausen travellers generally proceed 
 by Steen to Constance, though, except the town- 
 house, and the room where the council was held 
 in the fifteenth century, containing the chairs in 
 which the pope and emperor sat, are still pre- 
 served, there is little to excite curiosity. The 
 buildings are old, and the inhabitants not more 
 than 3000 in number, though at the time of the 
 council they exceeded 36,000. Constance now 
 forms part of the territory of the Duke of Baden. 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. S7 
 
 The lake is fifteen or sixteen leagues long : its 
 banks are exceedingly fine, and there is great 
 abundance of fish and water-fowl of all sorts. 
 
 Passing Zurich it may be observed of its lake, 
 that of forty castles that formerly crowned this fine 
 piece of water, the remains of four are only now 
 to be seen. Those who traverse the lake, or pro- 
 ceed along its banks, may still enjoy a variety of 
 charming landscapes and picturesque views. 
 
 Proceeding to Lucerne, the lake called that of 
 the Four Cantons, exhibits greater variety and 
 more diversified scenery than any other. It is 
 seven leagues long, in a right line, and three 
 wide about Kussnacht, but the shape is very 
 irregular. The narrow gulph that extends towards 
 the west, is bordered by Mount Pilat, ris- 
 ing more than 6000 feet above the lake, which, 
 with the Rugi, are noble mountains, and at one 
 extremity, the town of Lucerne forms a fine objec t, 
 though the buildings are ancient, and the streets 
 narrow. The scenery of that part which is called 
 the Lake of Uri, is narrow and edged on both sides 
 with wild and romantic rocks, and woods of beech 
 and pine, down to the water's edge. But this fine 
 lake is particularly interesting for having been the 
 theatre on which the independence of Switzerland 
 was originally planned. Here on a rock, jutting 
 out into the lake, under a hanging wood, is the 
 chapel of William Tell : and the village of Bran- 
 nen, where the treaty of 1315 was signed between 
 Uri, Schweitz, and Underwalden. These three 
 cantons formed excellent laws, and promised friend- 
 ship and assistance to each other, and by degrees, 
 though at different periods, the thirteen cantons 
 joined in the Liguc Suisse. To visit the glaciers of 
 Grindelwald, it is necessary to pass Mount Schei- 
 degg. Beyond the lower Aar, the country be- 
 comes very wild and romantic ; the rocks are covered 
 only with pines, from which fall cascade , and 
 
 i 2 
 
38 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 torrents roaring along the valleys, till on a sudden, 
 a most fertile vale presents itself, studded with 
 wooden huts, where the peasants come to make 
 their cheese. Here, if fatigued, the traveller may 
 stop and regale himself with milk, curds, or cream, 
 all most excellent in their kinds ; he will also pro- 
 bably meet with cheese: but if he wishes for the 
 luxury of bread, he must take it with him, that 
 being rarely seen on this mountain. Ascending 
 for four hours, the traveller leaves the region of 
 trees, and comes to that of shrubs. On the left 
 some glaciers are seen, and the fall of the ava- 
 lanches are sometimes heard like distant thunder* 
 The eye satiated with these splendid objects now 
 willingly seeks for repose on the green valley of 
 Grindelwald, containing on its surface about 800 
 wooden houses, all seeming to proclaim, by their 
 similar dimensions, the equality which reigns in 
 these happy vales. The descent into this, though 
 not so rude as the ascent, is almost too steep to 
 ride down with comfort, the slate of which the 
 mountain is composed being very slippery, and 
 easily shivered. Between the two first descents, 
 is the inferior or little glacier, and between the 
 second and third, the superior one ; one of them a 
 league, and the other half a league from the inrsr 
 at Grindelwald. The more distant one is usually 
 visited by travellers, as being the most beautiful. 
 These glaciers have gradually hollowed a bed for 
 themselves along the vallies ; but to get upon the 
 ice, it is necessary to scale the heap of stones and 
 rocks which the glacier has pushed before it. 
 Having advanced a little way over these, the gene- 
 ral form of the glacier appears with the pyramids 
 above of a beautiful sapphirine, the green tints of 
 the ice in the clefts, and the torrents springing 
 from beneath. 
 
 To take a full view of the icy sea, the excursion 
 will require five or six hours,, much fatigue and 
 some risk. 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 89 
 
 Aigle is a large bourg, built chiefly of black 
 marble, which gives it a dismal appearance. The 
 salt works are at a little distance from the town ; 
 the graduation house is 900 feet long ; the water 
 is pumped up to the top of this building by four- 
 teen pumps, which are worked by a wheel thirty- 
 two feet in diameter, and hence it drips through 
 a vast layer of thorns into wooden vessels at the 
 bottom, resembling great brewing coolers. Here 
 goitres, or swelled necks, begin to appear, though 
 neither so frequent nor so enormous as in the 
 Valais. Ideots, called cretins, are also numerous. 
 The bodies of these persons are dwarfish : the 
 physiognomy ugly, and unenlightened, and the 
 mind is deprived of all its powers : in some subjects 
 there remains nothing but a slow and awkward 
 motion, with a vacant grin upon the countenance, 
 to shew that the cretin is a living animal. The 
 village of Yvorne, not far from Aigle, was- a few 
 years since the subject of one of those hair-breadth 
 escapes that are probably not unfrequent, among 
 the rocks and chasms of Switzerland. The tra- 
 veller, a German, who wished to indulge himself 
 with a ramble into the mountains, stopped for 
 some time at a seiuihatte, a sort of dairy-house, 
 peculiar to the Alps, but inhabited only by senns, 
 or herdsmen, during the summer months ; here he 
 was hospitably entertained with excellent milk. 
 After this refreshment he proceeded forwards, and 
 towards evening reached his night quarters at 
 another sennhutte, at the foot of two majestic 
 rocks, one of which has the exact form of a flat- 
 tened cupola, and is called La Tour de Mayennc. 
 " Impressed," as he observes, " with an ardent 
 desire to reach the summit of this eminence, 
 whence he promised himself a glorious view over 
 the Alps of Savoy," furnished w ith a little basket, 
 containing some wine and bread, he commenced 
 his excursion, and arrived at the top of the rock 
 
 I 3 
 
90 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 without obstruction or accident. The view ex- 
 ceeded his expectations, and all would have been 
 well, if he could have been contented to have re- 
 turned the same way as he went. Unfortunately 
 he was possessed with the idea, that by going 
 round to the eastern side, he might find another 
 track ; but he found that the ridge of rocks, among 
 which he hoped to find this path, rose perpendi- 
 cularly over a horrible precipice. After walking 
 half an hour, first along a valley, and then ascend- 
 ing a hill again, he found himself at the foot of 
 a steep rock, up which he climbed by the aid of 
 bushes growing out of the clefts, and arrived at 
 a gentle slope, when being rather fatigued, he sat 
 down to rest, and took his repast. It was now 
 noon, and as every trace of the foot of man was 
 lost, he then directed his course by the sun, and 
 La Tour de Mayenne, which lay exactly to the 
 east of the sennhutte, he had last visited. Scarcely 
 had he reached the summit of the slope, when, as 
 far as the eye could reach, he saw before him a 
 boundless wilderness, overspread with snow, bro- 
 ken only by vast chasms and points of rocks, and 
 where all vegetable life seemed to die away. He 
 now thought it the wisest plan to turn back and re- 
 gain as fast as possible the path by which he first 
 ascended ; but when he came to the rock, he be- 
 held, with shuddering, the invincible difficulty of 
 getting down a precipice, which in ascending he 
 scarcely thought formidable. To descend, it was 
 necessary to step precisely upon every bush and 
 shrub that had assisted his ascent, but these he 
 could not recollect. As frightful abysses ap- 
 peared to his right and left, he had now no means 
 of deliverance but in an attempt to wade through 
 this snowy waste. In doing this he was often 
 forced to descend into deep chasms, nearly filled 
 with snow, whence he could not climb out again 
 without the utmost exertion, and at last had, per- 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 91 
 
 haps, not gained more than a few yards of direct 
 way. From repeated falls between broken points 
 of rocks, his ancle-bones became excoriated, and 
 his hands so galled with grappling them, that he 
 could proceed no further. It was then half-past 
 four. From this moment, as he began to look 
 forward only to death for his deliverance, he drank 
 his small remains of wine, and ate his last piece 
 of bread, impressed with the idea that he had 
 taken his final meal ; but lying down on a rock 
 instantly fell into a profound sleep. Here lie 
 would have inevitably have fallen a victim to the 
 night-frosts, had not a bird of prey, which, pro- 
 bably, had a nest somewhere near, swept closely 
 by him, and awakened him by a loud scream. It 
 was now six o'clock; but finding his strength re- 
 cruited he laboured for another hour through 
 snow and clefts, and at length reached the bed of 
 a mountain torrent, as yet empty of water, and 
 only in some places rilled with snow. This he 
 hailed as the joyful harbinger of his deliverance, 
 and entered the channel in full confidence, that 
 as in milder weather it conveyed the water to the 
 plains below it would now convey him thither. 
 Winding slowly down between towering masses of 
 rock, rough or smooth as the stream had rushed 
 over them with increased or diminished force, he, 
 at length, once more heard the bells of the herds, 
 and the songs of the herdsmen. " Never," he 
 observed, " did the notes of the sweetest music 
 strike such a charm on his ear as these harsh 
 tones did then.'' A smoke which he soon after 
 observed from a forest of pines, served as his 
 guide for the rest of the way, and about eight in 
 the evening he came to a sennhutte, where, so 
 disfigured were his features, and so wan his coun- 
 tenance, that the herdsmen fancied at first they 
 beheld an apparition. These honest mountaineers 
 m.ulj a circle round him to hear his story, and 
 
92 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 when he pointed out the way by which he came 
 down, shewed the most expressive signs of asto- 
 nishment. Those frightful precipices, they assured 
 him, were never visited by the chamois hunters 
 before August, and even then but very seldom. 
 
 Bex is only half a league distant from the en- 
 trance of the Valais ; and at a place called the 
 Fondemont, are the graduation buildings, and the 
 coppers. The souterreins dug 3000 feet within 
 the earth are extremely curious. 
 
 Mont St. Gothard, one of the wildest and most 
 interesting mountain passes in Switzerland, is also 
 one of the most frequented travelling from the 
 German side of the country into Italy. Ladies 
 frequently traverse it without fatigue ; and the late 
 Duchess of Devonshire took this route in 1793, 
 and commemorated the pleasure she received, in 
 an elegant little poem, addressed to her children. 
 The roads impending over precipices, cannot fail 
 to inspire terror into travellers unaccustomed to 
 such a country. Here, for instance, continuing 
 to ascend, the whole wears a sterile and inhos- 
 pitable aspect, and neither the vestige of a habi- 
 tation, nor a blade of grass are to be seen. The 
 bridge over the Reuss, across a deep chasm, forms 
 a considerable cataract down the shaggy sides of 
 the mountain, which it has undermined in its 
 course, and this is called Teufelsbruck, or the 
 Devil's Bridge ; and when the cataract is viewed 
 from this spot, it presents a sublime scene of hor- 
 ror, which alike defies the representations of poe- 
 try, and its sister art, painting. Not far from 
 this bridge, the road passes through the Urner 
 Loch, a subterraneous passage 220 feet in length, 
 cut through a rock of granite. Emerging from 
 this, the serene and cultivated valley of Urseren 
 appears, containing four villages. Near the mid- 
 dle of this beautiful plain, the road turns to the 
 left, and enters the valley of St. Gothard, nearly 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 93 
 
 filled with the ruins of broken mountains, and the 
 rapid and vehement torrent of the Reuss bursting 
 through it. The vallev of St. Gothard does not 
 contain a single shed, or even a tree, the sides of 
 the mountains being barely sprinkled with short 
 herbage. The extremity appears closed by the 
 still ruder and naked rocks of the Feudo, whilst 
 the superb glacier of Locendro, towers above the 
 adjacent heights. The hospice, or convent of 
 Capuchin friars, was destroyed during the French 
 revolution: but in 1800 the commune of Ariolo 
 erected a hut, just large enough to shelter three 
 persons, and to serve as a kind of custom-house, 
 for the examination of the little merchandize that 
 passed into Italy. The summit of St. Gothard is 
 a little plain, and the highest point or peak is the 
 Galenstock, nearly 12,000 feet above the sea. 
 This mount comprises twelve Alpine valleys, from 
 twenty-eight to thirty lakes, eight glaciers, and 
 the sources of four rivers; the Tessino, the Reuss, 
 the Rhine, and the Rhone. 
 
 The passage of the Grand St. Bernard is not 
 difficult in fine weather ; but in winter terrible. 
 The quantity of snow falling here, generally raises 
 the road thirty or forty feet. When this begins to 
 thaw many dangers must be encountered, the ava- 
 lanches or falls being very great in the month of 
 March. This mountain will long be celebrated 
 in history, in consequence of the passage of Buo- 
 naparte and his army, in the year 1600, previous 
 to the battle of Marengo. In David's fine picture 
 of this subject, on whatever side one looks, these 
 avalanches are seen to fall, and to be in heaps at 
 the foot of the rocks. The gusts of wind are also 
 extremely violent, and sometimes drifting the 
 snow, the road is obliterated, and the traveller 
 lost. But from May till September the passage 
 of St. Bernard is free from these dangers. Were 
 it not for the hospice or convent on its top, this 
 
94 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 mountain would be impassable in winter : and even 
 with this aid, many persons are lost in the snow, as 
 the bones and corpses in the chapels witness. When 
 the neighbouring heights are covered with thick 
 fogs, this convent appears to touch the clouds, and 
 lias a very striking effect. On the side next Italy, 
 the site of an ancient temple of Jupiter is seen, 
 from whence several antiques have been dug. In 
 this asylum are deposited the ashes of the French 
 General Dessaix, who fell in the battle of Maren- 
 go ; and on the monument are engraved the num- 
 bers of all the demi brigades of the army of re- 
 serve, under Buonaparte, who during the interval 
 between the 15th and the 29th of May, 1800, ef- 
 fected the passage of St. Bernard. At this time, 
 it is presumed, there was not a soldier who was 
 not alternately petrified with horror, or captivated 
 with delight. Arrived at the summit of that tre- 
 mendous mountain, and anticipating nothing but 
 a multitude of dangers and accidents, in descend- 
 ing, on a sudden turning of the road, they beheld 
 tables covered, as it were, by magic, with every 
 kind of refreshment. The monks of St. Bernard 
 had prepared the banquet. The army feasted, 
 returned tumultuous thanks to the monks, and 
 passed on. A few days after this event, the bat- 
 tle of Marengo decided the fate of Italy. The 
 convent of St. Bernard founded in the year 968, 
 is situated 8074 feet above the level of the sea. In 
 the height of summer the least breeze makes the 
 cold quite unpleasant, and the thermometer de- 
 scends almost every evening very near the freez- 
 ing point, and below it if the wind be northerly. 
 The little garden of the convent produces, with 
 the greatest difficulty, by the end of August, a 
 few stunted lettuces and cabbages, a little spinach, 
 and some sorrel. All other necessaries, even fuel, 
 are bought at a considerable expence. The wood 
 is carried from a distance of twelve miles, on the 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 95 
 • 
 
 backs of mules, up a steep path, which is only 
 open six weeks in the whole year. The ecclesi- 
 astics, ten or twelve in number, are canons regu- 
 lar of the order of St. Augustus ; they receive 
 strangers with the greatest affability, without dis- 
 tinction of rank, sex, country, or religion ; and 
 often supply the poor with clothing gratis, even 
 to shoes and stockings ; for which nothing is re- 
 quired of the traveller but to inscribe his name in 
 an album, a book kept for that purpose. This, 
 like the other mountain convents, is supported 
 by an annual collection in the neighbouring parts 
 of France, Switzerland, and Italy, and by the 
 casual offerings of the opulent. Having large dogs 
 trained for the purpose, they will scent a man at 
 a great distance, and find out the road in the 
 thickest fogs, storms, and the heaviest falls of 
 snow. The fathers themselves often perform the 
 humane work of looking out for the storm-beaten 
 traveller, who, when unable to stand alone, they 
 lead, and sometimes carry on their shoulders into 
 the convent. At other times they are obliged to 
 use violence to the traveller, when benumbed with 
 cold, who earnestly wishes to sleep on the snow, 
 which would be fatal. This insidious sleep is the 
 fatal forerunner of death. 
 
 When the fathers are out in the air in severe 
 frosts, and the depth of the snow prevents their 
 walking fast enough to keep the blood in circula- 
 tion, they strike their hands and feet against their 
 great staves, shod with iron, otherwise their extre- 
 mities would become torpid and frost-bitten. 
 Scarcely a winter passes, during which some tra- 
 veller or other does not perish. An Englishman, 
 of the name of Woodley, who accompanied M. 
 Bourrit in his ascent to Mont Blanc, was compelled 
 to keep his feet in ice and salt thirteen days ; ano- 
 ther companion lost his sight for three weeks; and 
 a third suffered a long time from having his hand 
 
FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 frost-bitten. When the snow is supposed to have 
 covered any one to a great depth, the fathers take 
 long poles, and, sounding in different places, disco- 
 ver the body. Many so found being, as soon as 
 possible, extricated from the snow, have afforded 
 their deliverers the satisfaction of seeing them re- 
 stored to light and life. Every year seven or 8000 
 persons traverse the Great St. Bernard, and some- 
 times 600 have passed in a day. 
 
 The descent from this monastery to Aoste, is 
 very rapid and fatiguing, occupying nearly seven 
 hours. At St. Remy is a good inn. Mont Blanc 
 is the most elevated mountain of the old continent, 
 being upwards of 15,000 English feet in height. 
 Observed from the Col de Balme, and the Vale of 
 Chamouny,Mont Blanc is particularly distinguished 
 from others by a mantle of snow. Seen from the 
 Val d' Aoste, in ruggedness and horror, it is said to 
 exceed the Schreckhorn. In August 1786, Dr. 
 Paccard and Jacques Balmat, one of the six guides 
 of Chamouny, having attained the summit, re- 
 mained there about half an hour. The cold was 
 so intense, that their provision was frozen in their 
 pockets, the ink congealed in their ink-horns, and 
 the mercury in Fahrenheit's thermometer fell as low 
 as eighteen degrees and a half. They spent fifteen 
 hours in ascending; and in their descent, their sight 
 was much weakened by the reflection of the snow, 
 their faces excoriated, and their lips much swol- 
 len. 
 
 As soon as the success of Dr. Paccard and Jacques 
 Balmat was known, M. de Saussure, a celebrated 
 philosopher of Geneva, was determined to follow 
 their example ; and in August 1787, he passed the 
 first night at the top of the mountain of la Cote, an 
 easy journey of five or six hours, over turf or rock. 
 The second day's journey is not so easy : the gla- 
 cier of La Cote is difficult and dangerous, being 
 crossed by wide, deep, and irregular crevices, 
 
VOYAGES AXD TRAVELS. 97 
 
 sometimes to be passed over slight ridges of snow, 
 suspended over deep abysses. The guides here 
 have been known to fasten themselves together 
 with cords. The rocks of an insulated chain, which 
 it is here necessary to pass, are not more than a 
 quarter of a league distant ; but the passage is so 
 circuitous, that it will occupy three hours. Quit- 
 ting these rocks, it is necessary to ascend in a ser- 
 pentine direction, through a valley rilled with snow, 
 lying north and south, which extends to the foot 
 of the utmost summit. M. de Saussure, with great 
 difficulty, persuaded the guides to pass a night in a 
 deep excavation in the snow, covered by the tent 
 1995 toises above the sea. The guides, fearful of 
 cold, closed the openings of the tent so carefully, 
 that M« de Saussure suttered so much from heat, 
 that he was obliged to go out, during the night, to 
 breathe. He found the moon shining with an asto- 
 nishing brightness, in the midst of an ebony sky. 
 The light reverberated from this vast basin of 
 snow ; was so intense, that only stars of the first 
 magnitude were visible. After this they went to 
 sleep, but were soon awakened by the noise of a 
 great avalanche, which had covered part of the 
 steep they were to climb the next day. As soon 
 as it was light, they found the thermometer three 
 degrees below the freezing point. Having snow to 
 dissolve for their breakfast, they set out rather late, 
 though this they drank almost as fast as it could 
 be melted. 
 
 This day's march commenced by ascending the 
 third and last platform ; after which they turned to 
 the left, in order to reach the highest rock to the 
 eastward of the summit. The ascent on the edge 
 of these precipices is so steep, and the surface of the 
 snow so hard, that they who went first were obliged 
 to hew out their steps with a hachet. Having; 
 mounted the last ascent, the atmosphere was rari- 
 fied to such a degree, that their strength was soon 
 
 VOL. IV. K 
 
98 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 exhausted; and M. de Saussure couid not take 
 above fifteen or sixteen steps, without stopping to 
 recover breath. From time to time, he was seized 
 with a kind of fainting, and was obliged to sit 
 down; but as the respiration returned, he so far 
 regained his strength, that he imagined he could 
 reach the top of the mountain without stopping. 
 All the guides were, more or less, in the same situ- 
 ation; and they were two hours reaching the sum- 
 mit. M. de Saussure could scarcely believe his 
 eyes, when he saw beneath his feet those majestic 
 summits from their sharpness called the Needles, 
 whose very bases had been of so difficult and dan- 
 gerous access before. He could now make himself 
 master of their relation, connection, and struc- 
 ture ; and one view cleared up, what years of 
 labour had not been able to solve to his satisfac- 
 tion. In the interval, the guides set up the tent, 
 and placed the little table, upon which M. de Saus- 
 sure was to make the experiment with boiling 
 water: but his operations were interrupted almost 
 every moment, to take breath : though, as long as 
 he continued perfectly at rest, he felt little or no 
 inconvenience, except a slight sickness at the sto- 
 mach. Neither himself nor his guides had much 
 appetite for their provisions, and much less for wine 
 or brandy, which, no doubt, would have increased 
 their malady, by accelerating still more the circu- 
 lation of the blood. In fine, nothing but cold water 
 did them good, or afforded them any pleasure ; and 
 time and trouble were necessary to light a fire, 
 without which, nothing but ice could be had. 
 
 When M. de Saussure descended about half past 
 three in the afternoon, he found the descent much 
 easier than he expected ; though, till he came to 
 the first platform, it was rather difficult, on account 
 of its steepness ; and the brilliancy of the sun was 
 so great upon the precipices below, that it required 
 a good head not to be terrified, Their next night's 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 99 
 
 repose on the snow, was 200 toises lower than the 
 preceding night. They were now satisfied, that it 
 was the rarefaction of the atmosphere, which had 
 incommoded them on the summit ; for, if it had 
 been fatigue, they must have been worse after this 
 loner and troublesome descent; whereas thev now 
 supped with a good appetite ; and M. de Saussure 
 made his observations without any inconvenience. 
 The day after, they found the glacier of La Cote, 
 thawing by the heat of the two last days, more dif- 
 ficult to cross than before. They were obliged to 
 descend a plain of snow, which had an inclination 
 of fifty degrees, in order to avoid a crack, which 
 had opened during their expedition. At half past 
 nine in the forenoon, they arrived on the mountain 
 of La Cote, not a little rejoiced at finding them- 
 selves on firm ground. They reached the Priory 
 by dinner time, with their eyes and faces uninjured, 
 which was owing to their having taken the precau- 
 tion to wear black crape over their faces. 
 
 The highest summit of Jura is called the Dole ; 
 it commands a view not only of the lake of Geneva 
 and its environ?, but of the whole of Jura. The 
 vast chain of the Alps, seen from the Dole, includes 
 a tract of near 100 leagues from Dauphine, quite 
 to Mount St. Gothard. In the midst of this chain 
 rises Mont Blanc, with its snowy summit, towering 
 high above all the rest. 
 
 The plain on the top of the Dole, covered with a 
 fine turf, forms a beautiful terrace. Here, on the 
 two first Sundays in August, from time immemorial, 
 the youth of both sexes, from the villages in the 
 Pays de Vaud, have annually assembled. The 
 shepherds reserve the delicacies of their dairies for 
 these days, and prepare all sorts of dainties that can 
 be formed from their simple produce. The com- 
 pany, when assembled, amuse themselves in active 
 sports, as dancing, Sec. while others exhibit speci- 
 mens of their courage, by walking at the very edges 
 
100 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 of the precipices, on the side of the mountain ; and 
 tradition still records the fate of a newly- married 
 bride, whose life was lost with that of her husband, 
 in endeavouring to save her, on one of these occa- 
 sions. 
 
 Pursuing the torrent that runs down the valley of 
 Lauterbrunn, huge masses of rock are seen, with 
 trees growing, in the most grotesque manner, out 
 of them ; and the road in some places is so narrow, 
 as scarcely to leave sufficient room for passage be- 
 tween the torrent and the mountain. Frequently 
 vast rocks that fall from the impending mountains, 
 almost stop the course of the torrent, and make it 
 rage with redoubled fury, and sometimes appear to 
 forbid any further passage. 
 
 The road next winds through dusky pines, where 
 a stern silence is interrupted only by the Lutschi- 
 nen, beating furiously against rocks that strive in 
 vain to detain him prisoner : but when the little 
 village of Lauterbrunn shews its smiling face, the 
 simple wooden mansions, situated in the green pas- 
 tures, give at once repose to the eye, and tranquil- 
 lity to the mind. The church, and the residence of 
 the minister, soon appear in sight ; and a little be- 
 yond, the Staubach is seen pouring down its waters 
 from the top of the mountains. It is in these de- 
 lightful excursions, that the pleasures of pedestrian- 
 ism are gratified to their fullest extent. The proper 
 time for viewing the water-fall of Staubach, is when 
 the sun appears over the mountains, darting his 
 rays upon it. Then the iris is seen at the bottom, 
 in full splendour : the water falls 930 feet perpen- 
 dicular ; and, being broken into spray, is dispersed 
 by the wind, which the cascade itself continually 
 creates. Lauterbrunn may be named the valley of 
 cascades, there being at least thirty of these % and 
 among them two that fall from a greater height 
 than even the Staubach ; but as they do not descend 
 at one leap, they are not so remarkable. The view 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 101 
 
 from the village is closed by Mount Jungfrau, 
 whose two summits, or horns, are distinctly seen, 
 together with the isolated rock at the extremity, 
 called the Monk, round which the daring hunters 
 will sometimes creep, with the assistance of their 
 hooked knives, in pursuit of the chamois. Still 
 more distant appear the glaciers that descend from 
 the steep rocks of Grosshorn and Breithorn, to 
 which it is a fatiguing march of at least three 
 hours. 
 
 Stockhorn, not far from Thun, is thus described. 
 The west side of this remarkable hill is like a cu- 
 pola, vertically cut through, and forms a remark- 
 able contrast with the neighbouring sharp-pointed 
 Niesen. After passing a cascade near the church 
 of Blumensteen, the road winds up through the 
 melancholy shade of the dark Tannen, to the Alpine 
 plain, on the summit of Stockhorn. 
 
 Above these desert and desolate regions, the 
 largest and most terrible of birds, the eagle of the 
 Alps, is seen to hover, which, in strength and size, 
 far surpasses the royal eagle, and which, inhabiting 
 only the loftiest mountains of our hemisphere, finds 
 only on the high summits of the other, its corre- 
 sponding kind. M. de BufFon classes it in the spe- 
 cies of golden vultures ; M. de Bomare places it at 
 the head of the eagles ; the inhabitants of the coun- 
 try call it the lemmer geyer, or lamb vulture, and 
 describe it as a bird of prey of prodigious force, as 
 its wings, when stretched out, are fourteen feet 
 from one extremity to the other. This tyrant of 
 the air wages a cruei war as well on flocks of goats 
 and sheep, as on chamois, hares, and marmots. 
 When he sees on a steep rock some animal too 
 powerful to be carried away, he flies so as to over- 
 throw it down some precipice, in order to enjoy his 
 prey more at ease. Some few years since, a lem- 
 mer geyer of the largest kind seized a child of three 
 years old, and would have carried it off; but as this 
 
 k 3 
 
102 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 bird, placed on level ground, takes wing with diffi-* 
 culty, the father of the child attacked him with a 
 stick, and killed him after a very obstinate conflict. 
 The royal eagle, having its wings extended, mea- 
 sures seven feet and a half from one extremity to 
 the other ; the lemmer geyer's often extend to fif- 
 teen or sixteen, and his ferocity equals his strength 
 and size. As king of the air, he requires a large 
 space to subsist in. The same region seldom con- 
 tains two together, as they would famish one ano- 
 ther, even in a country which breeds much of their 
 prey. It is against the chamois, that this bird 
 exerts his strength and address. The chamois has 
 upon land the same agility, that the lemmer geyer 
 has in the air ; he plays on the brink of precipices, 
 he springs to such distances, which, in any other 
 animal, would require wings to support him : to 
 this agility, he adds considerable strength ; and the 
 chamois is a prey not unworthy the most terrible 
 of birds. The lemmer geyer goes to seek him in 
 the depths of uninhabited valleys ; and, attacking 
 him, forces him to seek safety in flight. This timid 
 animal takes refuge in the rocks ; but thither the 
 eagle follows, dodges him, and forces him again to 
 gain the heights. He then bounds over the ice, 
 springs from summit to summit with indefatigable 
 swiftness, until he has no longer any resource but 
 to face his formidable enemy. The bird observes 
 him, wheels round him, and feigns several times to 
 pounce upon him. To these false attacks, the cha- 
 mois opposes his forehead ; but the instant his pos- 
 ture is sufficiently embarrassed for his balance to be 
 easily overset, the eagle darts upon him, and preci- 
 pitates him down the rocks by a stroke of his power- 
 ful wing. Thither it follows, and generally devours 
 its victim. So strong are the lemmer geyers r that 
 even after one of them had had a wing broken by a 
 gun shot, it maintained a long combat with three 
 peasants, armed with clubs. The government of 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 
 
 103 
 
 Berne offer about one pound reward for the de- 
 struction of these birds; but as the harm they do is 
 principally confined to the destruction of the cha- 
 mois and marmot, the peasants are not eager to 
 chase them. They very rarely approach herds, but 
 find abundant sustenance in the carcases of animals 
 swept away by avalanches, or that have fallen down 
 the precipices. They also wage open war with the 
 ravens ; their combats with legions of these birds, 
 is very curious ; and the tactics of these aerial 
 troops, present a singular spectacle. The ravens 
 form in line, they divide into detached corps, each 
 battalion rushes forward in turn ; and the eagle, at- 
 tacked in one quarter, is soon assailed by another 
 new corps, which makes a diversion in favour of 
 the retreating division. The event of this contest 
 is very uncertain, particularly when the eagle is 
 but young. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Civil a J 'cccliia — Capo San V it o —Palermo — The 
 Cathedral — Bay of Palermo — Botanical Garden 
 — Theatres— Arabian or Saracenic Buildings — 
 Shrine of Santa Rosalia — Women of Palermo — 
 Fete of St. Rosalia — Horse racing — SfgCSte — 
 Temple of Ceres — Salcmi — Cas/ro Vettano—Seli- 
 nui — Agathocles — Citij of Gergcnti— Temple of 
 Aesculapius — Temple of Concord— Piscina of Agri- 
 gen t um — Ca S / ro G i ova n ni — Singu la r Exca i at ions 
 — Syracuse— Temple of Diana— Ancient Amphi- 
 theatre — Athenian Quarries — Catacombs — Tem- 
 ple of Olympia Jove, 
 
 It was in the spring of 1S1.7, that Mr. Russell, ac- 
 companied by M. Fromm, a gentleman high in the 
 legal department of the duchy of Mecklenburg, 
 
104 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 and two Prussian gentlemen, quitted Rome on the 
 evening of the 26th of March, in a carriage drawn 
 by four mules j but, owing to the badness of the 
 roads, they were nine hours traversing a distance 
 of twenty-five miles to the Osteria, or road-side 
 public-house, about mid-way between Rome and 
 Civita Vecchia. 
 
 Though they remained at this miserable hovel 
 the remainder of the night, it was more for the pur- 
 pose of refreshing their mules, than for any advan- 
 tage they expected to receive. Even the way to 
 their chamber was through a large loft, in which 
 more than forty wretched-looking men, women, 
 and children, were reposing on straw. When ar- 
 rived at their chamber, the discovery of a secret 
 trap-door under the bed, obviously communicating 
 with the stables below, created in their minds so 
 much suspicion, that they determined to refrain 
 from going to bed. At day-break, they proceeded 
 to Civita Vecchia. The whole extent of country 
 between these two places, presents an uniform ste- 
 rile and uncultivated appearance, coinciding, in 
 general, with the other parts of the celebrated 
 Campagnie di Roma. The present town is well 
 built, and strongly fortified, after designs by Mi- 
 chael Angelo Buonarotti, and is considered as pos- 
 sessing considerable strength. Civita Vecchia was 
 the Centum Cellse of antiquity, and many remains 
 of its ancient mole and harbour still exist. 
 
 At this place our travellers embarked on board a 
 vessel bound for Palermo. Though the voyage is 
 generally made, with a fair wind, in about forty or 
 fifty hours, they were, through one disagreeable 
 occurrence after another, twelve days before they 
 arrived at Sicily, and finally entered the harbour of 
 Palermo. The vessel in which they performed this 
 tedious voyage, was freighted with charcoal ; and 
 they suffered the greatest inconvenience from the 
 limited extent of the cabin, which did not exceed 
 5 
 
V07AGES AND TRAVELS. 105 
 
 eight feet square. The passengers, six in number* 
 occupied a space not sufficiently capacious to ena- 
 ble them to lie down together. Add to this the 
 charcoal being stowed to the height of four feet 
 upon the deck, considerably abridged the little ac- 
 customed walk, and they were nearly suffocated by 
 the dust from this unpleasant cargo. 
 
 Not having calculated upon remaining so many 
 days at sea, their stock of provisions failed, and 
 they were obliged to apply to the owner of the ves- 
 sel, for some of the common black Italian ship 
 biscuit. While in this dilemma, they succeeded in 
 catching two small turtles, which they converted 
 into something like soup ; and having been, strictly 
 speaking, on short allowance for some days, they 
 enjoyed the most sumptuous repast. 
 
 The country, after doubling Capo San Vito, ap- 
 peared highly cultivated; the valley between the 
 promontories, containing numerous \ illas and coun- 
 try houses, interspersed amid beautiful and luxu- 
 riant foliage ; even the mountains were covered 
 with the pistachio and olive. 
 
 To complete the unpleasant occurrences of their 
 voyage, on arriving at Palermo, their vessel was 
 visited by the officers of health, who were pleased 
 to order her into the greatest of all Mediterranean 
 miseries — quarantine ; although she had come di- 
 rect from so healthy a country as Italy. They were 
 detained in quarantine from Monday till Saturday, 
 during which period they were twice obliged to 
 attend the lazaretto, for the purpose of being ex- 
 amined by medical men. A noble landscape pre- 
 sented itself to their view, while lying in this beau- 
 tiful bay; comprehending within its ample range, 
 not only the extensive and magnificent city of Pa- 
 lermo, but also the neighbouring plains, with nu- 
 merous convents, villas, and cottages, romantically * 
 interspersed amid its luxuriant foliage. This splen- 
 did prospect is terminated by Monte Pellegrino, 
 
106 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN* 
 
 Monte Reale, and an amphitheatre of wild and 
 majestic mountain scenery, extending as far easterly 
 as Capo ZafTarano. 
 
 On the morning of their release from imprison- 
 ment, they disembarked under the espionage of 
 three gendarmes, who conveyed them before the 
 magistrates, to answer various questions ; and at 
 length restored to them their liberty. The first 
 use they made of this inestimable blessing, was to 
 wait upon the British vice-consul, to pay the ac- 
 customed visit, and inform him of the vexatious 
 manner in which they conceived themselves 
 treated. 
 
 The first object that attracted their attention in* 
 this beautiful city was the Chiesa Madra, or the 
 cathedral, situated in the principal street, the 
 Cassaro. This building was erected in the twelfth 
 century, and presents a most extraordinary ap- 
 pearance, being composed of the Saracenic and 
 Gothic styles of architecture injudiciously mixed 
 together. The interior, although perfectly simple 
 and plain, is enriched with several antique columns 
 of granite. The remains of the emperors Henry, 
 and Frederic, are deposited within this sacred edi- 
 fice, in superb mausoleums of porphyry, which in 
 their form greatly resemble that of Agrippa, now 
 in the church of San Giovanni de Lauteranno at 
 Home. They also preserve in the cathedral an 
 ancient Grecian portrait of the Madonna, painted on 
 a ground-work of gold. 
 
 The church of San Giuseppe is situated in the 
 Cassaro; it is richly and profusely ornamented, 
 and contains some extremely fine columns of grey 
 Sicilian marble, nearly sixty feet high. In the 
 subterraneous chapel attached to this sacred edi- 
 fice, they preserve a Grecian portrait of the Ma- 
 donna, of great antiquity. This painting is enriched 
 with the most rare and valuable jewels, and is 
 placed upon an altar of pure silver. They then 
 
VOYAGES AX1) TRAVELS. 107 
 
 viewed the other principal churches, and found 
 they exhibited the same splendid appearance but 
 without any regard to true taste: in tact, the re- 
 ligious buildings of Palermo are very much inferior 
 to those in Rome, and many other cities of Italy. 
 
 The travellers enjoyed the evenings which are so 
 extremely fine in a southern climate, by promenading 
 the Marina, a raised public walk, lying next the bay 
 of Palermo ; this walk, upwards of a mile in length, 
 and about eighty yards in breadth, is defended by 
 a parapet wall, breast high. From sun-set until mid- 
 night, nay, often even until two or three hours after, 
 this promenade and the adjoining public gardens, 
 are not without company. The Flora, is as it were, 
 the rendezvous of the whole city. Our traveller ap- 
 pears at a loss for terms sufficiently elevated to 
 describe this Flora; its name, he observes, im- 
 plies much, but certainly, on this occasion, docs 
 not convey enough. The still murmuring of the 
 neighbouring sea, and the delightful breezes which 
 invariably float during evening upon its surface ; 
 the continued warbling of the melodious nightin- 
 gales ; the rich variety of aromatic shrubs and 
 flowers ; and more especially the interesting and 
 lovely Sicilian females who grace this charming 
 Flora, all united render it almost impossible te 
 give an adequate idea of this earthly paradise. 
 
 The Botanical Garden, adjoining the Flora is 
 extremely fine, and affords a rich treat to the 
 botanist. The entrance to this garden lies through 
 an elegant temple, erected in a chaste style, and 
 strictly after the Grecian Doric in all its ancient 
 purity. The garden contains an extensive collec- 
 tion of every plant that is rare and valuable ; among 
 others, several banana, pepper, and palm-trees. 
 The atmosphere of this island, during the greater 
 part of the year, is so extremely mild and tempe- 
 rate, that the date, although a native of the sultry 
 soil of Africa, comes nearly to perfection, such u 
 
iOS FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 the genial influence of this benign and happy 
 region, 
 
 The theatres here are generally ill-constructed, 
 displaying little or no taste, either in their external 
 or internal decorations ; but in mentioning the stage 
 the improvisator* must not be forgot, a class of per- 
 sons endowed with considerable abilities and pos^ 
 sessing such a command of language, that they are 
 enabled to return an extemporaneous answer in 
 rhyme to any subject that may be proposed. In 
 fact, the improvisator! of this city are nearly equal 
 to those of Home; they reply not only with great 
 facility, but with a splendour of ideas and images 
 conveyed in the most flowing rhymes, which are 
 generally accompanied by music. 
 
 In the theatres of Palermo, as well as in some 
 other foreign theatres, the militar}^ appear, fully 
 armed and accoutred, as if to meet an enemy in 
 the field. In the principal theatre of this city our 
 traveller observed two grenadiers with their huge 
 caps stationed on the stage, in full view of the 
 spectators, and eight of the same gigantic figures 
 were placed in different parts of the pit. Thus 
 much for the present state of Sicilian liberty. 
 
 The great object of attraction that draws so 
 many persons to visit the Capuchin convent, situ- 
 ated in the environs of Palermo, is the cimiterio, 
 or depository of the dead, wherein the fathers and 
 brothers of the order, after their decease, are 
 placed in rows perfectly upright, their backs being 
 supported by dwarf walls erected for that purpose. 
 They are habited in the same sort of dress they 
 had been accustomed to wear during their natural 
 life, and bear a ticket on their breast which denotes 
 the time of their decease and their age. In this 
 cimiterio is beheld, horribly exemplified by the 
 varied appearances of more than five hundred hu- 
 man bodies, the grim tyrant Death in all his different 
 stages of decay, from the most perfect human, al- 
 
VOYAGES A ND TRAVELS. 1 09 
 
 though cold and lifeless form, to literally speaking, 
 the mere skeletons. After the skeletons fall to 
 pieces, the bones are carefully co'lected and sym- 
 metrical. y arranged against the walls, and the teeth 
 are set in a kind of Mosaic work and form the front 
 of the altar. While our travellers were contem- 
 plating this region of the dead, and expressing 
 their surprize at the sight of so many human beings 
 who once lived and moved, their cicerone placed 
 his finger under the chin of one whose face they 
 were earnestly viewing, and raised the body from 
 the ground, as though it had been of paper ; so 
 light had this withered emblem of mortality become. 
 They also preserve the cranium of a king of Tunis, 
 who died in the year 16*20, and w-;s interred accord- 
 ing to the forms and ceremonies of this religious 
 order. The present establishment of the convent 
 consists of nearly two hundred and fifty fathers and 
 brothers. 
 
 In the environs of Palermo two Arabian or Sara- 
 cenic buildings still exist, one of which, a castle 
 named Kaba, has however, been so much despoiled 
 that scarcely any thing interesting now remains 
 within its once magnificent walls : it has lately been 
 converted into a caserne, or barracks for a regiment 
 of cavalry. 
 
 The other building, known by the name of \z- 
 ziza, is a beautiful specimen of Arabian architec- 
 ture, and is kept in a state of good repair, being 
 the summer residence of the present hereditary 
 prince. It is built of hewn stone, and is almost 
 wholly destitute of any exterior decoration or or- 
 nament. The entrance to this palace lies through 
 an arched vault, or sulci terrain, lined with marble, 
 in the midst of which is a fountain of water con- 
 stantly flowing into a large basin, whence it is con- 
 ducted by small canals into the several apartments 
 upon the ground floor: the walls and pavement of 
 thissala terrena as well as those of the palace, arc 
 
 vol. jv. L 
 
110 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 decorated after the eastern or oriental fashion, with 
 Mosaic work and Arabic inscriptions. The roof 
 of this charming building is flat, like those of the 
 Durazzo and Doria palaces at Genoa; and like 
 them too, it is laid out as an artificial garden, or- 
 namented with vases statues and fountains. From 
 this summit may be enjoyed a most splendid and 
 magnificent view, not only of the sea and harbour, 
 but also of the beautiful and enchanting city of 
 Palermo. 
 
 Our travellers during their abode here made an 
 excursion to La Bagaria, a village situated upon 
 an eminence near Capo Zaffarano, about ten miles 
 to the eastward of Palermo. They obtained per- 
 mission to view the villa and gardens of the Prince 
 of Butera ; the latter were in a state of high culti- 
 vation, and presented a rich and luxuriant apear- 
 ance. In the pleasure ground attached to this 
 villa, and in a situation highly interesting and pic- 
 turesque, stands a small ruin fitted up in every 
 particular to resemble a convent: the several 
 figures introduced in the various cells were com- 
 posed of wax, and nearly as large as life. Pro- 
 ceeding through this artificial convent, in one cell 
 is seen a good looking friar making a sumptuous 
 repast,, while in another situated in a more secluded 
 part of the building is a young and beautiful nun 
 meditating over an edition of Young's Night 
 Thoughts. In fact, the tout ensemble is so well 
 managed that every thing connected with the inte- 
 rior arrangement of a religious institution is most 
 completely exemplified. 
 
 The villa of the Prince of Pallogania, which 
 our travellers also visited, is rendered very con- 
 spicuous from the peculiar collection of statues, 
 representing monsters of the human and brute 
 species amassed together in the principal rooms, 
 court-yard, and even avenues. Some of these 
 statues are composed of the body of a man, ter* 
 o 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. Ill 
 
 minated by the head of an animal ; others the body 
 of one species and the head of another. The sub- 
 jects are gathered together without any apparent 
 motive, and the unparalleled collection consisting 
 of six hundred pieces, would be as difficult to de- 
 scribe as they are disagreeable to behold. One 
 beauty however this villa undoubtedly possesses, 
 the avenue forming the approach, being lined on 
 each side with the finest cypress trees ; this avenue 
 is nearly half a mile in length, and is altogether a 
 very pleasing object. 
 
 Monte Reale about four miles inland from Paler- 
 mo, is approached by a road which although very 
 steep, is rendered easy of access by being carried 
 in a zigzag direction supported by a strong external 
 wall. The ever varying series of views which pre- 
 sent themselves in ascending and descending this 
 mountain, are truly beautiful ; even the air is im- 
 pregnated by the numerous orange and lemon 
 groves, interspersed in the plains below. 
 
 The Cathedral of Monte Reale was founded and 
 erected by William the Good, in the twelfth cen- 
 tury, and forms a curious monument of the riches, 
 magnificence and bad taste then predominant. 
 
 The interior is in the Saracenic style, intermixed 
 with the Grecian of the lower empire. The whole 
 internal face is lined with Mosaic, representing dif- 
 ferent subjects from the Old and New Testament. 
 Though the designs are very indifferent yet it de- 
 serves attention from the immensity of the labour 
 required ; the pavement is also composed of Mo- 
 saic work. The next excursion of our travellers 
 was to Monte Pellegrino, the Mons Ereto of the 
 ancients, in order to visit the shrine of Santa Ro- 
 salia, the protectress of the city, which is situated 
 in a grotto upon the summit of this mountain. The 
 ascent is very steep and difficult, in many places 
 perpendicular, and for the space of more than a 
 mile, art has been obliged to lend her assistance in 
 
112 FLGWEBS OF MODERN 
 
 forming a road in an irregular direction, similar to 
 that up Monte Reale. 
 
 It is necessary to traverse the summit of the 
 mountain for some miles, in order to arrive at the 
 grotto, at the farthest extremity of which, enshrined 
 under a sacred altar, is seen the image of the holy 
 v saint, with her head negligently reclining on one 
 of her hands ; the statue is of bronzo dorcito, or 
 bronze gilt, except the hands and head which are 
 of Parian marble; it is so well executed, and the 
 general appearance so natural, that at the first 
 sight it almost tempts the beholder to believe the 
 Santa Rosalia holds in her other hand a cross, upon 
 which she appears profoundly meditating. 
 
 Palermo, the Panormos or Panormus of antiquity, 
 might in former times have been almost considered 
 an island, being surrounded on the east and west 
 by a canal, and on the other side of this river was 
 the suburb, called Neapolis. In the course of 
 time the ancient inhabitants formed an interior 
 port or harbour, by uniting the canal and river by 
 which the ships of those times came into the very 
 heart of the city. The valley of Palermo is not 
 only abundantly fertile, but richly cultivated ; it 
 was formerly much praised on account of the num- 
 ber and beauty of the trees, and we learn from 
 Livy that " the Romans easily constructed* the 
 palisado with which they surrounded the Neapolis, 
 i he country being so completely covered with 
 wood.'* Although this valley does not now possess 
 so woody an appearance, it is nevertheless ex- 
 tremely luxuriant and beautiful, particularly when 
 contrasted with the wild and majestic scenery w.th 
 which it is entirely surrounded. The capital of 
 Sicily bordered by the Tyrrhenian sea, and enclosed 
 on three sides by an amphitheatre of mountains is, 
 when viewed from without, of an appearance far 
 from prepossessing; but the traveller upon entering 
 finds himself agreeably surprized at discovering he 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 1 IS 
 
 is within not only a beautiful, but an extensive and 
 well peopled metropolis, Containing within the cir- 
 cuit of eight miles, a population of nearly two 
 hundred thousand persons. 
 
 Two large streets, the Cassano and Strada Nuova, 
 each upwards of a mile in length, und intersecting 
 each other at right angles, divide the city as it 
 were, into four equal parts, corresponding with 
 the four principal gates : these gates have the ad- 
 vantage of a wide foot path, and are besides ex- 
 tremelv well paved; they are also adorned through 
 their whole length with the most splendid buildings. 
 The centre where they meet, is in the form of an 
 octagon, and hence called Piazza Ottangoloza. 
 Each side of this Piazza or square, is decorated 
 with a beautiful building three stories in height, 
 composed of the three principal orders of archi- 
 tecture, the Doric, the Ionic, and the Corinthian, 
 and is besides enriched with statues and fountains. 
 Standing in tin's Piazza, the most beautiful per- 
 spective views may be enjoyed, through the gates 
 terminated on three sides by majestic mountain 
 scenery, and on the fourth by the " dark blue" 
 sea : a similar coup-cP-ail is not perhaps to be met 
 with in any other city in Europe. 
 
 The Sicilians having been preserved by the Bri. 
 tish from any fraternal visits of the French during 
 the late war, there still remain in Palermo and its 
 immediate vicinity, upwards of eighty monasteries 
 and convents ; and in fact, superstition appears to 
 be carried to a greater extent in this country than 
 it is at the present time either in Portugal or ^pain. 
 To Santa Rosalia, their titular saint, the females 
 especially when afflicted with serious indis- 
 position, or when suffering under any calamity, 
 generally offer up their prayers, and vow, that if, 
 by -her intercession they should recover, they will 
 ascend Monte Pellegrino, bare-footed, and there 
 return their praises and thanksgiving. 
 
 l3 
 
11']? FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 The natives of Palermo are for the greater part 
 acute and penetrating ; they are also eloquent, but 
 their eloquence is of that sort which manifests it- 
 self less by words than by actions, they express 
 much by different motions of the hands, head, 
 shoulders, and eyes. The women of Palermo are 
 of a middling stature $ black or chesnut coloured 
 hair, dark eyes, and regular features, are the pre- 
 dominant characteristics in their physiognomy. 
 They are educated mostly in convents, where, to 
 guard against seduction, they generally remain until 
 they are of a marriageable age. Even the lower 
 classes are shocked at the idea of suffering their 
 daughters to serve as chamber or waiting-maids, 
 much less as common servants* these domestic of- 
 fices being performed in this country as well as in 
 Portugal, Spain, and Italy, partly by men and 
 partly by elderly women. 
 
 The marriage of these females frequently takes 
 place before they are fourteen, and the consequence 
 is that young grandmothers are not unfrequent. 
 At Catarin our travellers met with a lady under 
 forty years of age, who had a grand-daughter up- 
 wards of ten. 
 
 Besides the piano-forte, the guitar is in great re- 
 quest among the natives : the Sicilian females play 
 admirably upon the latter, accompanying them- 
 selves by melodious sonnets. Their dress is well 
 adapted to the climate ; the head, as in a great part 
 of Spain, is generally uncovered, and no cappotta 
 or hood envelopes or disguises their well-formed 
 figure. A silken ribbon or a fresh rose is blended 
 with their tf'esses, and a black veil after the Spanish 
 fashion covers their head when they appear in the 
 public street. 
 
 Foreigners are received at Palermo with particu- 
 lar hospitality and attention, the Sicilians being 
 always anxious to congratulate them on their ar- 
 rival : every one is made welcome ; but the English 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 1 15 
 
 appear to be the favourite nation. Political papers 
 are here, as in the greater part of Europe, ex- 
 tremely scarce, and but of little importance, in 
 consequence of the restrictions upon the press be- 
 ing so ri<;id. New books, such as voyages, travels, 
 works of science, or even romances, or novels are 
 rare in Palermo. The party, while occupied at the 
 custom-house, had an opportunity of witnessing the 
 restrictions under which literature in all its 
 branches is placed, exemplified in the fullest man- 
 ner. Three monks were there occupied in examin- 
 ing a collection of foreign books ; these they divided 
 into two separate parcels, one of which it was under- 
 stood, was proper to be read ; the other, by far the 
 greater number, consisting of new works on the 
 different science-, which these most holy and reve- 
 rend inquisitor! had not sense enough to under- 
 stand, were set aside as prohibited, and in all pro- 
 bability were eventually committed to the flames. 
 
 The climate of Palermo has always been consi- 
 dered very salubrious, the temperature of winter 
 seldom falling lower than fifty degrees Fahrenheit: 
 in summer the heat is certainly great, remaining for 
 many months between eighty- five and ninety. The 
 inhabitants, during the continuance of this warm 
 weather, regularly shut up their houses and shops 
 a little before noon, and keep them so till about 
 three ; this period of the day they occupy in get- 
 ing tiieir repast, and then taking their siesla or 
 afternoon nap : in fact, Palermo is as it were dead 
 during this part of the day. 
 
 Sicily is frequently visited with that wind so 
 fatal to the inhabitants of the sultry clime of Africa, 
 and which is called by the Italians Scirocco : 
 when it occurs the temperature rises to about 1 10 
 degrees; its duration however seldom continues 
 long, otherwise it would infallibly be attended 
 with the most dreadful consequences. 
 
 The fete of St. Rosaiia annually occupies five 
 
116 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 days, and is certainly the most brilliant and enthu- 
 siastic display of devotion existing at the present 
 day in Europe. The car upon which the shrine of 
 this saint is borne is decorated or rather over- 
 loaded with ornaments of every species ; it is drawn 
 by forty mules, and filled by a considerable number 
 of musicians. This enormous machine, certainly 
 the richest and most magnificent ever put in mo- 
 tion, commences its march on the first day without 
 the shrine from the Marina, and tremblingly tra- 
 verses the Cassano, from the Porta Felice to the 
 royal palace, situated at the other extremity of the 
 street. A grand display of fire-works here takes 
 place, and the amusements of the day terminate by 
 the Cassano being splendidly illuminated. This 
 street, decorated its whole length alternately with 
 porticoes and fountains, upon apian rather concave, 
 and presents on this occasion a coup-d'-ceil of the 
 most pleasing nature. The people quietly prome- 
 nade the Cassano until midnight, when they retire, 
 and the coaches of the nobility take possession. The 
 gravity of the Sicilians is conspicuous during the 
 celebration of this festival : they partake of all its 
 gaieties and pleasures, without manifesting the 
 slightest external symptoms of delight ; and the 
 various ceremonies pass off with a regularity that 
 never requires the interference of the police, al- 
 though upwards of 1 00,000 spectators are assembled 
 on the occasion. 
 
 The principal amusements of the second day 
 consist of races : youths about twelve years of age 
 ride the horses without saddle or bridle, and it is 
 astonishing to see with what address they keep their 
 seats. The horses are assembled and arranged be- 
 hind a cord, where there is considerable difficulty 
 to retain them ; the animals being full of ardour, 
 and as it were conscious that they are going to con- 
 tend for the prize, seem to be striving to prevent 
 each other from getting foremost. Upon one of 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 117 
 
 the senators ringing a bell in a kind of a booth, the 
 little jockeys instantly mount, and sit well advanced 
 towards the shoulders, with their head almost re- 
 clining upon the neck of the horse. At the second 
 sound the cord falls ; the horses then set off, and by 
 the discharge of a cannon the people are informed 
 they are on the way, and the crowd immediately 
 opens and leaves them free room to pass. The 
 prize is adjuged by another senator, who is stationed 
 at the extremity of the course, after which the 
 successful little jockey is carried in triumph, deco- 
 rated with a golden eagle suspended around his 
 neck, amidst the acclamations of the multitude. 
 
 The horses are generally the property of rich 
 individuals, and are trained and fed the whole year 
 for this express purpose. The races occupy part 
 of three days; the first is between country horses; 
 the second between mares; and the third, by far 
 the most rapid, between Barbary coursers. The 
 amusements of the second day are completed by 
 the car returning from the royal palace to the 
 marina, stopping almost every ten paces in order 
 that the numerous spectators may enjoy the music ; 
 the car and the cassano are again most splendidly 
 illumined. 
 
 The third day commences with another race, 
 and the car also repeats its journey from the 
 marina to the palace. In the evening there is a 
 grand display of fire-works upon the marina, and 
 the buildings contiguous to the port, as well as the 
 cassano, are again illuminated in inch a superb 
 manner, that, viewed from the bay, it tills the ima- 
 gination with the idea of an enchanted city. 
 
 The diversion of the fourth commences with the 
 course. Without comparing these races with those 
 in England, yet from their rapidity they are in no 
 respect less interesting. The horses generally run 
 the whole length of the cassino, which is upwards of 
 a mile, in less than a minute and a half. The 
 
118 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 evening of this day is particularly distinguished by 
 a spectacle altogether new, and of which it is im- 
 possible to form an idea without having witnessed 
 it. This superb spectacle is the illumination of the 
 cathedral, executed in a manner truly enchanting. 
 The interior of this vast edifice is so decorated that 
 the most pleasing effects are produced by merely in- 
 troducing such trifles as fringes, garlands of various 
 coloured papers, silver tissue, little pieces of glass, 
 and many other articles of less value : the whole is 
 however so well arranged, and the church lighted 
 with so much taste, that, on entering, it presents to 
 the imagination the idea of being within the pre- 
 cincts of a fairy palace. 
 
 The fifth and last day is celebrated by a long 
 and continued procession, which commences shortly 
 after the setting of the sun, and continues till one 
 hour after midnight. It is upon this occasion, that 
 all the taste of the inhabitants of Palermo for reli- 
 gious spectacles is fully developed. Every confra- 
 ternity or religious order bears in this procession a 
 portrait or image as large as life of its particular 
 saint. The charge of arranging the different 
 toilettes is wholly left to the nuns, who never fail, 
 in dressing and decorating either Judith or the 
 Holy Virgin, to pay great attention to the last 
 fashion imported from Paris. These representations 
 of the different saints, enlivened by artificial rays 
 and all sorts of garlands, are carried on a frame 
 constructed of timber, which is borne on the 
 shoulders of thirty or forty men, who consider they 
 are achieving their own eternal salvation by carry- 
 ing the particular saint faster than those behind, 
 and thus gaining time to make countermarches and 
 evolutions. At last St. Rosalia, in her triumphal 
 car, solemnly traverses the cassano : the presence 
 of their protectress considerably increases the uni- 
 versal joy of the people : as the holy saint ap- 
 proaches, every knee bends in pious adoration ; and 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 119 
 
 thus terminates this most splendid fete of Santa 
 Rosalia. 
 
 Nothing remains of the ancient city of Segeste 
 but the temple. This sacred building was conse- 
 crated to Ceres, and is placed upon an elevation, 
 bordered on three sides by a ravine. This temple 
 is of the Doric order, one hundred and eighty-nine 
 feet two inches in length, and seventy- nine feet 
 four inches in breadth. It presents a portico of six 
 columns in front, and has fourteen on the sides ; 
 their diameter is six feet eleven inches and a half, 
 and their height, including the capital, thirty feet 
 four inches ; the height of the entablature, which 
 is extremely massive and heavy, is eleven feet 
 seven inches; thus making the whole height from 
 the plinth to the uppermost part of the cornice, 
 forty-one feet eleven inches. 
 
 Proceeding to Salemi, the travellers passed the 
 night at a miserable inn; the room they occupied 
 being extremely dirty and swarming with domestic- 
 vermin of every kind. In this town, which pre- 
 sented a most abject appearance, they witnessed a 
 scene which effectually demonstrated the state of 
 credulity and superstition, which even at the pre- 
 sent day degrades the greater part of the Sicilians. 
 An assembly of peasants to the number of about 
 500, under the direction of the priests, were 
 parading in procession about the town, visiting the 
 different churches, and offering up their praises for 
 the late rains. The peasants forming this proces- 
 sion wore a cro^n of thorns on their heads. 
 
 Castro Vetrano, the next place they arrived at, 
 though a large town with nearly 20,000 inhabitants, 
 being without an inn, the travellers were under the 
 necessity of applying to the prior of the convent of 
 Dominicans, who received them in a very courte- 
 ous manner, and gave directions for their accom- 
 modation within the convent. The ancient Selinus 
 or Selinante, is situated about seven miles south- 
 
120 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 ward of Castro Vetrano, and contiguous to the gea. 
 The road to these celebrated ruins lies through a 
 country clothed with the greatest luxuriance of the 
 vine and the olive : the vallLs profusely cultivated 
 with corn, are occasionally spangled with orange 
 groves. The plains near Seiinus were formerly so 
 celebrated that Virgil bestowed upon them the 
 name of palmosa. Even at the present time they 
 are completely covered with a species of dwarf 
 palm, or palmetto, the leaves of which are con- 
 verted into brooms and other articles of domestic 
 use. The ruins of the ancient Seiinus are still so 
 immense that every column resembles a tower, and 
 every fragment a fallen rock. The plain, easily 
 traced from the existence of the walls, is a vast 
 semicircle or horse-shoe, whose two extremities 
 abut near the sea, and are there terminated by 
 bastions or towers \ the port consequently lay be- 
 tween these towers, but no remains of it are visible. 
 
 The smallest of the temples still existing in this 
 city retains the first stones of all the columns in 
 their original situation. This edifice is of the 
 Doric order, and consists of a portico of six 
 columns in front and thirteen on the sides ; the 
 columns are fluted and about five feet nine inches 
 in diameter. Near this temple is another of much 
 larger dimensions, elevated upon the same general 
 principles as to plan, and having likewise thirteen 
 columns on the sides, and a portico of six in front. 
 Judging from the ruins of the temple of Olympic 
 Jove, this must have been about 332 feet in length, 
 and 147 in breadth, and have had a portico of eight 
 columns in front and sixteen on the sides. One of 
 the stones, which originally formed part of the ar- 
 chitrave, was measured, and found to be twenty- 
 one feet in length, five feet eight inches deep, and 
 six feet nine in breadth, consequently S03 cubic 
 feet, and must have weighed upwards of fifty tons ; 
 how entablatures of such an enormous weight could 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 
 
 121 
 
 have been raised upon such gigantic columns, can- 
 not but excite our amazement. The quarries from 
 whence they were taken are about six miles from 
 this city, which was founded by the inhabitants of 
 Megare about 725 years before Christ. The two 
 vast flights of steps also remain, by which the inha- 
 bitants ascended from the port to the level part of 
 their town. The temples and public buildings were 
 always placed in situations from which they might 
 be seen to the greatest advantage. 
 
 Thermae ^elinuntinai was the birth place of 
 Agathocles ; it is now a miserable town, not afford- 
 ing accommodations for a mule. The hot baths 
 from which it derived its name are in the neigh- 
 bourhood. They are still considered very effica- 
 cious in cutaneous and scorbutic disorders, and 
 also in paralytic affections. Sciacca is still protected 
 by its ancient walls, and contains about 12,000 in- 
 habitants. Arriving at the once famous city of 
 Girgenti, the ancient Agrigentum, the travellers 
 were again compelled to apply to the prior of the 
 convent, who was so kind as to give up his own bed 
 for the accommodation of one of the gentlemen. 
 
 The cathedral here is of the Norman style of ar- 
 chitecture, injudiciously mixed with the Grecian, 
 and has rather a gloomy appearance. As it pos- 
 sesses a similar quality to the whispering gallery at 
 St. Paul's, the guide generally surprises the visitors, 
 by requesting one of them to proceed upon the 
 upper face of the entablature, which runs round 
 the interior of the building, and placing another on 
 the pavement at the western extremity: thus situ- 
 ated, people may carry on a conversation in an 
 under voice perfectly audible, though more than 
 300 feet apart. The church of Santa Maria dei 
 Greci vas erected on the site formerly occupied by 
 the temple of Jupiter. 
 
 From the eminence on which this city is built, 
 the burning Etna is to be seen, upwards of ninety 
 
 VOL. iv. M 
 
122 
 
 FLOWERS 01? MODERN 
 
 miles distant, whose Alpine summit, white with 
 eternal snow, appears distinct, not only above all 
 the intermediate mountains, but also above the 
 very clouds. The ruins of the temple of Juno La- 
 cina are situated at the south-eastern extremity of 
 the city. The splendid temple of Concord, un- 
 doubtedly the most perfect Grecian monument now 
 existing in Sicily, stands nearly in a line with that 
 of Juno. In various parts of the interior of the 
 ancient walls, are numerous sepulchral niches, 
 many of them within a few inches of each other. 
 Of the temple of JEsculapius in this neighbourhood, 
 little now remains excepting the foundation, the 
 plinth, and three columns. One of the charges 
 brought against Verres by Cicero, is of plundering 
 this sacred edifice of a celebrated statue of Apollo. 
 In this vicinity are the remains of the famous 
 Piscina, excavated by the Carthaginians made pri- 
 soners at the battle of Hymere, 480 years before 
 Christ. This Piscina was a mile in circumference, 
 and excavated to the depth of 120 feet. It seems 
 the luxury of the people of Agrigentum had in- 
 creased to such an extent, that the Piscina was 
 formed more for keeping up their voluptuous and 
 extravagant mode of living, than as a means of pro- 
 visioning the city. Besides the immense number 
 of fish of every kind, bred in this lake, every 
 species of water-fowl, whose beautiful colours at- 
 tracted attention, was here preserved for the tables 
 of the rich ; and the Piscina at length became the 
 fashionable place of resort for all the loungers of 
 the city. Though time has effaced much of its in- 
 terior, it is extremely easy to trace its form and 
 extent. The canal that formerly supplied this arti- 
 ficial lake with water still runs in its original chan- 
 nel, and is very serviceable in supplying the rich 
 and luxurious gardens which now occupy the site 
 of this ancient Piscina. 
 
 The spot between Girgenti and Macaluba, once 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 
 
 123 
 
 forming a part of what was called the granary of 
 Rome, is now so poor and so completely deserted 
 as not to afford a solitary cottage. The base of the 
 volcano of Maculuba, of which neither Brydone 
 nor Swinburne make mention, is nearly circular, 
 and its height is about L 250 feet, taken from a val- 
 ley that surrounds it. This valley, however, is 
 considerably elevated above the level of the sea. 
 Its summit is about half a mile in circumference, 
 and crowned with a plain presenting rather a con- 
 vex surface. Here are a number of little conical 
 elevations, the largest about nine feet in diameter 
 and about five feet high ; and upon many of these 
 are craters. The soil appears externaily to be 
 composed of clay, rather dry and cracked, whilst 
 the hollow sepulchral noise caused by the action of 
 walking, is sulhcentto remind any persons that they 
 are in all probability immediately over an immense 
 gulf of liquid mud, separated only by a thin cover- 
 ing. Here are about 150 small craters, continually 
 throwing up argillaceous matter. 
 
 At Canigatti, a town that contains more than 
 18,000 inhabitants, Mr. Russel and his friends were 
 followed by a number of curious and idle persons, 
 who seemed to watch their very words and actions. 
 
 Castro Giovanni, from external appearance, 
 promised to be the most pleasant and agreeable 
 village they had yet entered, but eventually turned 
 out the most miserable ill-looking town they had 
 seen in Sicily, and notwithstanding the raging of a 
 pitiless storm of rain, it was with great difficulty they 
 obtained admission into a mean hovel, with a small 
 supply of provisions and some fire to dry their ap- 
 parel. Castro Giovanni occupies the site of the 
 ancient Enna, the supposed residence of Ceres, and 
 being upwards of 400O feet above the level of the 
 sea, its approaches on all sides are extremely diffi- 
 cult. The castle, decaying very fast, is of Roman 
 origin, but is still used for the confinement of pri- 
 
 m 2 
 
124 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 soners. The lake of Proserpine in this neighbour- 
 hood retains its original appellation, and is about 
 four miles in circumference. Its banks present 
 some charming prospects, being clothed with aro- 
 matic flowers and shrubs. 
 
 The descent into the valley of Ipsica is by an 
 extremely steep path ; but it gratifies the visitor 
 with that grand and magnificent, nay, almost 
 Alpine scenery, that presents itself on every side. 
 Here are numerous chambers excavated in the 
 rocks, forming the sides of this interesting and na- 
 tural recess. Many of these are from eight to ten 
 stories in height ; these subterraneous retreats are 
 about twenty feet in length, eight in width, and seven 
 in height. Opposite the door in most of them is a 
 kind of niche, in which is a ring chiselled out of the 
 natural stone, probably for the purpose of attach- 
 ing a goat or some other domestic animal, and near 
 the entrance a basin formed in the stone. Immedi- 
 ately above the entrance, a bevelled opening through 
 the external face or wall seemed made for the in- 
 troduction of light and air when these gloomy caves 
 were closed, and in most of them is a recess about 
 six feet long and four feet wide, probably designed 
 for resting places. Exclusively of rings in the walls 
 of some of these chambers, for suspending different 
 utensils, wide grooves were worked in the stone to 
 serve for shelves. Some of these chambers had a 
 second, excavated behind the first ; in others a 
 round opening was preserved, by which a commu- 
 nication was made with the floor above ; and in this 
 opening holes were used to serve in the place of 
 steps. 
 
 In the interior of some of the tombs excavated 
 out of the solid stone, were fragments of bones al- 
 most in a state of petrifaction, and various pieces 
 of vases composed of a red coloured earth. Many 
 Sicilian peasants still inhabit these rude excavations, 
 as wild and as savage as any of their ancestors 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 125 
 
 could have been, and living only upon milk, fruit, 
 and vegetables. These people, especially the chil- 
 dren, seemed to be under the greatest alarm upon 
 the appearance of strangers. 
 
 At Noto, the travellers had the pleasure of view- 
 ing the celebrated museum of Don Antonio Astuto, 
 baron of Fargione, containing a superb series of 
 Greci Siculo medallions, and of Grecian coins and 
 medals, with those of Rome, before the establish- 
 ment of consuls ; besides a valuable collection of 
 Roman emperors, numerous Saracenic coins, medals 
 of the popes, Among the antique busts in this 
 museum, are two extremely fine, of Socrates and 
 Plato, as well as many statues and tripods. 
 
 Proceeding to Syracusa, Mr. Russel observes, the 
 first object that attracted our attention was the im- 
 mense port whose shores we traversed previously to 
 entering the city. The fountain of Arethusa is 
 now reduced to a lamentable state, and is no longer 
 a large basin containing an immense number of fish. 
 The temple of Minerva, converted into a cathedral 
 during the twelfth century, exhibits the greater 
 part of its lateral columns, of the Doric order, 
 fluted, and without base. The temple of Diana, 
 the first built in Syracusa, is now so enveloped bv 
 modern erections as scarcely to be visible ; but by 
 entering some private dwellings, Mr. Kussel suc- 
 ceeded in obtaining a view of some of the columns 
 and parts of the entablature. The castle situated 
 on the extremity of the island was rebuilt in its pre- 
 sent form in the eleventh century. Many parts 
 however of the Grecian fortress still remain. 
 
 After having traversed the island, which com- 
 prises the modern Syracusa, the travellers pro- 
 ceeded through Acradina, which is devoid both of 
 antique remains or curiosities. In the quarter 
 Neapolis, the first object that strikes the view, is 
 the ancient amphitheatre, of an oval form. The 
 principal parts of this large edifice, such as the 
 
 If 'J 
 
126 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODJSRX 
 
 passages of communication, the cells where the 
 wild beasts were confined, the arena, the podium, 
 and seats, were all cut out of the living rock. This 
 is no doubt of Roman origin, having an ancient re- 
 servoir as usual for the accommodation of the gla- 
 diators who retired with their lives from the com- 
 bats. Not far distant from these ruins, is the an- 
 cient theatre, still presenting a grand and imposing 
 appearance : from the seats a delightful prospect 
 may be enjoyed, not only of the city, but of the 
 distant sea, and the luxuriant plains watered by the 
 Anapus. Upon one of the barriers formed for 
 keeping each division of seats separate, is an ancient 
 Greek inscription, almost in a perfect state, bearing 
 the name of Queen Philistides. This celebrated fe- 
 male was the wife of one of the tyrants of Syracusa, 
 and is generally represented on the medallions as 
 possessing a lovely countenance; she must have 
 reigned a considerable period, being exhibited on 
 some as young and beautiful, on others more ad- 
 vanced in years : her head is invariably covered with 
 a veil which falls in an elegant manner over her 
 shoulders. 
 
 Near the theatre, is one of the latomise or 
 quarries, dug by the Athenians made prisoners in a 
 battle. In after times these were converted into 
 common prisons. This excavation is about three 
 quarters of a mile in circumference, and about 120 
 feet below the level of the adjoining ground : it is 
 now a garden. Within this latomiae are many subter- 
 raneous grottos, the principal of which is generally 
 called the " ear of Dionysius ;" though on account 
 of its strong echo, the peasants have given it the 
 name of the " speaking grotto/* This excavation 
 is about 170 feet in depth, 20 to 35 in breadth, and 
 60 in height. A small aperture on the right of the 
 highest point of the entrance led to a chamber 
 about six feet by four, from which another opening 
 looked into the interior. In the days of Dionysius, 
 the existence of this chamber, and of the path that 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS, 
 
 127 
 
 led to it. were kept a most profound secret : and it 
 is generally believed that the tyrant used to resort 
 to it, for the purpose of listening to the conversation 
 of those who were unfortunately confined within 
 the limits of this horrid place. Whether the primary 
 formation was the work of chance, or the result of 
 a preconcerted plan, is still a matter of doubt. The 
 echo produced here by firing of pistols, is a long 
 and confused noise like a continuation of distant 
 thunder ; but the melodious notes of a shepherd's 
 flute, echoed and re-echoed, proved highly gratify- 
 ing. In another of these grottoes, the ceiling, if it 
 may be so called, appears to be supported by pil- 
 lars originally left in the natural stone : but which 
 becoming rounded by time, now resemble enormous 
 stalactites. Another latomiae, still more curious 
 than the former, situated near the convent of the 
 Capuchins, has been converted into a garden, ab<>\ l 
 100 feet below the natural level, where the choicest 
 vines intermingle their beautiful foliage amidst nu- 
 merous trees and shrubs. 
 
 The catacombs here are considered more exten- 
 sive and in a better state of preservation than those 
 at Rome or Naples : their entrance has been 
 formed into a church, and appears to have been 
 used as a burial place prior to their existence ; the 
 episcopal seat still remains, and is decorated with 
 two Ionic columns. A small column of granite in 
 this building is an object of great admiration with 
 the inhabitants of the neighbourhood. One of the 
 principal streets of these subterraneous catacombs 
 is near twenty feet wide, and eight feet high, with 
 its ceiling or upper surface sometimes flat, some- 
 times semi-circular, and in other places spherical. 
 
 The danger of traversing these regions is evi- 
 dent, from the circumstance of these travellers 
 being impeded after proceeding in a straight line 
 about a mile; where some of the natural soil hav- 
 ing fallen in, they were obliged to return. In 
 
128 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 their perambulation along this silent street, they 
 observed innumerable tombs on both sides, and semi- 
 circular openings excavated out of the living stone, 
 and also several sepulchral chambers, each pos- 
 sessing a private entrance. In most of these cham- 
 bers a niche of superior workmanship to the rest 
 was very obvious. At intervening distances they 
 also met with transverse streets, forming little 
 squares at their intersections, and likewise several 
 saloons, with mostly spherical ceilings. Nume- 
 rous tombs were excavated, and openings had been 
 made in the centre of the ceiling for the purpose 
 of admitting air and light. The origin of this 
 gloomy labyrinth, whose extent is still so con- 
 siderable that the guides are fearful of proceeding 
 to the end of any of the longest streets, is attri- 
 buted to the Greeks, long antecedent to their sub- 
 jugation by the Roman General Marcellus. Some 
 indifferent paintings also remain, of palm-branches, 
 doves, as well as circles, inclosing crosses, and 
 Greek and Latin letters, signs formerly used to 
 distinguish the tombs of Christians from those of 
 the Pagans. The entrance to these catacombs, 
 it should be observed, lies through a convent of 
 Benedictines, founded by Pope Gregory, towards 
 the end of the sixth century. The great extent 
 of these regions of repose, is best calculated to 
 enable us to judge not only of the great popula- 
 tion, but of the grandeur and magnificence of this 
 once splendid city. Returning hence, the tra- 
 vellers passed along an ancient street, nearly 400 
 feet in length, retaining many tombs and sepul- 
 chral chambers ; and in the interior of several of 
 them, observed circular headed niches, evidently 
 made for the reception of cinerary urns. The en- 
 trance to these is ornamented with a fluted Doric 
 column, on each side, and crowned with an en- 
 tablature and pediment ; and from their plain and 
 simple style, are supposed to be of great anti- 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. l2l> 
 
 quity. Among the different monuments still ex- 
 isting in this street, one is pointed out as the 
 tomb of Archimedes, a supposition somewhat con- 
 firmed by Cicero in his orations against Verres ; 
 from which it is inferred that this tomb was where 
 it is seen now, near the gate Agagriana. Of the 
 ancient temple of Olympic Jove, only two columns 
 remain, though all historians speak of it. as the 
 richest monument of Syracusa, and the object of 
 the plunder both of Dionysius and Verres ; but 
 even the site of the ancient city itself is now in 
 part converted into corn-fields. The different wines 
 of Syracusa are, generally speaking, extremely 
 fine, and some of them truly delicious, especially 
 the Calabrese. 
 
 With respect to society, in the chief cities of 
 Sicily, the cafe nobile, if the stranger is so for- 
 tunate as to understand the Italian language, will 
 afford him a courteous reception. The company 
 generally remain here later than midnight, en- 
 gaged with billiards, chess, or in conversation. 
 
 A custom is prevalent among the gentlemen, of 
 standing uncovered during the period the Ave 
 Maria is sounded ; and after its conclusion, of sa- 
 luting the strangers present, by wishing them a 
 happy night. Promenading the city, and sere- 
 nading the ladies with the guitar, is another prac- 
 tice here as well as in Home. Others walk round 
 the ramparts, inhaling the breezes of the Medi- 
 terranean, or listening to the undulation of its 
 waters. Of the Sicilian females, Mr. Kussel ob- 
 serves, u In a word, the peculiar softness of the 
 climate, and the irresistible fascination of lovely 
 woman, all united, inspire the highest pleasure and 
 delight." 
 
130 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Catania — Obelisk —Cathedral — Ruins of the Am- 
 phitheatre — Etna divided into three Regions — As- 
 cent of the Travellers — Idea of the infernal Do- 
 minions — Descent and arrival at Nicolosi — Mes- 
 sina one of the first Cities in Europe — The Ca- 
 thedral — Festival of the Holy Letter — Port of 
 Messina — Corfu — Zante — Candia — The Mai- 
 niotes — Robbers — Misitra — A Tartar— Tripole- 
 za — Corinth — Athens — Otranto — Vesuvius — Na- 
 ples — Punchinello — Streets of Naples — The Wo- 
 men — Lazzaroni — Neapolitan Character— Diet — 
 Mode of Eating — Vegetables — The Weather — 
 Pompeii — M. Chateauvieux — Camels — Villa 
 Adriana — The Maremma — MaVaria — Descrip- 
 tion of a Roman Road — Sir R. Colt Hoare—* 
 General De La Harpe — Venice. 
 
 Leaving Syracusa for Catania, and passing over 
 much classical ground, which Mr. Russel has de- 
 scribed with real enthusiasm, the imminent dan- 
 ger to which that city has been so often exposed, 
 from the lava of Mount Etna, appeared more 
 striking than ever. Catania is not only the hand- 
 somest, but the best built city in Sicily ; its streets 
 are well laid out, its squares decorated with co- 
 lumns and regular edifices, and its houses elevated 
 in a richly ornamented style. The port has also 
 the advantage of a capacious quay, not less em- 
 bellished than the other parts with handsome 
 buildings, with which even the market is also sur- 
 rounded ; many of these have noble porticos, con- 
 structed of marble. Piazza del Duomo, the prin- 
 cipal square, is ornamented with an obelisk of 
 Egyptian granite, elevated upon the back of an 
 elephant, composed of lava. The elephant was 
 the ancient symbol of Catania. The cathedral, 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 131 
 
 first built by Count Roger, was rebuilt in its pre- 
 sent form after the fatal earthquake. The front 
 is embellished with some superb columns of the 
 ancient theatre ; and a painting is preserved in 
 the vestry of the city, and of the course then 
 taken by the burning lava, exactly as they ap- 
 peared in I069, being taken by an eye-witness of 
 that dreadful scene. Some very ancient baths 
 were discovered under this church, a few years 
 since, by a prince of the house of Biserta, the 
 ceilings of which are covered with a species of 
 stucco, apparently composed of particles of lava, 
 of which substance the baths also are formed. 
 
 The ruins of the amphitheatre are very con- 
 siderable ; these having been entirely stripped of 
 the mattonij or bricks, with all the external orna- 
 ments, there is nothing left but pilasters, con- 
 structed of lava, arches that rise from these, sup- 
 port a gallery, and upon this a second gallery is 
 raised, bearing the uppermost seats of the theatre. 
 This once splendid edifice, was buried under loads 
 of rubbish, and was only discovered when Catania 
 was rebuilt after the earthquake. 1 he ruins of 
 the ancient theatre are not less interesting ; which 
 is evident from the elegant columns, and various 
 marble capitals, bases, friezes, cornices, and other 
 fragments, lying in the court-yards of the Biscari 
 museum. An Odeum, or smalier building of the 
 same class, adjoins this theatre, which, according 
 to Pausanias and Vitruvius, was constructed for 
 the performance of music. 
 
 1 he museum in the convent of the Benedictines, 
 contains a considerable quantity of antiquities, espe- 
 cially domestic utensils, and some curious ancient 
 vases, elegant in their formation, and exquisitely 
 painted. The appearance of this convent resem- 
 bles a palace more than the residence of persons 
 who imagine they have renounced the world. The 
 organ of their church, constructed by one of the 
 
X32 FL0WEKS OF MODERN 
 
 fathers, imitates different musical instruments in 
 the most perfect manner, and particularly an echo, 
 the sound of which, a stranger would suppose he 
 was following into the mountains. Since the 
 dreadful earthquake the population of Catania has 
 increased from 16 to 70,000 souls. 
 
 Etna is divided into three regions ; the first 
 extending from Catania to Nicolosi ; the last vil- 
 lage ascending on this side of the mountain is 
 called, Kegione Colta, or the cultivated region; 
 the second is named, the woody region, Regione 
 Nemorosa ; and the third, Regione Nevosa, or the 
 region of snow : and the number of persons in- 
 habiting the various towns and villages upon the 
 declivity of the mountain, is upwards of 30,000. 
 
 " We rode," says this author, u towards Etna. 
 The day was fine, but the sun burned hotly, and 
 our mules carried us very slowly up the mountain, 
 on the difficult, slippery, and sandy way. We at 
 last saw the pleasant town of Catania, and the 
 broad expanse of the sea, though the edge of it 
 seemed to rise gradually. Our Catanian landlord, 
 and a sumpter horse, followed us with our pro- 
 visions." 
 
 These lava-fields are known to be prodigiously 
 fertile, and from their black bosom rises, without 
 interruption, the richest luxuriance of the south- 
 ern vegetation. Hence for the twelve miles from 
 Catania to the last village, called Nicolosi, we 
 pass through nothing but blooming gardens, and 
 prosperous towns ; but, on the other hand, this 
 first part of the road, in the cultivated region of 
 Etna, is disagreeable, from being entirely confined 
 between the walls of vineyards. About half a 
 mile below Nicolosi, the black. grey lava sand be- 
 gins to cover the earth with mourning up to the 
 summit of the volcano, at a distance of about 
 twenty miles. Not far from the village lies a 
 very deep extinguished crater, that threw out fire 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 133 
 
 about three centuries ago. " Towardg evening 
 we arrived at Nicolosi, and found a most kind and 
 hospitable reception at the house of Don Mario 
 Gemelaro, the intendant and physician of the 
 place." 
 
 Whoever ascends Etna on the side of Catania, 
 must either stop at the convent of San Nicolosi 
 d' Arena, near Nicolosi, or apply to the hospi- 
 tality of Gemmelaro, who will always lend a room 
 to travellers. The advice of this gentleman, who, 
 for fifteen years, has observed the volcano, with 
 remarkable interest and zeal, will prove of the 
 greatest service. Before the year 1&C4 he had 
 built a small house near the philosopher's tower, 
 about three quarters of a league below the high 
 crater, to protect travellers from snow, hail, and 
 
 storms. Lord F , an English officer, having 
 
 experienced the advantage of such a shelter, in- 
 duced Don Gemmelaro to build a convenient 
 house for travellers, as well as stables for sumpter 
 horses and mules, by the promise of a subscrip- 
 tion in England. The English call this little asy- 
 lum, 14 The House of the English but as Geme- 
 laro was at the chief expence and trouble in erect, 
 ing it, his countrymen call it by his name. Every 
 traveller receives the keys gratis. Gemmclaro's 
 own house lies close to the lava eruption of ITS/, 
 and near to the mouth of the crater of 10*69. 
 
 After a short repose we set out, near ten o'clock 
 at night, accompanied by one guide, riding on a 
 mule, and a second on foot. We stumbled over 
 the very fatiguing way, through the woody re- 
 gum, in a dark night, upon our mules, without 
 meeting any accident ; though the sagacious ani- 
 mals were thanked, that they did not break the 
 necks of their riders, in the intricate narrow paths 
 among the lava rocks. Arriving in the snowy re- 
 gion, the sky was suddenly covered with black 
 tempestuous clouds, and the air became benumb- 
 
 VOL. IV, N 
 
\5i FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 ingly cold. Resolving to rest in the lava cavern, 
 or the Grotto del Castelluccio, after having taken 
 a cheerful breakfast, whilst their teeth chattered in 
 their heads, they continued to wade through the 
 immense fields of volcanic ashes. At length the 
 sun rising from the sea, illumined the frightful 
 wilderness which they had not yet perfectly seen, 
 and they proceeded, sometimes through a black 
 sea of ashes towards the summit, unable to see 
 above fifty paces before them. Here one of the 
 party falling sick, they were delayed a consider- 
 able time till he recovered, and was able to pro- 
 ceed with them to Nicolosi, where they refreshed 
 themselves with a sound sleep, after drinking the 
 health of their Catanian landlord. Setting out 
 again, about ten in the evening, towards the smok- 
 ing cone, they saw the smoke rise quite perpen- 
 dicularly out of the crater, in the deep blue of the 
 nocturnal sky. The truly golden crescent of the 
 moon swam in the pure ether, and illumined the 
 sea far and wide. Elated with joy, the party 
 shouted and sang, while the mules climbed like 
 goats securely over the lava rocks, and they soon 
 arrived in the interior of the woody region. The 
 immense lava stratum of 1660, lay on one side of 
 them, frightful as a petrified ocean. At the end 
 of the oak forest, a cutting wind so chilled the 
 party, that without the cloaks and hoods, supplied 
 by Gemmelaro's kindness, they must have been 
 half frozen. They were, therefore, very glad 
 when at the end of the woody region, they reached 
 the u Goats' Cavern," by some called, the " En- 
 glish Grotto, where a severe fall, and a sprained 
 foot, obliged poor Brydone to remain all night. 
 But as a bright fire soon burned up in this dark 
 lava cavern, this proved a great comfort to the be- 
 numbed limbs of this party ; as the atmosphere 
 here was four degrees under the freezing point. 
 Proceeding again, having breakfasted at the Grotto 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 135 
 
 del Castellucio, this refreshment revived their 
 spirits; and as they hoped, that when the sun 
 gained strength, the fogs would disappear, they 
 laid themselves down on the ground, and slept 
 soundly for several hours, without any fire, which 
 cannot be made in this region for want of fuel. 
 
 As the fog had not cleared up at ten in the morn- 
 ing, the guide, fearing to lose his way, was not 
 much inclined to continue his journey to the cone, 
 but as the wind abated, he consented to go on. 
 They now waded up to their ancles in ashes, and 
 whilst the clouds wetted their heavy mantles, the 
 cold froze them again immediately, so that like 
 white bears, they were covered over with a white 
 crust. After a most fatiguing march of two hours, 
 the sight of Gemmelaro's house of refuge was as in- 
 vigorating to them as the kaaba at Mecca to the 
 Turkish pilgrim ; unluckily, the door was broken 
 down, and the whole building was full of snow and 
 ice. Determined still to go on, a fresh storm of 
 wind increased, as their strength diminished, and, 
 vexatious as it was, being so near the crater, they 
 retraced with angry steps the lava fields to the 
 Grotto del Castellucio, where they had left their 
 mules. Being thoroughly wet through, it was im- 
 possible to ride, and therefore with a rapid pace 
 they hurried through the woody region to Nicolosi, 
 where they were received by Gemmelaro with 
 kindness and sympathy. 
 
 The following day, at seven in the morning, they 
 were awakened by the bright beams of the sun, and 
 the sky was serene and blue, and in the space of an 
 hour the party was ready, for the third time, to try 
 their fortune against the volcano. Accompanied by 
 their friendly, sensible, and bold guide, Antonino 
 Barbagallo, they rode without stopping past the lava 
 beds to the Goats' Cavern, where, under the agree- 
 able shade of the oaks, they took a slight breakfast. 
 After this Antonino contrived to prepare them a 
 
136 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 little dinner in a short space of time, and they had 
 soon left the snow and lava fields at the foot of the 
 immense woods, though at every step up the ashy 
 cone they sunk in the loose volcanic sand, losing 
 almost as much ground as they gained. Joy, how- 
 ever, gave them wings : they had passed already 
 over the beds of yellow sulphur, the ground also 
 began to feel hot in places, and to smoke out of a 
 number of little craters, whilst round the crater it- 
 self clouds collected, at times in thick masses. At 
 last the guide, who was some steps before them, 
 called out, et Behold here the highest crater \ ,f 
 These words gave them new vigour ; and in a few 
 minutes they stood at the brink of the smoking cal- 
 dron, the mouth of which had vomited forth moun- 
 tains, some of them larger than Vesuvius, or the 
 Brocken. Instantly they determined upon descend- 
 ing into the crater ; and, though their guide as- 
 sured them that it would be impossible, as the 
 smoke did not rise perpendicularly, he was still 
 willing to make a trial, and they followed him a 
 little way, when they found the vapour, that formed 
 a thick night, strong enough to burst the strongest 
 lungs. They then went up to the southern horn, 
 and there lay astonished at the hot sulphur, amidst 
 smoke, vapours, and thunder. The hot ashes burn- 
 ed them, the sulphureous vapours stifled them, and 
 the storm threatened to hurl them into the abyss. 
 
 In the vailies beneath, full of black lava and 
 white snow, and over the bright surface of the sea, 
 which looked like a plane of polished steel, and 
 seeming to lean obliquely to the sky, immense hosts 
 of clouds sailed slowly along ; but when they came 
 near to the volcano, the furious hurricane, in 
 which they could scarcely keep their feet, was such 
 as might have precipitated them, with gigantic 
 force, ten thousand feet down on the plains and seas 
 of Italy. They then proceeded round the edge of 
 the crater to the northern horn, and there enjoyed 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 137 
 
 a prospect, which, in sublimity and overpowering 
 grandeur, doubtless exceeds any thing that the fa- 
 culties of man can conceive. The clouds of smoke 
 rose from the crater, where the raging storm, which, 
 like artillery, or innumerable bells, drowned every 
 other sound, rent them asunder, and with the ra- 
 pidity of lightning threw them upon the objects 
 below. The pointed cone, on which the party 
 stood, was covered with a yellow sulphur, white, 
 salt, and black ashes, and gave to this singular pic- 
 ture such a terrible and savage tone, that in look- 
 ing only at the objects that surrounded them, the 
 observers could not divest themselves of the ideas 
 of the infernal dominions. Amidst the war of the 
 elements, desolation and fire, not a living creature, 
 nor even a blade of grass, had been spared, within 
 the circuit of their immediate contention. 
 
 Overlooking this vast mountain, the triangle of 
 Sicily stretches its points towards Italy and Africa, 
 and the sea may be seen flowing round Cape Tra- 
 pane. xVt its foot lay the bold rocks of the Eolian 
 islands, and from Stromboloa vast column of smoke 
 rises above the waves. To the east, like a large 
 map, the whole of Calabria, the Gulf of Tarento, 
 and the Faro of Messina, seem stretched out. 
 
 Whilst upon their descent, and contemplating the 
 extraordinary valley beneath them, as the sun was 
 descending into the western sea, the gigantic sha- 
 dow of the volcano projected for many miles to- 
 wards Italy, and then rose like an enormous pyra- 
 mid, high in air, on the edge of the horizon, so 
 that the stars seemed to sparkle upon its summit. 
 The travellers deemed this the richest and happiest 
 day of their journey, and perhaps of their lives. 
 They then mounted their mules, and arrived about 
 midnight at Nicolosi, where the worthy Gemme- 
 laro waited for them with impatience. Transported 
 with their success, they filled him also with the 
 greatest pleasure ; and as it was not possible for 
 
 m 3 
 
138 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODEHN 
 
 them to go to sleep, they spent the greater part of 
 the night with him and their guide, the brave An- 
 tonino Earbagallo. 
 
 Visiting Messina, our travellers found that un- 
 like many cities in Italy, that present only an ex- 
 ternal appearance of grandeur, this has every qua- 
 lity that can entitle it to rank among the first in 
 Europe. Wide and capacious streets and squares, 
 grand and magnificent churches and public build- 
 ings, bronze and marble statues and fountains, form 
 its principal features. 
 
 The cathedral, a good specimen of the Gothic 
 style, was erected by Count Roger, in the eleventh 
 century : the interior is profusely enriched and de- 
 corated. A very considerable portion is composed 
 of lapis lazuli, and Mosaic work in pietre dure ; 
 and the Piazza, in front of the cathedral, has a 
 handsome fountain, and an equestrian statue of 
 Charles the Second of Spain. The various con- 
 vents and religious houses in this city are of a su- 
 perior class. Among the fetes celebrated at Mes- 
 sina, that of " The Holy Letter" is the most ex- 
 traordinary. This is kept in the square of San 
 Giovanni di Malti. The grand ceremony opens by 
 a discharge of fire-works from a rich galley, which 
 is constructed in the basin of the fountain, situated 
 in the centre of the square. This galley is intro- 
 duced to remind the people of an extraordinary 
 favour formerly shewn by the Virgin, their pro- 
 tectress; who, according to their tradition, at the 
 period of this sacred festival, many centuries since, 
 mirculously interfered in their favour. It seems a 
 scarcity of corn having arisen, in consequence of 
 the great influx of strangers attracted to the city, 
 the devotees had recourse to prayers, and on the 
 morning of the grand day they had the welcome 
 sight of three vessels, laden with corn, entering 
 the harbour. The corn was immediately purchased, 
 and deposited in the magazines, after which the 
 
 6 
 
VOYAGES AXD TRAVELS. 
 
 139 
 
 people went to the port to satisfy the masters, but 
 neither they nor the ships could be found! When 
 this circumstance became known, no person doubt- 
 ed that the corn was a present from heaven; and, 
 in order to acknowledge this pledge of Divine fa- 
 vour, the senate had three ships made of silver, 
 which were presented as a votive offering to the 
 Virgin Mary; while the clergy of Messina imposed 
 an annual tax upon the different members of their 
 own body, to pay the expense of constructing the 
 galley that is shewn, which is richly decorated, 
 armed with three guns, and furnished with masts, 
 sails, and rigging. This fete of the Holy Letter 
 continues fi\e day:?, during the evenings of which 
 the galley is splendidly illuminated, and the whole 
 is terminated by another grand display of lire- 
 works. 
 
 The palace formerly occupied by the Viceroys 
 of Sicily, when they resided here, is next to the 
 delightful bay. The citadel was built by the Em- 
 peror Charles, the Fifth; and, upon an elevated 
 pedestal, is a statue of Don John of Austria, the 
 natural son of that monarch, in remembrance of 
 the naval victory which the latter gained over the 
 Turks at Lepanto, in the year 1.571. Near the 
 palace of the viceroy is a charming promenade, 
 shaded by luxuriant foliage, under which the Mes- 
 sinians can walk at all hours. This covered path 
 leads to the superb citadel : the tongue of land on 
 which this stands is one of the happiest works of 
 nature, being almost entirely surrounded by the 
 sea, and not commanded by any place on the land 
 side. The port of Messina is also defended by the 
 fortress of the Lanterne, in front of Reggio, and 
 that of St. Salvador, at the extremity of the tongue 
 of land, besides the difficult anchorage for vessels 
 i^in the strait. It seems that nature, aided by the 
 invulnerable Charybdis, guarded the security of this 
 harbour, the most extensive in the Mediterranean, 
 
140 
 
 FLOWEKS OF MODERN 
 
 being between six. and seven miles in circumfer- 
 ence. The effects of that dreadful convulsion, 
 that almost destroyed Messina, and its vicinity, in 
 February 1783, are still visible; and no city in 
 Sicily possess fewer ancient monuments than this. 
 
 For a description of Corfu, Zante, Candia, and 
 several other islands in this delightful quarter of 
 Europe, we must now have recourse to other re- 
 cent travellers. 
 
 From Trieste, Mr. Bramsen and a friend took 
 their passage to Corfu. They passed Rovigno 
 and Pola, and had a distinct view of the Roman 
 amphitheatre at the latter place ; and on the 1 9th 
 of June, 1814, they dropped anchor in the bay 
 of Corfu. Five French men of war, and three 
 frigates, were then lying at anchor, waiting 
 to convey the French garrison of that island to 
 France. Whilst some of the French seemed happy 
 in the idea of once again beholding their native 
 shore, the greater part appeared to betray no small 
 regret at leaving the place. Several soldiers, and 
 even officers, had married natives of the island, and 
 many were not pleased with the idea of taking 
 these wives with them to France. 
 
 The town of Corfu is badly built; the houses, 
 mostly of wood, are not more than one story high : 
 and the streets narrow, and without pavement. 
 The spacious parade near the sea was kept in good 
 order by the French, who dug a canal from the 
 harbour to the farther end of the town. They also 
 formed a handsome walk round the place, which 
 was kept well gravelled, and adorned with two 
 rows of trees. Some good houses, with colonnades 
 of free stone, have been built on the Esplanade, 
 others were begun ; and in this part of the town 
 are several coffee-houses and billiard tables. The 
 best shops are in the main street, which is tolera- 
 bly broad and long. Here too the market is kept, 
 but the principal articles seemed to be salt fish and 
 preserved anchovies, a very favourite dish with the 
 
VOYAGES AS'D TRAVELS. 141 
 
 inhabitants. The wine, which is generally red, has 
 a sweet taste, and is not so good as that in some of 
 the other Ionian Islands. There are three suburbs 
 at Corfu, which are thickly inhabited, and the 
 island is well fortified, especially the entrance to 
 the harbour, protected by more than a hundred 
 pieces of cannon. 
 
 The inhabitants of Corfu dress with a large 
 jacket and trowsers of dark stuff, fancifully em- 
 broidered, and light colour d waistcoat, with a 
 number of small white buttons. They are very 
 fond of smoking, but moderate in the use of spirits. 
 They have not the slightest idea of hospitality, 
 though externally polite. The women are tall and 
 graceful, but of a very pale complexion. The lan- 
 guage used to be bad Italian, but after the arrival 
 of the French their language was generally 
 adopted. 
 
 Visiting Zante, our travellers observed the inha- 
 bitants were lazy, jealous, and revengeful ; and that 
 on the summit of the hill that overlooks the town 
 there is a gibbet, with the body of a man. The 
 main street exhibits the horrid spectacle of a human 
 head fixed on a pole. It seems assassination used to 
 be frequent here, and that the perpetrators always 
 fled over to the Morea, where, for a trifling sum, 
 they could purchase the protection of the bev. But 
 since the island came into the possession of the 
 English, a stop had been put to this evasion of 
 justice. The example of punishment just alluded 
 to had produced the desired effect. The men at 
 Zante are dressed like those at Corfu ; their lan- 
 guage is modern Greek and a little Italian, but 
 scarcely any French. The women are handsome, and 
 well made : but, so far from being seen in the streets, 
 it was difficult to get a glimpse of them at the win- 
 dows, all covered with lattice work. Formerly 
 they never went out without masks ; these have been 
 since changed for the long black veil. The unmar- 
 
142 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 ried ladies use this more as an ornament, than as a 
 means of concealment. Some of the priests do not 
 bear a much better character than the greater part 
 of their congregations. Mr.Bramsen was not a little 
 concerned for one of them, almost daily passing 
 his window tipsy; he solicited charity, and was fol- 
 lowed by a crowd of boys, who made sport of this 
 degraded character. 
 
 After leaving these islands, Mr. Bramsen sailed 
 for Alexandria, and visited Grand Cairo and Jeru- 
 salem. Returning in October, 1814, he again em- 
 barked at St. Jean D'Acre, and took a passage for 
 Larneca, Rhodes, and Cyprus. His account of the 
 celebrated Island of Candia is exceedingly interest- 
 ing. The fortifications of Cerigo and Port St. Ni- 
 cholo are of Venetian construction, and many of 
 the houses are painted red. The general aspect of 
 the island is grand ; it is intersected by a chain of 
 high mountains, and Mount Ida rises majestically 
 in the centre. The town of Candia, surrounded by 
 groves of orange and lemon trees, opposed to the 
 transparent sea, reflecting a cloudless sky, presented 
 a pleasing contrast. 
 
 Whilst at Marathonisi, Mr. Bramsen had an op- 
 portunity of making himself acquainted with the 
 Mainiotes. He describes them as quite independ- 
 ent of the Turks, and living in the defiles of a 
 mountainous district; they regard war as their na- 
 tural source of support. Their children are so far 
 trained in the same feeling, that the principal part 
 of their education is the art of handling arms, to 
 the use of which women are equally accustomed 
 with the men. When the men are absent on mili- 
 tary duty, their wives actually mount guard at 
 home, with a musket on their shoulder. They are 
 generally tall and pale, but carry the spirit of their 
 profession in their masculine looks. They have 
 mostly black eyes and dark hair, but their dress, 
 like that of the women of Zante, is plain. These 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 143 
 
 people arc, however, not totally without tradesmen 
 and mechanics ; their habits are a motley mixture of 
 Greek and Turkish ; but even children, as soon as 
 they can handle arms, wear a dagger and a brace of 
 loaded pistols. The wharf at Marathonosi commands 
 a full view of the open sea; here the inhabitants sit 
 the greatest part of the day, looking out for vessels. 
 When they cruize about the Greek islands they 
 commit great depredations; but travellers, who 
 throw themselves on their hospitality, are seldom 
 molested. During the party's stay here, a Greek 
 vessel entered the port in distress, with several 
 Turkish merchants on board, who landed whilst she 
 was repairing. Notwithstanding the enmity of the 
 Mainiotes to the Turks, the commiseration which 
 misfortune naturally inspires in men of the rudest 
 habits, restrained these ruffians from ottering the 
 least offence; and so conscious were the Turks 
 themselves of the privilege to which their misfor- 
 tunes entitled them, that they sat in the streets and 
 smoked their pipes, with as much apparent confi- 
 dence as if they had been in their own capital. 
 The town of .Marathonosi lies at the foot of a high 
 
 o 
 
 mountain, and consists of a few miserable narrow 
 streets. The market square, in which the church 
 stands, is the only part that is paved. Most of the 
 dwellings are built with wood, and some of them 
 are thatched with straw\ The Mainiotes are but 
 badly provided with horses, and never suffer the 
 few they have to pass the frontier, for fear of their 
 being seized on by the Turks. 
 
 Leaving this place under an escort, whose heads 
 were pledged for the safety of the travellers, they 
 reached the extent of the Mainiote's territory in 
 the space of four hours. On their way to Misitra, 
 they passed tw T o elegant fountains and basons of 
 white marble, of Roman workmanship, and in a 
 good state of preservation. Entering the country 
 of the Uainiotes, they found a fresh escort, consist- 
 
144 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 ing of a Turk and an Albanian, to whom they were 
 compelled to pay an enormous sum. The Turk, 
 named Hassan, was formerly one of the most noted 
 robbers in the country, and had been the com- 
 mander of a gang who infested the mountains they 
 now had to pass. The Bainiotes are a notorious 
 gang of robbers, not so independent or warlike as the 
 Mainiotes, but equally expert in their profession. In 
 passing some of the defiles, the party saw several 
 large caves, where these banditti often lurk. Here 
 the escort desired the travellers to halt, whilst they 
 went forward to search them. They also discharged 
 their carbines, and vociferated several Greek 
 phrases, as a signal to any of the tribe within hear- 
 ing. Finding all safe, a sign was given for the 
 company to advance, and the deh'les were passed 
 without further interruption. The delightfulness of 
 the country, producing peaches, olives, mulberries, 
 and grapes, of a superior quality, besides regaling 
 the senses with the numerous hedges of honey- 
 suckles, produced a shocking contrast in the ap- 
 pearance of the inhabitants, who looked little less 
 savage than the Arabs among the mountains of 
 Jerusalem. Their Greek dresses were a tissue of 
 rags and tatters, in which it was difficult to say 
 which colour prevailed; none, however, were with- 
 out a dagger and a brace of pistols. The captain 
 of the guard shook hands with many of them, who 
 had probably belonged to his former band. The 
 party in the mean time being requested to ride 
 gently on, could not imagine what motive there 
 could be for a private conference, they therefore 
 desired a Greek attendant to keep behind, and hear 
 what he could. It seems the natives had been en- 
 deavouring to persuade the escort and him to plan 
 some scheme by which the strangers might be 
 robbed without their appearing to have any hand 
 in it. They urged, that they knew English travels 
 lers had their pockets full of gold ; fortunately, tfa@ 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 14-5 
 
 escort persuaded them that in this case the travel- 
 lers were poor pilgrims returning from Jerusalem ; 
 still their forbearance was more owing to the re- 
 spect they had for their former chief, than to any 
 other consideration, 
 
 iMisitra, the place at which they next arrived, is 
 situated on the Iri, a branch of the Vasilipotamus, 
 the modern name of the once celebrated Eurotas, 
 having before it the rich valley of Laconia. The 
 Jews, who are numerous here, have a synagogue ; 
 and from hence it is common to make an excursion 
 to visit the shapeless ruins of ancient Sparta; an 
 undertaking which cannot be hazarded without an 
 escort of two soldiers at lea=t from the Aga of Mi- 
 sitra. A Tartar guide, it seems, is to be had in 
 this part of the country, by applying to the Turkish 
 authorities. Wherever he comes, his orders must 
 be immediately obeyed. Upon the le.ist neglect he 
 will lay his whip most unmercifully on the postil- 
 lions, and sometimes even upon the postma>ters 
 themselves; nor will he scruple about using his 
 sabre with equal freedom, as his humour may suit. 
 These people wear a high red cap, large loose red 
 Cussack trowsers, yellow half boots, a loose dol- 
 man suspended from the shoulder, a dagger, a 
 brace of pistols, and the whip in their hands. At 
 the inns they make what demands they please, and 
 to such an extent, that the moment the Tartar ac- 
 companying our travellers arrived at their lodgings, 
 the landlord immediately locked up his three 
 daughters, and his wife, who was near sixty, and 
 seemed more calculated to frighten than to capti- 
 vate any human being. 
 
 Tripolizza is a large town, in the valley of Te- 
 gea; the houses are modern, and built of brick, 
 and some of them have spacious court-yards in 
 front. This place, surrounded by strong walls, is 
 the residence of the Patriarch of the Morea, as well 
 as of the Pacha. Here are several handsome 
 
 vol. iv. O 
 
146 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 churches, and a large mosque. The trade is mostly 
 in corn and wool. 
 
 The modern Argos consists of a few narrow, 
 miserable, and badly paved streets ; but the situa- 
 tion is very delightful, opening upon a fertile plain, 
 and affording a beautiful and magnificent view of 
 the range of country extending even to the extre- 
 mity of the Gulf of Lepanto. In a small village, 
 on the right of the road from Argos to Corinth, is 
 the tomb of Agamemnon, apparently only a circu- 
 lar mound of earth. Upon entering through a trench 
 to the door of the tomb, an immense circular 
 chamber appears, built of stone, and terminating 
 in a dome, the sides of which seem to have been 
 formerly lined with marble, or metal plates. 
 
 Corinth, now called Corantho, stands at the foot 
 of the mountains, in a plain that extends to the sea 
 of Crissa, now called the Gulf of Lepanto. The 
 bnd air of Corinth is the cause of fevers, both in 
 spring and autumn. Here are the remains of the 
 temples of Juno and Octavia, and the singular 
 dropping fountain of the nymph Pirene. At Ne- 
 mea, four miles distant, are the celebrated remains 
 of the Temple of Jupiter. From the heights of 
 Acro-Corinth the prospect is pronounced, by a ce- 
 lebrated traveller, to be one of the most delightful 
 in the world. 
 
 The distance from Corinth to Athens is sixty 
 miles, and is generally considered as a sixteen 
 hours journey. The ride, for the first two miles, is 
 constantly in sight of the sea, and through a fertile 
 and well cultivated soil. At a short distance from 
 Megara the travellers saw many Greek women, 
 washing in a stream to the left of the road. Seve- 
 ral were well dressed, and handsome in their per- 
 sons, and altogether formed a very merry group, 
 greeting the strangers with a smile as they passed. 
 The road within twelve miles of Athens is very de- 
 lightful, and increases in interest at every step. At 
 5 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 1 4-7 
 
 length entering the Via Sacra, the travellers passed 
 the Monastery of Daphne, erected on the ruins of 
 a Temple of Apollo. Farther on are the remains 
 of an edifice, supposed to have been dedicated to 
 Venus. The narro w road now began to widen, and 
 on clearing the angle of an opposing mountain, the 
 plain of Athens burst suddenly on the sight. 'J he 
 first object that caught, and rivetted the eye, was 
 the elevated point of Acropolis, with its citadel and 
 its towering columns. Here is exhibited a cluster- 
 ed group of the various buildings of the Propylea, 
 the Parthenon, and the Temple of Erietheus. 
 Mount Hymettus towering behind, presents a splen- 
 did back ground to this picture. lie who could 
 behold such a scene unmoved, must indeed deserve 
 pity ; a scene once enlightened by the wisdom of 
 Socrates, illustrated by the virtues of Alcibiades, 
 and ornamented by the taste of Pericles. But how 
 changed! It is melancholy to think that such a 
 large population as that of Greece should he >o de- 
 ficient in spirit, and every manly feeling, as to 
 suffer a handful of Turks not merely to strip them 
 at pleasure of their possessions, but also to retain 
 them under the most degrading state of slavery. 
 
 After the minute and valuable descriptions of 
 Athens, which the curiosity of the public has re- 
 cently called forth, Mr. Bramscn thought it useless 
 to attempt any thing like a complete delineation of 
 this great and wonderful city — great tvtn in her 
 ruins. Suffice it to say, that the Erictheum is a 
 kind of double temple, of the Ionic order of archi- 
 tecture. The portico is a singular production of 
 art, the peculiarity of which consists in statues of 
 females, or caryatides, substituted in the room of 
 columns. T his beautiful specimen of the most fa- 
 voured days of Grecian architecture, has been con- 
 verted by the Turks into a powder magazine. The 
 only society of Athens is among the strangers who 
 visit it, as the modern Greeks retain but little of 
 
 o 2 
 
148 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 the hospitality proverbial of their ancestors. They 
 generally live very retired, and appear shy of min- 
 gling with strangers. 
 
 After visiting several of the Greek islands, and 
 observing the improvements made by the English 
 at Corfu, &c. Mr. Bramsen and his friends put to 
 sea for Otranto, upon the Italian coast, from whence 
 they proceeded to Naples, through Calabria. 
 
 Having first beheld the imposing and magnificent 
 spectacle of Mount Vesuvius, towering above the 
 region of beauty and fertility that lies at its feet, 
 the curiosity of the party increased as they ap- 
 proached the city of Naples. The promiscuous 
 multitudes that throng the avenues of this place, 
 it is observed, are different from the crowds of 
 most great cities. A double line is generally form- 
 ed, which, moving in a separate direction, impresses 
 the idea of men in pursuit of some object. This 
 sometimes proves to be a showman, loud in the de- 
 scription of his curiosities ; sometimes a ballad- 
 singer, entertaining the spectators with his comic 
 powers. Here fat monks are seen elbowing their 
 way through the throng, and jostling against a 
 lemonade seller, decorated with his flags, and loud 
 in the praise of his favourite beverage. 
 
 The Largo di Castello, was at this time, January 
 1815, all clamour and bustle; and, on passing the 
 Chiaga, multitudes of lazzaroni were seen on the 
 wharf, smoking their pipes ; whilst others, with 
 wheel-barrows, were eagerly demanding employ- 
 ment. At a small distance was the fashionable 
 walk, crowded with all the beauty and elegance of 
 the place ; and where the high- towering French 
 bonnet, with its profusion of flowers, was eminently 
 conspicuous. 
 
 The theatre of San Carlo, lately destroyed by a 
 great fire, has been rebuilt by the king ; for which 
 act, the Neapolitans speak of him in transports of 
 affection and gratitude. 
 
VOYAGES A N T D TRAVELS. 149 
 
 The inhabitants of Naples, Mr. Bramscn consi- 
 ders, as notorious for the laziness, dirt, and dis- 
 honesty, that prevails among them. The tall, well- 
 made females are celebrated for their fine animated 
 black eyes. They are passionately fond of the 
 gaming-table, and of plays ; and as their meals 
 take up the least part of their time, many of them, 
 whilst at the theatres, have their repast served up 
 by half a dozen footmen in rich liveries, though it 
 seldom consists of more than a costolina, highly 
 seasoned with oil and onions, and a dish of plain 
 maccaroni. They are seldom, when at home, more 
 than half an hour at table, and that is assigned as a 
 reason, why strangers are rarely invited. Upon 
 entering a saloon at one of their routs, a stranger 
 would imagine he was visiting a gambling-house, 
 rather than an assembly. The ladies, dressed alter 
 the French fashion, and highly rouged, sit round a 
 large table : the gentlemen occupy the second seats, 
 and take an active part in the game, or else per- 
 form the duties of attendants behind the chairs of 
 the ladies engaged in play. Several young Eng- 
 lish noblemen and gentlemen are known to have 
 rendered their names famous in these circles, by 
 the exorbitant price which they have paid for being 
 introduced : such are the pleasures of a rout in the 
 dissipated city of Naples. 
 
 A happy exception to the too general predomi- 
 nance of gambling, or insipidity in Neapolitan so- 
 ciety, is mentioned in the family of the Marchioness 
 de Berri, in the Strada di Toledo, who has given 
 her daughters an excellent education, and always 
 draws round her a select and agreeable circle. 
 Her palace also possesses no ordinary attractions 
 to the admirers of the fine arts, in a noble gallery, 
 and an exquisite groupe, by Canova, representing 
 Venus and Adonis. 
 
 The Chiaga is the favourite walk, much fre- 
 quented by fashionable females. This is a beauti- 
 
 o 3 
 
150 
 
 JLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 ful garden, situated on the borders of the sea, deco- 
 rated with fine statues, and commanding a charm- 
 ing view of the bay. The ladies are seldom seen 
 abroad, unless in their carriages, when they ride 
 out a shopping. The Stracla de Toledo, is the 
 Bond-street of Naples. During the three days of 
 the carnival, this street was crowded by the opu- 
 lent, and the fashionable inhabitants, who rode, 
 masked, in their carriages. Among the many ve- 
 hicles sported on this occasion, one in which John 
 Bull was literally personified by an Englishman of 
 rank, attracted universal attention. The coach- 
 man that drove him, was dressed up like a bear; 
 whilst his master, as John Bull, sat in the inside. 
 The public approbation, expressed by a storm of 
 sugar-plums, was returned by John Bull with equal 
 vigour; and who, as he might not be outdone in 
 this kind of warfare, had actually provided himself 
 with two whole sacks of this sugared weapon. The 
 lower orders of people paraded the streets on foot 
 in every variety of caricature exhibition, and whim- 
 sical device. Not excepting coachmen and foot- 
 men, all the world was in masks. Womeji carried 
 large baskets, filled with confetti, saluting all they 
 knew, with a- volley of them. Not even the royal 
 family can escape the salutations usual on these 
 occasions. This contest of sweetness does not al- 
 ways terminate without some bitterness ; duels have 
 frequently followed, in consequence of too great 
 liberties taken this way; and not a few complaints 
 have been made by the ladies against certain young 
 Englishmen, who were accused of using too much 
 violence with their amusement in pelting with 
 sugar-plums. 
 
 It is at this season that Punchinello reigns in all 
 his glory. During Lent, it is usual for the capu- 
 chins to preach in the open squares at Naples. 
 " While one of these reverend fathers was holding 
 forth with much enthusiasm on one side, Punch 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 151 
 
 suddenly made his appearance on the other. The 
 capuchin's audience began to drop off rapidly. 
 What was to be done ? Piqued at the successful 
 efforts of his rival orator, the ingenuity of the 
 preacher was awakened ; he drew out a crucifix, 
 which these good fathers always carry under their 
 habit, and, holding it up, exclaimed, 6 Beiiold the 
 true Punchinello !' This expedient had its desired 
 effect ; the audience were struck by the force of 
 his appeal, and returned to hear the conclusion of 
 his discourse. 99 
 
 Naples has been said to resemble a large house, 
 with a vast number of inhabitants ; and the simile 
 is a just one ; for, sleeping excepted, every thing 
 is done in the streets here, that in other countries 
 is done within doors. All the artisans and mecha- 
 nics work in the open streets, producing the most 
 curious medley of sounds and sights that can be 
 conceived. The noise of the populace of the streets 
 of Naples, is without any example ; this is assisted 
 by all the powers of gesticulation, and a perpetual 
 motion. Fish, fruit, pulse, and melons in slices, 
 are continually on sale : here are also the water and 
 lemonade sellers at their stands, inviting you every 
 moment ; the beggars too, whom it is impossible to 
 get rid of, harrassyou every instant ; begging monks, 
 " black, white, and grey," carrying their booty to 
 their convents in bags ; others leading loaded asses 
 in ropes, make up a part of the scene : capuchins 
 and recollets, with their robes tucked up, scarcely 
 move their legs under them; but suffer the vulgar, 
 who are ready enough, to kiss their hands with the 
 greatest devotion ; priests in sable, with their spec- 
 tacles on, snuffing up the fresh air. Many female 
 religious, are also to be seen: some who have ful- 
 filled their vows, and others who content themselves 
 \\ it H bare promises ; numbers of others are in black, 
 with their heads neatly dressed, and their feet with- 
 out shoes : boys crowding round the sellers of mac- 
 
152 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 caroni, to beg a spoonful now and then : squalling 
 infants, jugglers, players on the hautboy, and bag- 
 pipers with dancing puppets : walking musicians, 
 who exhibit their wretched playing and singing be- 
 fore the images of the Madonnas in the streets : 
 soldiers on foot; officers in their open carriages; 
 lawyers arm in arm, walking to the Vicaria; the 
 processions, funerals; oxen drawing dung-carts, to 
 sell the contents to the gardeners, or to those who 
 sell it again : this is a faint picture of life, as it is 
 exhibited in the streets of Naples. 
 
 The shops open at day- break, and shut late at 
 night; or rather, every one fixes his shop in the 
 street before his door, without taking any thought 
 about obstructing the passenger. The streets of 
 Naples are much cleaner than the entrances, the 
 staircases, or even the antichambers of the palaces; 
 because the former have no channels running 
 through them, instead of which, particularly when 
 it rains, the vast sewers under ground convey all 
 kind of filth into the sea. In some parts of Naples, 
 you will see the shoe-makers, smiths, coach-makers, 
 &c. collected together, a few shops only, which 
 sell provisions, being suffered to intermix with 
 them. 
 
 The streets of Toledo and the Chiaga are the 
 most populous : the latter leads from the palace to 
 the sea-side, through a passage beneath a lofty 
 bridge, running between the heights of Pizzofalcone 
 and S. Elmo. Any person recollecting the situa- 
 tion of one or two of the principal streets, or the 
 Toledo in particular, into which so many others 
 enter, cannot easily lose himself. All the grand 
 processions parade that street, and here the masks 
 are exhibited during the carnival. Any strangers 
 may be convinced of the merry madness of the Nea- 
 politans, as long as this famous festival lasts. After 
 the French obtained possession of Naples, the 
 streets were well lighted with reverberators; till 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 
 
 153 
 
 then they had no lights but the lamps of Madonnas, 
 endowed by pious persons, and in which a father 
 Rocco had been extremely assiduous, he having the 
 address to convert a religious duty into a civil be- 
 nefit ; and, by increasing the lights, to prevent 
 many assassinations, which were very frequent be- 
 fore that period. 
 
 The females drink their wine unmixed, more than 
 at Rome, being habituated to it from their infancy ; 
 and seldom require asking twice to go into a coffee- 
 house, and taste the variety of liqueurs that attract 
 the eye and the palate by the diversity of their co- 
 lours, and their different flavour. 
 
 Women of the lower class have recourse to the 
 lemonadiers in the streets, who also cry what they 
 call acqua vita, from morning till night ; this is a 
 transparent alcohol, strongly imbued with odorifer- 
 ous plants, such as fennel, &c. and sometimes cooled 
 with the snows brought from the mountains above 
 Castelamare. 
 
 The Neapolitans in general are not tall, but well 
 set and robust; broad in the chest, but rather short 
 in the neck, and rather inclined to corpulence from 
 their childhood. The abolition of several religious 
 establishments, and the diminished fortunes of the 
 great, no longer permitting them to support the 
 idle, has compelled them to adopt some habits of 
 industry. The lazzaroni are generally become sol- 
 diers, porters, or scavengers. The labouring man 
 here is often bare-headed, or only covered with a 
 striped red cap : like the Spaniard, he ties his hair 
 up in a fillet. Some of them wear a little round 
 hat, with a sharp conical point, a brown jacket, 
 and large blue pantaloons, or trowsers : they are 
 often bare-footed, even in winter : jso that thick legs 
 and splay feet are not uncommon ; and, of course, 
 they are much subject to corns and chilblains. On 
 Sunday they sometimes make their appearance in 
 black silk breeches, and white silk stockings, 
 
15* 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 bought second-hand: the large buckles worn by 
 men and women, are three times the size of those 
 elsewhere, Holland excepted. The Neapolitan is 
 a rude, uncivilized bawler, but not ferocious ; they 
 do not take one another by the collar so often as 
 people of the same class in London. He is devout, 
 but goes more frequently to mass than to hear ser- 
 mons. He pretends to have a very great regard for 
 strangers, but this is always proportioned to his ex- 
 pectations from them, and the title of Eccellenza is 
 most liberally bestowed on these occasions. Thus, 
 in the hotels, and the furnished lodgings, the reli- 
 gious mendicants, under the pretext of presenting 
 strangers with the fruits of the season, will carry 
 their politeness so far as to take off their caps and 
 salute them. 
 
 The middle class of citizens are well clad ; but 
 though generally polite, are very short in their an- 
 swers ; they are grateful, and ready enough to trust 
 you in small matters, but interested and distrustful 
 to the last degree, in affairs that require any consi- 
 deration. 
 
 The manner of celebrating Christmas, and some 
 other religious festivals at Naples, is much the same 
 as at Rome. Calabrian bag-pipers attend both these 
 cities at this time of the year, clothed in sheep skins, 
 and are generally well received. At this season the 
 meat is dressed out in ribands and flowers ; and the 
 eating of capitoni, or large river eels, is then much 
 in fashion. 
 
 The summer season at Naples has also its festival 
 of the Madonnas. The most celebrated of these 
 is known under the appellation of the Madonna di 
 Pie di Grotta, from the church where the people 
 assemble. Persons of quality, and even those be- 
 longing to the court, are sometimes present on these 
 occasions, and the troops are under arms. Every 
 one delivers himself up to gaiety ; groupes of ac- 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 155 
 
 quaintance dance the tarantula in the streets; and 
 
 music and wine succeed. 
 
 The people of Naples are supported on very 
 little, if any animal food; there is no fixed hour for 
 meals; the poorer sort live on the merest refuse, 
 such as the seeds of melons and pumpkins, mush- 
 rooms or champignons, the sweet kernels of the 
 pine, a few grains of Indian or Turkey wheat, ches- 
 nuts, and other nutritive substances. The restau- 
 rateur plucks and roasts chickens, boils and fries 
 fish in the open air, where his customers stop and 
 eat. The numerous water-sellers have their booths 
 too in the street, which are prettily decorated with 
 flags, lemons, flowers, Sec. These booths are al- 
 ways surrounded by customers. The booth- 
 keepers observe more cleanliness than is usual here 
 in most other matters. Besides the booths, there 
 are men who cry the same commodity about all 
 day. 
 
 Eating and drinking, in fact, appear the most 
 important concerns ; as you cannot go ten paces 
 without meeting some arrangements for their grati- 
 fication. Large kettles stand full of dressed macca- 
 roni, with cheese scattered over it, and decorated 
 with small pieces of golden apple. The mode of 
 consuming this article can only be learnt from the 
 Neapolitans ; for as the maccaronies are an ell in 
 length, they are held by the thumb and finger, with 
 the neck bent back, and the mouth stretched open, 
 and thus let down the throat. ! ! Strangers usually 
 cut them in pieces, and then eat them with spoons, 
 but this is quite against the national custom. The 
 maccaroni are here very simply prepared with broth 
 and cheese. Epicures sometimes mix livers of 
 chickens with their maccaroni, which render it very 
 delicious. Beans and peas are boiled in large kettles; 
 as is maize, just as it grows, without any prepara- 
 tion. They have also an endless variety of shell- 
 fish, some of which are eaten raw, others boiled, &c. 
 
156 
 
 FIOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 There is here an immense number of oysters, small 
 in size, and of no very good flavour; the fishermen 
 sometimes open them, and put several into one 
 shell, to make a mouthful. It is usual for the 
 fishermen to sit on the beach with their stock, 
 which they call sea fruit, where fashionable com- 
 panies assemble on the summer evenings to eat fish. 
 Small tables are prepared by the fisherman, who 
 sets them out with his variety of sea fruit, where 
 every one may suit his fancy; but as these tables 
 are not very numerous, it is necessary to bespeak 
 one beforehand. 
 
 Vegetables form another principal part of the 
 provisions of the Neapolitans, and are to be had 
 green, fresh, and cheap, the whole year through. 
 They have many sorts unknown to us, as the golden 
 apple, named above, and several others. Here is a 
 great quantity of gourds, mostly of the kind called 
 Hercules' Club ; these grow to a great size, and 
 both the cattle and inhabitants feed on it, who boil 
 it up with rice, and think it very palatable. Another 
 favourite dish is the Spanish pepper ; the red and 
 green pods of which, strung on myrtle stalks, and 
 steeped in vinegar, produce a heat in the mouth, 
 and a ferment in the stomach. Fruit is here so plen- 
 tiful, that chesnuts are more abundant than potatoes 
 are in the north ; but these latter are very scarce and 
 bad. The grapes are seen in large piles, decorated 
 with rosemary. Lemons and oranges, both green 
 and yellow, are very abundant. Pine nuts are roast- 
 ed in the streets, for the purpose of getting at their 
 sweet kernels. Pomegranates, figs, both fresh and 
 dried, apples, pears, medlars, and nuts, are quite 
 common. Pine apples, from the want of hot- 
 houses, are more scarce here than at Berlin or Pe- 
 tersburg. The melon is every where cried about 
 the streets, cut into ^pieces and fresh watered; "Oh, 
 che bella cosa!" "oh, how nice!" is to be heard at 
 every corner. They knead maize flour into a dough ; 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 157 
 
 this they well sweeten with their black honey, then 
 cut it into cakes, which they fry in boiling oil: this 
 sort of cake is much esteemed by the populace. 
 At the booth of the gingerbread-baker, there are 
 always excellent little cakes, filled partly with fruit, 
 and partly with ricotta, a sort of curds, or soft 
 cheese, which are sold in small baskets, with vine- 
 leaves over them. 
 
 The cheesemongers sell only cheese, the con- 
 sumption of which is considerable, though it is far 
 from good here. These shops are always decorated 
 very tastefully, and are provided with a marble 
 table, adorned with bas reliefs and mottos. Milk 
 is, however, always to be had fresh, as the cows are 
 milked at the door of the purchaser. The meat in 
 Naples is good, and is sold without hesitation, even 
 on the fast-days. Buffaloes are eaten; and the 
 Apulian sheep, often seen here, are remarkable to 
 a foreigner, on account of their size and large 
 heads. The swine get very fat, as they roam about 
 the streets all day j they are all dark grey, and 
 quite without hair. liens and chickens too run 
 the streets the year through j but ducks and geese 
 are but seldom eaten. Bread is of a pretty good 
 quality ; the better sort have it made of wheat, and 
 the poorer of maize. 
 
 The greatest alterations in the weather produced 
 here, arise from the inconstancy of the south winds. 
 These sometimes blow for a week or a fortnight, 
 and bring with them all the vapours they have col- 
 lected in their passage by sea and land : happily 
 the bad effects of these are corrected by those of 
 the north, and north-east, which generally hap- 
 pen when the mountains of Maddaloni are cover- 
 ed with snow. These winds are very wholesome 
 at Naples; though every sudden change is danger- 
 ous, particularly so to persons who go too thinly 
 clad, or injudiciously expose their bosoms to the 
 weather. 
 
 VOL. iv. P 
 
158 FLOWERS 0¥ MODERN 
 
 Pompeii is situated about a quarter of a mile 
 from the bay of Naples. We entered, says the 
 traveller, the ruins through a gate by the road 
 side, into a barrack yard, which appeared to have 
 been a fortress, and was no doubt at one time con- 
 tiguous to the Mediterranean sea. We were here 
 shewn the original wooden stocks on which a Ro- 
 man soldier was found by the workmen employed, 
 sitting on a stone with his legs fastened. Several 
 pillars of the Corinthian order still remain, forming 
 a dilapidated colonnade, some of which are tolera- 
 bly entire, and rendered particularly interesting by 
 having the soldiers names very legibly engraven in 
 their own hand writing. We next inspected the 
 two theatres ; the stage, orchestra, and seats be- 
 ing still discernible, with some broken particles of 
 the marble pavement. Not far from thence is the 
 temple of Hercules ; the altars and other remains, 
 as well as a variety of fanciful cornices, and other 
 architectural ornaments, still exist in a very won- 
 derful state of preservation ; even the original 
 paintings on the walls are to be seen without the 
 least deterioration. We walked through most of 
 the principal streets and into the houses, the floors 
 of which were richly covered with Mosaic and Ro- 
 man pavements. Over the front doors, carved in 
 stone, are all the names of their quondam inhabi- 
 tants, among whom we observed that of Sallust. It 
 is not b}^ any means difficult to discover baths, cof- 
 fee-houses, bake-houses, and other shops of trade, 
 even the custom-house and other public offices. 
 There is a subterranean wine manufactory on the 
 north side near the city gates, which was examined 
 with great attention : it is very extensive, and con- 
 tains the earthen vessels and bottles wherein the 
 wine had been kept : they were arranged in the 
 same precise order as previous to the awful eruption 
 that desolated this city ; the interior of this place 
 much resembles cloisters, the roof being arched with 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 
 
 159 
 
 strong stones. In these vaults the inhabitants 
 sought refuge from the sudden and overwhelming 
 shower of fire and ashes, w hence alas ! they never 
 returned. Several bodies have been dug out, and 
 are in the possession of the keeper. 
 
 A part of the ancient walls remain on the north- 
 west corner of the city ; and on the outside, con- 
 formable to pristine custom, are the tombs and 
 monuments of eminent persons in as good preserva- 
 tion as when first erected : the insides contain the 
 ashes in small potters' vessels fixed in cavities of 
 epual sizes. 
 
 Pompeii stands on a circumference of about three 
 miles, and retains its original form and situation, 
 with all the squares, forums, temples, streets and 
 houses, as perfect as possible, considering the 
 whole had been buried under ground 17.50 years. 
 The workmen are clearing away the rubbish with 
 great success. During our visit, they were in a 
 house near to the temple of Isis, where, it is con- 
 jectured, a medical person had resided, as several 
 surgical instruments were found in the soil ; we also 
 observed some paintings finely executed on a 
 plaster of the walls emblematical of such a profes- 
 sion. The labour is conducted with the greatest 
 circumspection, every particle of the soil being 
 put into small baskets, and afterwards examined 
 in the presence of officers. It was with great 
 difficulty the traveller was enabled to bring away 
 a part of the hinge of a door, special orders having 
 been given by Ferdinand for nothing to be taken 
 away without his permission. Such is the city of 
 Pompeii ; and from the circumstance of the streets 
 being paved with large square pieces of lava, there 
 is no doubt but that this beautiful city had been 
 previously visited by some similar convulsions. 
 
 In May 1812, while the French were masters of 
 Italy, M. Chateauvieux passed the Alps by the 
 grand routes traced among precipices by the en* 
 
 r 2 
 
160 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 gineers of Napoleon. This able writer disavows 
 any intention of minutely describing those portions 
 of Italy which have been the chief objects of former 
 travellers. The various monuments of art, the relics 
 of antique grandeur and power, the general forms, 
 habits, and gradations of society are passed over 
 with slight observation ; but the rural history of 
 Italy, its cultivation, its harvests, its scener}', 
 moral and material, are painted with uncommon 
 skill and richness. He divides Italy into three 
 great regions distinguished by three decidedly 
 varied systems of cultivation. The first of these 
 begins near the Alps of Suza and Mont Cenis, and 
 extends to the shores of the Adriatic. It compre- 
 hends the whole plain of Lombardy, divided by the 
 Po into two equal parts. The second region, ex- 
 tending over all the southern declivities of the 
 Appenines, from the frontiers of Provence as far as 
 the borders of Calabria, is by this traveller called 
 the region of olive trees. The third division, for- 
 tunately the smallest in extent, is that of insalu- 
 brious air ; it extends along the Mediterranean 
 from Pisa to Terracino, and includes all the plains 
 between the sea and the first chain of the Ap- 
 penines. 
 
 Near Pisa, M. de C. visited a large domain called 
 San Rossore, where he witnessed the following 
 scene : " Scarcely had we passed the forest when 
 we found ourselves in an extensive region, whose 
 horizon was only limited by the boundless sea, and 
 by plains without end." Some camels lying on the 
 sand rose up at the traveller's approach, and more 
 than 200 were scattered over the plain. The ani- 
 mals wandered silently about, waiting to return 
 into the forest as the day grew hot. 
 
 On entering the Neapolitan territory, our tra- 
 vellers were impressed with the general appearance 
 of indolence and poverty. A mild climate and a 
 languid government are said so far to deprive the 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 16 I 
 
 inhabitants of these regions of disposition to labour 
 or exertion of any kind, that little more is exe- 
 cuted than is sufficient to supply the simplest wants 
 of nature. 
 
 M. Chateauvieux gives the following description 
 of the villa Adriana, near Rome : " The sun's disk- 
 was sinking in the sea ; its last rays illuminated the 
 scene and tinged these solitary ruins with purple. 
 The remains of this garden have taught us how to 
 embellish gardens. The villa Adriana is at this 
 time the perfect model of one of those which imita- 
 tion carried to England, where it has assumed its 
 appropriate name, (landscape gardening.) Ruins 
 are scattered about in this deserted spot; the re- 
 mains of temples, palaces, naumachias, which 
 Adrian had constructed. Art has neglected the 
 surrounding ground; it is left to itself, and is over- 
 grown with grass and shrubs : groupes of trees 
 have had time to grow large, and form groves in 
 this wild spot. Ivy and moss clothe the sides of 
 the ancient walls, and some small trees crown their 
 tops. Nothing here bespeaks the presence of man, 
 and yet every thing in this so it ude attracts and 
 charms him ; the venerable age and wild neglect of 
 which he endeavours to imitate. 
 
 The Maremma, along which reigns the depopu- 
 lating Malaria, includes a tract of various breadth 
 from Leghorn to Terracino. After quitting the 
 vale of Arno, the declension of fertility is more 
 strongly marked, till the traces of human existence 
 are indicated only by the occasional appearances of 
 solitary mansions and scattered flocks. The resi- 
 dents in the Maremma attribute its present condi- 
 tion to the effects of the plague in the sixteenth cen- 
 tury; but the history of this devastation has been 
 traced by a master hand, M. Sismondi : lie re- 
 marks, " As long as the republics of Italy preserved 
 their liberty, commerce and agriculture advanced 
 with equal step in the track of a prosperity con- 
 
 p3 
 
162 
 
 FL.OWERS OF MODERN 
 
 stantly increasing in spite of their wars and their 
 revolutions; but when riches had completed the 
 corruption of manners, and established tyranny, a 
 pestilential influence seemed to wither as with the 
 stroke of death, all the sources of the state/' 
 
 The journey from Rome to Benaventum on the 
 Appian Way, presents numerous vestiges of anti- 
 quity worthy the notice of the intelligent traveller, 
 and this seems to have been considered as the most 
 distinguished site for interment. There are two 
 constant appendages to the Roman ways, viz. the 
 mi)e-stones generally moulded into a columnar 
 shape, and the cippi inserted in some intervals 
 within the parapets. Being elevated above it, they 
 were useful for mounting on horseback, resting 
 burdens, &c. The formation of a Roman road is 
 described by Sir Richard Colt Hoare with his 
 usual ability. " In forming these, and more espe- 
 cially those on the tract he pursued, the Romans 
 carried it in as straight a line as the nature of the 
 country would admit. The soil in order to procure 
 a solid foundation was excavated, or any defect was 
 remedied by piles. The sides of the causeway were 
 then flanked by two strong walls, which served to 
 support the road as well as for a parapet or trottoir 
 for the benefit of travellers. The shell of the road 
 being thus formed, the excavated space was filled 
 up with various layers of stone cemented together 
 by a kind of earth called puzzolana, which has the 
 property of hardening almost equal to marble. Of 
 this earth a mortar was composed, on which was 
 placed an upper stratum of large flat stones which 
 were formed to a point at bottom, and so firmly 
 linked together as almost to become one stone. 
 Those selected for the upper covering of the road 
 were of a dark grey hue, resembling those formed 
 by volcanic matter. Quarries of this stone have 
 not only been found in the vicinity of Mount Vesu- 
 vius or Puzzuoli, but in various parts of the Cam- 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 163 
 
 pagna. Hence the Via Flaminia, Cassia, and 
 Aurelia, have been formed with similar materials. 
 It is well observed, that in travelling in this classical 
 country the pleasure is very considerably enhanced 
 by the recollection of those events that transpired 
 on some spots, and which have been thought 
 worthy of record in the annals of history. Thus 
 many a situation, otherwise unworthy of attention, 
 becomes interesting in the highest degree. 
 
 General De la Harpe, describing Venice in the 
 spring of 1819, says, 11 I had not seen this former 
 queen of the ocean for thirty-eight years, and the 
 first sight that struck me was the small number of 
 persons that I saw on the canal, which extends 
 along the beautiful road leading from Padua to 
 Zuzine opposite Venice. Formerly this canal was 
 covered with boats and vessels of every description, 
 that crossed each other in all directions ; and, 
 loaded with goods or travellers, showed the vicinity 
 of a flourishing city. The same difference between 
 formerly and now, appeared again on entering the 
 city on the great canal, no longer covered with 
 gondolas, barks, and ships. The most beautiful 
 palaces stand along this great canal, once one of 
 the most delightful and populous quarters of the 
 town ; at present many of these palaces are uninha- 
 bited, many are fallen into ruins, and others are 
 sold to be pulled down. The Place of St. Mark 
 and the Canal de la Giudeca are subject to the 
 same observations. Nothing could equal the lively 
 and crowded scene which the former presented 
 when Venice was an independent city. Those tra- 
 vellers would be surprised, who have given us so 
 many interesting descriptions of the Place of St. 
 Mark, upon meeting with nothing that had formerly 
 caught their attention, except buildings, as even 
 the coffee houses possess none of their former 
 splendour. 
 
 The civil governor of the kingdom of Lombardy 
 
264 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 and Venice inhabits that part of the Procurazia 
 which Napoleon had rebuilt and made his palace. 
 An elegant terrace, planted with trees, commands 
 the broad and deep canal of the Porto Mercantile. 
 Once it was covered with merchant vessels ; now 
 on the contrary, the neighbourhood of Trieste, the 
 continually increasing difficulty of the entrance of 
 the port of Venice, the overthrow of the republic, 
 and probably the new system of government have 
 had the tendency of destroying the trade. 
 
 The canal de la Giudeca is undoubtedly the finest 
 to be seen in Venice, having the most remarkable 
 buildings on its banks : for instance, the Procura- 
 zia, la Piazetta, with the two pillars, on one of 
 which stood the lion of St. Mark ; the ducal 
 palace, the magnificent churches of St. Georgio 
 Maggiore and Del Redemptore, and the Sclavonian 
 Quay, adjoining to which is a public garden made 
 by order of Napoleon. 
 
 The ducal palace, the architecture of which is 
 striking, but not very tasteful, is now inhabited by 
 the chanceries of the new government. The lions' 
 jaws, which stood open under the colonnade of the 
 ground story for the use of informers, have disap- 
 peared ; and the inscription of si denunza secrete'' 
 is no longer read. The saloon of the great council, 
 and the pregadi, are ornamented with many histori- 
 cal paintings, in which Paul Veronese, Tintoretta, 
 Palma, &c. represent the great events in the history 
 of Venice. The Dandolo, the Contarini, the Badoe, 
 the Morosini, &c. may recognize their forefathers 
 in the doges and heroes of those times. But what 
 a dreadful shuddering must seize them, when view- 
 ing these monuments of national glory in their pre- 
 sent state ! I could not conquer the uneasy sensa- 
 tion which I felt when passing through that imposing 
 desert called the Marine Arsenal, accompanied by 
 a very well-informed man, who bore one of the 
 most celebrated names in history, and explained 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 
 
 165 
 
 every thing to me with the most perfect composure, 
 as if no names of his ancestors dwelt in these halls 
 which announced their great deeds. Venice fell, 
 though it had at its command 200 armed and 
 equipped gun boats, 15,001) good soldiers cantoned 
 in the Lagunes, and above 900 pieces of cannon 
 mounted in the batteries. Inexpugnable on the 
 side of the Lagunes, but more so on that of the sea ; 
 and there was no stronger military situation in 
 Europe : but the country had ceased to exist : the 
 chief persons of the state cared only for their 
 possessions on terra firma, and the commanders of 
 the armed force did not dare to save the country in 
 spite of the Council of Ten, as they knew very 
 well that in a few months the Decemvirs would 
 have had them seized and strangled, for having had 
 the temerity to act without orders. 
 
 General De la Harpe had the curiosity to visit 
 the apartments and prisons of that terrible council. 
 Formerly no Venetian passed it without trembling. 
 Over this fatal door was inscribed " capi de dieci \ * 
 but these signs of terror have disappeared. The 
 apartments of the council, and those of the state 
 inquisitors, are connected with a secret staircase. 
 Some of the victims were brought down from the 
 prisons known by the name of Piombi, or the leads, 
 because they were situated close to ti e leads of the 
 ducal palace. Otheis were led by a staircase to the 
 bridge of sighs, and from thence into the dreadful 
 subterraneous vaults, which being built on a level 
 frith a canal, were damp beyond conception. In 
 one of these vaults the prisoners were sometimes 
 strangled. The victim brought into this chamber 
 of death with a rope round his neck, was placed 
 before an iron grating, behind which, in an adjoin- 
 ing passage, stood the executioner, who took hold 
 of the end of the string, and with a screw put an 
 end to the being of the unhappy person whose 
 corpse was thrown with a stone round his neck into a 
 
166 FtOWERST OF MODERN 
 
 canal through a window, the gratings of which 
 opened for these works of darkness. In wandering 
 through these apartments of aristocratical ven- 
 geance, you begin to perceive how it was possible 
 for a republic so mighty as Venice to fall so un- 
 worthily and shamefully. The explanation of this 
 -enigma is written on the walls of the Council of 
 Ten ; it should be read as a great lesson to all 
 states, and should teach them that when the hour 
 of danger approaches, " the moral strength of the 
 state alone can be its anchor of safety." 
 
 But to return to more pleasing subjects. In the 
 saloon of the academy of fine arts, are the finest 
 pictures of the first masters of the Venetian school* 
 Here is a large picture by Titian, perhaps the 
 most beautiful of his works. Here amateurs have 
 an opportunity of comparing others with these, 
 which will be much longer preserved here than 
 they can be in damp churches. The want, and the 
 necessity of paying their debts, have obliged many 
 noblemen to sell the most beautiful pictures they 
 inherited from their forefathers, so that the old 
 descriptions of the picture galleries can be no 
 longer depended on. On visiting a collection of 
 pictures in the Palazzo Nani, General de la Harpe 
 observed the helmet of a hero of this name, which 
 hung on the wall of the corridor or hall, through 
 which people pass in the palaces of the Venetian 
 nobility to the chambers themselves. It seems that 
 this custom of the Romans, so well calculated to 
 excite generous emulation, was imitated by the 
 Venetians, whose republic is, as it were, the link 
 which connects the time of the Romans with ours. 
 
 The four bronze horses stand again in their old 
 place over the gateway of St. Mark. They stood 
 better before the Tuilleries, only they ought not 
 to have been yoked to the triumphal car of the 
 greatest enemy that liberty ever had. When I saw 
 them arrive, and put up at Paris, I asked myself, 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 167 
 
 thinking of 'their different journies, whether they 
 were yet to go? I did not then think I should 
 see them depart again ; and who knows if Ameri- 
 can fleets may not, in the course of a century, 
 fetch them from Europe, when the arts and sciences 
 leave this quarter of the globe, to continue the 
 progress they have long made from the east to the 
 west. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 An Autumn on the Rhine — English and German 
 Universitits — Public Gymnasiums — Celebration of 
 Wakes — Stutgard — Merit z — Grand Duke of 
 Hesse — Cassel — Darmstadt — Frankfort on the 
 Maine — Hanau — Dtitingen — Grand Duchy of 
 Baden — Hastadt — Baden — Subterraneous Dun- 
 geons — Manheim — Biberich — Bingen — Xicixicd 
 Juliets — Bonn — Cologne — Juliers — Axx la Cha- 
 pe lie — The Rhine. 
 
 Other alterations that have taken place since the 
 conclusion of the peace, in different parts of the 
 continent, are ably described by the author of 
 14 An Autumn on the Rhine/ 9 who justly ob- 
 serves, that nothing can be imagined more strik- 
 ing than the contrast between an English and a 
 German university. The former is devoid of Go- 
 thic buildings, magnificent colleges, noble libra- 
 ries, retired walks, and the scholastic grace of the 
 costume. The university of Heidelberg, this au- 
 thor will scarcely allow to be a decent building ; 
 and though it contains the library and lecture- 
 rooms of the professors, an Englishman, it is re- 
 marked, might pass the town a dozen times with- 
 out remarking any traces of its institutions, un- 
 less he happened to meet with a string of swag- 
 
168 
 
 FLO WE K S OF MODERN 
 
 gering mustachioed youths, with their hair flow- 
 ing on their shoulders, without cravats, with pipes 
 in their mouths, &c. These are the students who, 
 in the main points, resemble each other, both of 
 costume and character, in all the universities. 
 These, with slight variations, are not, as in Eng. 
 land, composed of colleges, where the students 
 are obliged to reside, forming large households, 
 under a head, and submitting to wholesome regu- 
 lations. The German universities merely afford a 
 few facilities for study. Lectures are read by pro- 
 fessors, and the students attend if they choose. 
 Notwithstanding the heads appointed at Heidel- 
 berg, and among them four ephori,, to superintend 
 the industry and morals of the students, the latter 
 are so far above any real control, that their ex- 
 cesses may be carried to the verge of a breach of 
 the law, especial!}' as the university is not subject 
 to the ordinary police of the country. Riots and 
 disturbances, broken windows, &c. are said to be 
 the result of this kind of government, though such 
 things sometimes occur in other countries, where 
 the public schools are under the severest restric- 
 tions. Nor is it in Germany alone where the stu- 
 dents are sometimes the terror of the neighbour- 
 hood. Having no commons or residence in the 
 universities, the German students lodge in private 
 houses, occupied by shopkeepers, &c. When not 
 inmates of the house, they dine at the ordinaries 
 at the inns, where their manners are as coarse as 
 their appearance ; and as they enter very young, 
 generally at sixteen or seventeen, the consequence 
 of being their own masters so soon, may easily be 
 conjectured. In fact, comparing small things with 
 great, the students in Germany resemble, what 
 are in England called, out-door apprentices, over 
 whom neither the master nor the parent has suf- 
 ficient authority as to their conduct, to be of any 
 real service to them. And as every -young man in 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 1G^ 
 
 Germany, intended for the civil service of a prince, 
 must be qualified by spending two years at 
 an university, the parents' object is to get their 
 children from the gymnasium, as soon as possible. 
 Finding themselves all at once their own masters, 
 the two years of qualification are too frequently 
 spent in every kind of dissipation. Anticipating 
 the consequence of manhood, without its discre- 
 tion, perpetual duels are the result ; though, it is 
 said, the breasts and faces of these combatants are 
 cased in pasteboard, as a kind of defence against 
 their small rapiers. Merely to draw blood is 
 sometimes deemed satisfactory ; at other times the 
 length and depth of a wound must be ascertained 
 by the measurement of the seconds ; and occa- 
 sionally whole bodies of them, of different coun- 
 tries, settle their differences by what may be 
 called, " a battle royal." But, notwithstanding a 
 death may be among the consequences of these 
 disturbances, they are Btill permitted, for fear of 
 putting an improper check upon the ardour of 
 youth, who are the less guarded in their conduct 
 towards each other, from the circumstance of hav- 
 ing no titles or distinctions of rank among them, 
 all of them being known under the common name 
 of " fellows." 
 
 What is called the public gymnasium, or free- 
 school, is to be found in every con-iderable town 
 in Germany. They have a great resemblance t » 
 the grammar-schools in the large towns in Eng- 
 land. Many of the sons of the noblesse are sent 
 to these places; but the more opulent, or judi- 
 cious, have private tutors at home. Latin and 
 Greek form a principal part of their instruction. 
 The higher classes of the gymnasium are besides 
 instructed in philosophy, theology, &c. The boys 
 generally learn gymnastic exercises, and are of- 
 ten taught to sing patriotic songs at their games, 
 ihe celebration of wakes in the German Pro- 
 
 VOL IV. Q 
 
170 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 testant villages, have no slight resemblance to an 
 English wake, both being distinguished by danc- 
 ing and rejoicing. In England this lasts but one 
 day, but the Germans frequently keep theirs up 
 two or three days and nights, without intermission. 
 The great may-pole, an indispensible object in 
 a German village, is on these occasions crowned 
 with a profusion of evergreens and ribands, round 
 which the peasants trip on the light fantastic toe. 
 In the meanwhile the cottages, and the little inns, 
 contribute to increase the general hilarity. 
 
 In Stutgard the modern buildings bespeak the 
 increased and growing situation of the prince and 
 his state. Among all the princes that have sprung 
 from the old humble regime of margraves, land- 
 graves, and counts of the empire, and became 
 grand dukes and kings, many of their capitals now 
 possess new churches, streets, stables, guard- 
 houses, &c. The present palace, however, at 
 Stutgard, would not bear a comparison w r ith some 
 noblemen's seats in England, though ostentation 
 and costliness are visible in the interior, in every 
 chair, sofa, mirror, table, or time-piece. One or- 
 nament is all gold, another solid silver, and a third 
 cost so many thousand florins. Rose-wood, satin, 
 porcelain, and porphyry, are the humblest mate- 
 rials here to be found. Several apartments are 
 adorned with splendid tapestries from the gobe- 
 lins at Paris ; and among the rooms pointed out as 
 remarkable, are those once or twice occupied by 
 the fallen Napoleon, the Empress Maria Louisa, 
 the Emperor of Russia, &c. 
 
 Danekker, the Canova of Germany, is a native 
 and resident of Stutgard, and the palace is adorned 
 by several of his exquisite little pieces. The 
 pieces by the court painters, Hetch and Seele, 
 have unquestionable merit for their elaborate de- 
 sign and high finishing. The police regulations 
 at Stutgard are posted in the inns ; one of these 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 1 T 1 
 
 prohibits smoking in the street, under a consider- 
 able penalty, and the confiscation of the pipe. 
 Another royal edict of his late majesty, the King 
 of Wirtemberg, forbids walking in the town at 
 night without a lantern. The favourite prome- 
 nade of the beau monde at ^tutgard, at present, 
 is the wide walk towards Canstadt, in the English 
 garden. The theatre, with the ordinary per- 
 formances on Sunday, and twice in the week, is a 
 handsome building, terminating one of the wings 
 of the palace, with which the royal box commu- 
 nicates; hence the king and queen walk in and 
 amuse themselves without any parade or attend- 
 ance. There are two royal libraries here ; one of 
 them, in a large building in the market-place, con- 
 tains 150,000 volumes, and the famous assemblage 
 of Bibles, it seems, are still talked of. The king's pri- 
 vate library is in one of the wings of the palace. Here 
 are two suites of stables belonging to the king and 
 the court. Riding is so much the ruling passion 
 of the prince, that he sometimes mounts a dozen 
 horses in a day ; but, generally speaking, horse- 
 breaking and riding are more of sciences in Germany 
 than with us. German horses are hard, dull, animals, 
 capable of much work, and are seldom spoiled by 
 discipline. English horses are much in request, 
 and much superior in spirit and shape to others on 
 the continent; the Mecklenburghs are the best in 
 Germany, and most resemble the English. Mentz, 
 in spite of its darkness and dirt, has still an im- 
 posing character of decayed consequence ; but this 
 ci-devant second ecclesiastical city in Europe, has 
 made but an ill exchange in the military reign 
 which has succeeded that of the church. The 
 old cathedral, shattered by the balls of the sieges ; 
 the large churches, and the red palace on the 
 Rhine, now a ruin ; stately houses, half inhabited, 
 or occupied as chandler's shops; handsome public 
 buildings, used as dirty casernes; and smoky cof- 
 
 Q 2 
 
172 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 fee-shops, are calculated to excite the most me- 
 lancholy ideas. Here and there a heap of ruins 
 untouched since the late bombardment, or a pub- 
 lic square presenting forlorn chasms, forcibly re- 
 mind the spectator of the better days of this city. 
 Dr. Moore, who visited Mentz thirty years ago, 
 remarked the elegant abbes with their handsome 
 equipages, and the well behaved troops kept under 
 by the ecclesiastics. But at present the looks and 
 the habits of the clergy speak volumes as to their 
 reduced state. 
 
 By the awards of the congress at Vienna, the 
 sovereignty of Mentz has been bestowed upon the 
 Grand Duke of Hesse ; but the garrison is formed 
 by 14«,000 Austrians and Prussians, and the cafes, 
 the billiard-rooms, and the promenades, are filled 
 with these smoking and swaggering guests. The 
 university-building is converted into barracks, and 
 guard-rooms and hospitals arrest the attention at 
 every corner. The bishop is now very poor, and 
 generally a non-resident. Neither the stupid Aus- 
 trian, or the mischievous Prussian, are liked ; but 
 the objection to both is, that they have no money 
 to spend. On the other hand, only to hint at the 
 past times, when the French were there, is enough 
 to make the countenance of the tradesman brighten 
 up. " I don't know how it was," says one, " but 
 bread was at half its present price ; and there were 
 as many florins spent then as there are kreutzers 
 now." " The French/' said another, (i always had, 
 and knew how to spend their money ; but the Aus- 
 trians are brutes; they buy nothing but beer and 
 tobacco — and the Prussians are so proud, there 
 is no speaking tQ them without the chance of be- 
 ing knocked down.'' For a considerable time, it 
 seems, these foreign troops were actuated by the 
 greatest animosities against each other. Mentz, 
 in the revolution, belonged to the department of 
 Mount Tonnere, and a prefect, sub-prefect, and 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 173 
 
 one or two deputies, formed the whole govern* 
 ment ; but German form, emplo} T s about forty 
 counsellors of regency, bailiffs, upper bailiffs, and 
 others. Yet the people are satisfied with the new 
 government, and would be more so if they did 
 not conceive themselves overburthened with troops, 
 notwithstanding the whole of them are now quar- 
 tered in barracks. The Duke of Hesse is a Pro- 
 testant ; but his subjects, it is said, have nothing 
 to complain of on the score of religion, and, with 
 some slight modifications, he has left the courts 
 of justice, the trial by jury, the code Napoleon, 
 much as he found them, and both the pastors and 
 schools of Roman Catholhs and Protestants are 
 upon an equal footing. The massy red stone 
 towers and pinnacles of the cathedral arc vene- 
 rable objects in a dirty wretched square, in the 
 centre of a town, filled with all the barrows and 
 baskets of a littering market. 
 
 Cassel, on the contrary, exhibit* the appearance 
 of a number of neat new houses, rising from the 
 ruins of the last bombardment. Both sides of the 
 Rhine are now German once more ; but till people 
 have passed the Rhine they cannot be said to feel 
 themselves fairly in Germany ; and it is still dif- 
 ficult to describe the change of character which 
 many features of the scene present on arriving at 
 the right bank. Even the boat that passes the 
 main, on the road to Darmstadt, it is said, affords 
 specimens of that stillness and slowness with which 
 every thing here is now transacted ; as, instead of 
 the incessant loquacity of the French, the German 
 boatmen scarcely utter a syllable. 
 
 The town of Darmstadt has increased rapidly 
 with its master's consequence, by the addition of 
 a smart modern town to the old one, which now 
 forms a mean and dirty suburb to the other • this 
 also belongs to the Grand Duke of Hesse, no lon- 
 ger an humble landgrave. Building is cheap, and 
 
 Q 3 
 
174 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 the houses are soon run up, with a rough com- 
 position of stones and mortar, overlaid with a neat 
 coat of white plaster, roofed with slate, from the 
 mountainous banks of the Rhine. 
 
 The approach to Frankfort on the Maine, from 
 Darmstadt, is through a noble beech wood. The 
 road gradually ascends to an old Roman tower, 
 about half a mile distant from Frankfort, when its 
 white slated houses, and its venerable cathedral, 
 are seen in the rich valley of the Maine. The 
 Maine is passed from the suburb of Saxenhausen, 
 over an ancient stone bridge. The modern part 
 of Frankfort now abounds with handsome houses, 
 which deserve the name of palaces. The old 
 ramparts are levelled, the ditches filled up, and 
 occupied by shrubs, laid out in the English style, 
 and on a fine day this is the public promenade. 
 
 The celebrated Roemer, or town house, an or- 
 dinary old white building, possesses no kind of 
 architectural beauty. The renowned golden bull, 
 now a musty parchment, is still shewn by one of 
 the clerks, this precious document had been car- 
 ried to Paris, but has been restored since the peace. 
 What is called the Kayser Saal, or emperor's sa- 
 loon, in the Roemer, is a large shabby chamber, 
 with an arched boarded roof. In this room the 
 emperors used to be crowned, and the walls are 
 decorated with old fresco paintings of the different 
 sovereigns. The fairs, which had declined during 
 the war, have since in a great measure resumed 
 their former activity ; and besides the display of a 
 number of equipages, the stalls and shops are 
 crowded by well dressed and handsome women. 
 Scarcely a merchant or banker of moderate afflu- 
 ence in Frankfort, is without his little gallery of 
 chef-d'-ceuvres, which with his music, affords the 
 means of relaxation from the fatigue of business ; 
 however, the statue of Ariadne, seated on a lion, in 
 the garden of M. Bethman the rich banker, is said 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS, 
 
 175 
 
 to surpass every thing in modern sculpture. It 
 was executed by M. Danekker, of Stutgard. The 
 artist had it in hand fifteen years, and received 
 J 000 guineas for his inimitable labours. The Diet, 
 composed of about seventeen plenepotentiaries, is 
 now held here at the residence of the president, 
 the ambassador of Austria, a stately gloomy man- 
 sion, " perhaps not without influence on the cha- 
 racter of its proceedings." 
 
 Hanau, since the peace has been ostensibly re- 
 stored to some of its ancient privileges, and the 
 taxes are moderate ; though the Prince, for barter- 
 ing his people to bleed in foreign service, has been 
 deemed tyrannical. Few persons pay above forty 
 shillings a year. North of Hanau on the other 
 side of a small river, is the spacious field bounded 
 by woods, the scene of the battle when the French 
 made their last stand in their hurried retreat from 
 Leipsic. In the contest the town was several times 
 taken and retaken, and a part of the suburbs burnt 
 on the occasion still remain in ruins. 
 
 Near the little village of Dettingen, about three 
 leagues from AschafYenburg, the house is still stand- 
 ing in which George the Second slept in 1713. An 
 old man was living at a little inn, a few years since, 
 who recollected seeing the King of England in 
 his red uniform, on a long-tailed white horse ; and 
 he was also in possession of a tattered printed 
 sheet, being an account of the battle, printed at 
 the time, with full details and a long list of killed 
 wounded, and taken. 
 
 The Castle of Aftschaffenburg is now the summer 
 residence of the Prince Royal of Bavaria. It is a 
 large red stone building, with slated minaret towers 
 and grotesque pinnacles and ornaments. When 
 the Prince Primate resided here, he constructed 
 the fine promenade called " The Beautiful Valley, " 
 but this town like many others, complains of the 
 8 
 
176 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 difference of the money circulated since the country 
 was given up by the French. 
 
 The population of the Grand Duchy of Baden, 
 is now about one million two hundred thousand 
 souls, nearly three times its amount before the 
 head of it joined the confederation of the Rhine. 
 The Grand Duke now ranks immediately after the 
 King of Wirtemberg, and before the solitary Elec- 
 tor of Hesse Cassel, now according to some tra- 
 vellers, as much an elector in reality, as an inha- 
 bitant of Birmingham or Manchester; because 
 somehow or other, the allies permitted a staunch 
 old legitimate to be pushed from his stool by a 
 grand duke, and a king of yesterdav ; but this is 
 thought to have been principally effected by the 
 near relationship of Baden with Russia, and pos- 
 sibly of Wirtemberg, with Great Britain. The 
 Grand Duke's army are appointed in the French 
 mode; but the alliance with the great nothern au- 
 tocrat, has brought the ugly Russian and Prussian 
 dresses into fashion. Hence the long tapering 
 waists, and chests, swelled out with horse hair or 
 wool. The system of stuffing the men into fine 
 figures, is carried by the Prussians to a degree of 
 caricature. 
 
 Baden, the capital of the old Margraviate of 
 Baden, is now as fashionable a place for water 
 drinking, bathing, and gaming resort, as Toplitz, 
 Pyrmont, or Carlsbad, and has lately had among 
 its guests, half the crowned heads and grandees of 
 Germany. 
 
 Rastadt is described as a neat town on the Murg, 
 not without traces of its former consequence ; and 
 the castle, as a kind of imitation of Versailles, with 
 a Belvidere surmounted by a gilt Jupiter. This 
 figure overlooks the desolate colonnades and grass- 
 grown quadrangles, once forming the palace of the 
 great hero Louis of Baden, and which still pre- 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 177 
 
 serves the trophies he won from the Turks. A mong 
 these are a large glass case of swords, turbans, em- 
 broidered saddle cloths, &c. Here is also a col- 
 lection of branching antlers, and pictures of forest 
 monsters killed at various times, by different Mar- 
 graves. A monument just out of Rastadt, points 
 out the spot where Bonnier and Roberjot were mas- 
 sacred by Austrian hussars. The latter was but- 
 chered in the arms of his wife, who endeavoured to 
 prevent their dragging him from the carriage. 
 Jean Debry, the third minister, whom the assas- 
 sins left apparently dead, crawled back to the 
 town where he met the wives, children, and ser- 
 vants of his murdered companions, who had es- 
 caped. 
 
 Baden, as its name implies, is the town of baths, 
 and contains about thirteen sources of hot water, 
 whimsically named, the Jew's spring, the Moors, 
 the Hellish spring, &c. the later rising in a part 
 of the town called the Hell, and the Scalding spring, 
 which is used for scalding pigs, and poultry, and 
 partly saves the troubles of picking the fowls. 
 
 Baden exhibits during the season, a theatre, 
 balls, promenades, hazard, and rouge and noir 
 tables. Gaming at the bathing places forms the 
 principal resource of all ranks. These pay very 
 considerable rents, and are very highly taxed, and 
 contribute towards the support of the poor. Many 
 persons are plucked here, and several unfortunate 
 players are obliged to shorten their stay and de- 
 camp with their disorders uncured and their bills 
 unpaid. The inhabitants are generally Catholics, 
 and one of the principal gaming tables is in the 
 Old Jesuits Convent, now used as a Maison de Con- 
 versation, whilst the choir is converted into a din- 
 ing room. A cave that was the Jesuits cellar, now 
 serves the same purpose for the restaurateur of the 
 establishment. The balls and promenades held 
 here are always the gayest on a Sunday, and the 
 
178 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 hours of waltzing are fixed from four to eight, even 
 in the heat of summer. 
 
 The present Catholic church has a minaret 
 steeple, so prevalent in this part of Germany. The 
 Lyceum, or Foundation School, was formerly an 
 institution of the Jesuits. A neat small convent 
 of nuns of the order of the Holy Sepulchre at this 
 place have contrived to avoid secularization by 
 keeping a school for the poor girls, and taking a 
 few boarders of higher rank, who pay a very mo- 
 derate stipend. This convent has its own baths., 
 and the nuns cannot be accused of any fondness 
 for shewing themselves. 
 
 The poor are well taken care of at Baden, there 
 being a good hospital, besides another foundation, 
 where the occupants have a large bath. 
 
 The subterranean passages and dungeons of the 
 castle at Baden, are sure to attract the notice of 
 visitors ; and their immense stone doors, iron hooks, 
 &c. prove them to be of considerable antiquity. 
 The Torture Chamber, as it is called, exhibits a 
 row of iron rings in the wall ; and a deep dungeon 
 and a well, are also talked of. The tradition of 
 the country ascribes this dreadful prison to one of 
 those terrific institutions, the Vehm Geiichts, or 
 secret Westphalian tribunals, common in Germany 
 till the reign of Charles V. and it is well known 
 that a Vehm Gericht once existed, somewhere 
 in the Margravate of Baden, from a grant of 
 Charles I. to the town of Esslingen, solely on con- 
 dition that none of the citizens should either be- 
 come judges or suitors in one of these courts. 
 
 Manheim, formerly the capital of the Electors 
 Palatine, is now a provincial town, in the modem 
 Grand Duchy of Baden, and, like Mentz, Worms, 
 and other places exhibits a striking remnant of an- 
 cient splendour, humbled beneath a little military 
 sovereign of yesterday. Manheim is nevertheless 
 a modern elegant little city, and its regular streets 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 
 
 and squares, its palace, walks, and gardens, evince 
 the taste and dignity of its former princes. But 
 the immense red stone palace at Manheim now 
 looks the picture of neglect, and one of the wings 
 is degraded by the shirts of the Baden soldiers 
 J being hung out of the windows to dry, the part 
 being used as barracks. The wide gravel terrace 
 under the windows is still the fashionable prome- 
 nade, but the weeds that sprout up, and the un- 
 pruned luxuriance all around, denote the absence 
 of the court gardener. '1 he Rhine which [lows 
 at the bottom of the gardens, is kept within bounds 
 by a substantial mound planted with shrubs. One 
 theatre still survives, and keeps up some of the 
 reputation which it acquired by fostering hfland, 
 and several great tragedians, the Garricks, Cookc s, 
 and Kembles of Germany. in another public 
 walk, called the Planken, other signs of recent 
 changes are seen. Here the Baden officers in their 
 blue uniforms, and stulfed out breasts a la Prus- 
 simne, and the young belles of the town, with 
 their plaited hair without bonnets, sometimes pro- 
 menade under the trees. The trade of Manheim 
 is now inconsiderable, and the taxes very heavy ; 
 and as the Grand Duke chooses to keep his court 
 at Carlsruhe, this is a subject which frequently ex- 
 cites the ill humour of the people at Manheim. 
 
 Worms is now a garrison town for the Grand 
 Duke of Baden, but the city is a mass of meanness 
 and desolate decay. Of its 30,000 inhabitants not 
 more than 5,0^0 remain. The cathedral is still an 
 interesting but dreary vestige of grandeur, appa- 
 rent from the bare dismantled walls of its interior 
 and its falling pinnacles and ornaments. The 
 wretched state of the chapter houses seem to com- 
 plete the picture ; yet seen from a distance the 
 lofty nave and four steeples rise with an imposing 
 grandeur in the level plain of the Rhine. At Worms 
 the memory of Luther is preserved in a variety of 
 
180 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 modes. Prints exhibit the various scenes of his 
 life ; histories of which are circulated in all sizes, 
 adapted to all capacities; and his hymns are sung; 
 on all solemn occasions. The centenary of the 
 Reformation is far more strikingly observed than a 
 sabbath ; and when the Grand Duke of Hesse, who 
 is a Protestant, lately sanctioned this ceremony, 
 the shops at Darmstadt were all shut, and the Pro- 
 testant ambassadors, nobility, and towns-people, 
 made it a conscientious point to attend church in 
 their best equipages and uniforms. The preceding 
 evening was announced by a full chorus of solemn 
 hymns sung on the top of the tower of the Lutheran 
 church, and the next day, the 3 1st of October, 
 was ushered in at day break by the same impressive 
 ceremony. At ten the whole court with their at- 
 tendants in grand gala, proceeded to the great 
 church, in the state coach, drawn by eight cream 
 coloured palfreys in blue velvet trappings. An old 
 picture of Luther was on this occasion taken from 
 the Hotel de Ville, and suspended in the church, 
 adorned with w 7 reaths and flowers. A Te Deum 
 and some fine pieces of music, were performed, 
 and concluded with the grand hymn called " Lu- 
 ther's Hymn." An additional interest was given to 
 the day by its being made in many states, the 
 first public recognition of the new union of the 
 the two Protestant sects. The Grand Duke of 
 Nassau was one of the first to come into this union ; 
 and in Prussia, the king received the Sacrament 
 for the first time, according to the form of the 
 united churches. The ritual of the Holy Supper 
 was before, almost the only essential difference in 
 the worship of the two religions. 
 
 The splendid Chateau of Biberich, is now the 
 residence of the Grand Duke of Nassau, and his 
 duchy is one of the most picturesque and fertile 
 territories of Germany. It runs along the right 
 bank of the Rhine, from Cassel opposite Mentz, to 
 
voyages and travlls. ]S1 
 the junction of the river Laho with the Rhine, 
 near Ccblentz, including the luxuriant Khingau, 
 Hockheim, Johannisberg, Rudesheim, and several 
 other spots, that produce pure JKhenish. The 
 grand Duke's state has little or no debt, and he is 
 said to be an active sensible and popular prince. 
 Wisbaden his capital, enjoys the liberty or" the 
 press in the publication of one of the most liberal 
 journals of Germany, and the representative form 
 of government is now established in Nassau. 
 
 Bingen is a considerable little town with an old 
 Gothic church, and massy turrets! ramparts. The 
 Nahe, crossed by a neat stone bridge, forms the 
 boundary between the Graryl Duchy of Hesse, 
 and the Prussian provinces. The White Horse 
 at Bingen, is described as a little inn by the rive? 
 side, with a table cVh'.te furnished with the usual 
 German fare, viz. meagre soup, leaving the bouilli 
 that followed all rags, and to be made palatable 
 by cucumbers, and a sort of small strong tur- 
 nip in raw slices, swimming in vinegar. This is 
 followed by a strong acid hash of hare, sausages, 
 sour crout, and other savoury entremets, ia Variably 
 concluding with joints of oily baked mutton and 
 veal. The desert, clean and delicate, was not 
 without the dainty little pile of sponge cakes, never 
 omitted in the dirtiest inn that affords a dinner. 
 
 Respecting comfortable accommodation in the 
 German inns, we learn that a post bed is a luxury 
 only known in palaces, and curtains are very rare. 
 Instead of blankets, the covering is a feather bed] 
 often kept in a green silk case. "Soap is a luxury 
 at which the people in the best inns will stare when 
 it is asked for, and if granted, proves to be a little 
 morsel of glutinous stuff, re^emblirg oil paint; 
 and so few are the rooms appropriated to the re- 
 ception of company, that travellers are frequently 
 compelled to eat their suppers, &c. in their bed- 
 rooms. But the German sio\es ; though they have 
 
 vol. iv. R 
 
182 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 not the attraction of a blazing social fire, make 
 strangers entirely forget it ; they relieve them from 
 the business of keeping themselves warm, and 
 without trouble they find themselves surrounded 
 by a genial atmosphere. 
 
 Coblentz is now in the hands of the Prussians ; 
 and it must strike a stranger very forcibly to see 
 Prussian hussars cleaning their horses, and brush- 
 ing their gaiters, under the windows of the hand- 
 some palace built by the Elector Clement, whilst 
 others are smoking in one of the stately wings, now 
 a guard-room. 
 
 Niewied, now subject to the King of Prussia, still 
 preserves the miniature model of a splendid city ; 
 and being an asylum for persons of all religions, 
 whom the liberality of its princes first invited, a 
 considerable trade is carried on. The Moravians, 
 who have some skilful artists among them, have a 
 large establishment here ; and it is, upon the whole, 
 a place of more importance to travellers, than the 
 garrison towns of greater princes. 
 
 Bonn is another town included in the Prussian 
 acquisitions, since the late war. This is described 
 as a compact little place, cleanly and cheerful, in 
 spite of its antiquity. 
 
 Cologne, once the Holy City, is now esteemed 
 one of the dirtiest and most gloomy places of its 
 size in Europe. Its streets are all shabby, and its 
 squares open spaces overgrown with weeds, where 
 the mouldering tenements are now and then cheer- 
 ed by a solitary mansion, the remains of old- 
 fashioned splendour : and the people seem to be 
 nearly as miserable as the buildings. The popula- 
 tion, now reduced to about 50,000, comprises abun- 
 dance of foreigners, resembling each other in the 
 common character of superstitious and bigoted 
 Catholics. Out of sixty- nine convents, not more 
 than half a dozen remain. 
 
 How much the late French government is pre- 
 ferred to the Prussian, in all the places near the 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. J S3 
 
 Rhine, now transferred to that monarch, appears 
 almost on every occasion, in which the present 
 situation of affairs is compared with the past; and 
 the presence of the Prussian troops, who are sta- 
 tioned in every town, by no means conciliates the 
 good-will of the people. At Aix-la-Chapelle, they 
 have been complained of as haughty, vain, and ty- 
 rannical ; and at Cologne, they are very unpopular, 
 no one daring, for some time, to speak a word of 
 French in their hearing. 
 
 Juliers is now one of the strongest fortresses in 
 the Prussian provinces, and is garrisoned by about 
 3000 troops. 
 
 Viewing the cathedral of Aix-la-Chapelle, it is 
 observed, that some of the variegated marble pil- 
 lars that adorned the old edifice, had returned from 
 their captivity at Paris, and are shown with the 
 curiosities of the church. Under the centre of the 
 dome repose the ashes of the great Charles, with 
 the simple but impressive inscription on the pave- 
 ment, " Carolo Magno." Immediately above hangs 
 an immense circular sort of a chandelier, in the 
 shape of a crown, composed of silver and brass ; a 
 present to the church from Frederic the Great, 
 called Charlemagne's crown. 
 
 The grand place, or square, of Aix-la-Chapelle, 
 has an immense bronze basin and fountain in the 
 centre, surmounted by an antique bronze statue of 
 Charlemagne, fully accoutred. Two large black 
 eagles flap their metal wings, on pedestals, by the 
 side of the fountain. The monarch and the eagles 
 turn their heads towards the Hotel de Ville, the an- 
 cient palace where Charles was born. This statue 
 the French transferred to Paris, m ith other works 
 of art. " The modern Prussian eagle now figures 
 over the door of the hotel, announcing the police 
 and municipal offices of the Prussian regency, and 
 perking his upstart head in the face of the venera- 
 ble birds that have reigned for centuries." 
 
 k2 
 
181 FLOWERS 01 MODERN' 
 
 The language of the common people at Aix-la- 
 Chapelle, seems to be a Babel of diversity. is If 
 you ask a question in French, you probably receive 
 an answer in German. If you next address a per- 
 son in German, he perhaps answers in French ; 
 German however, such as it is, is the best under- 
 stood. Should the French become extinct, in the 
 course of the next generation, it is hoped that ha- 
 bit, and a wise administration, may obtain for the 
 Prussian government, a popularity, which it has 
 not yet enjoyed/' 
 
 Having thus extracted the observations made by 
 our traveller, upon the principal places situated on 
 and near the Rhine, running from the south of 
 Germany, towards Holland and the sea, it may be 
 added, that the river near Cleves does not change 
 its character, but still passes with an even, wide,, 
 and forceful current between cultivated or pastoral 
 levels, bounded at some distance by gradual woody 
 ascents. Among these heights and woods, Cleves is 
 visible to the left ; and soon after, we see Schenken- 
 schans, a strong Dutch fort, built on the point of the 
 long island round which the Rhine and the Waal 
 flow. Soon after this, the Belvidere, or the pros- 
 pect house at Nimuegen, comes in sight; then the 
 bright pinnacles of the public buildings, and the 
 high turf- coloured angles of the fortifications. 
 From the Belvidere at Nimuegen, a rich prospect 
 may be viewed forty miles in diameter, from Arn- 
 heim and Duisbourg in the north, to Cleves and 
 Guelders in the south, with an eastern view over 
 half the forests of Guelderland to those of West- 
 phalia, the whole displaying an extent of green 
 landscape, richly varied with towns, villages, and 
 woods, spreading and gradually ascending to the 
 horizon. 
 
 The first town from Nimuegen on the right bank 
 of the Waal, is Thiel, inclosed by modern fortifica- 
 tions : it is a neat and clean town, though a sand- 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 1S5 
 
 bank before the port has lessened the trade of the 
 place. This noble river, having passed the Dutch 
 tart of Schenkenskans, forms two branches ; the 
 left is called the Waal ; but the right still retains 
 the name of the Rhine. Below this fort, and two 
 leagues abo\e Arnheim, it is again separated into 
 two branches : one of these, called the Yssel, runs 
 northward, and throws itself into the Zuvder Sea ; 
 the other retains the name of the Rhine, and, con- 
 tinuing its course westward, is again divided into two 
 branches near Utretcht. That on the left receives 
 the name of the Lech, and joins the Meuse ; the 
 other branch still retains the name of the Rhine, 
 till it loses itself in the sands of Cattwyck, below 
 Leyden. The great revolution, which prevented 
 this noble river from bearing its name to the ocean, 
 is said to have occurred in the year B60, when such 
 a quantity of sand was blown together in a dread- 
 ful storm, that the mouth of the Rhine, near Catt- 
 wyck, was completely choked up. In consequence 
 of this convulsion, the Rhine overflowed the whole 
 country, and, sweeping away towns and villages, 
 threw itself into the bed of the Mouse. Some au- 
 thors, however, pretend that these alterations were 
 brought about more gradually by successive changes 
 in the hydrography of the country. This opinion 
 is not without some probability, if it be true that 
 the Yssel, the Was), and the Lech, were formed 
 previous to this supposed stoppage and inundation 
 of the Rhine. In Julius Caesar'* time it is undoubt- 
 edly true that the Rhine was divided into two 
 branches at least, and one of these was the Yssel, 
 as the Rhine was then called Rhenus Bicornis; an 
 appellation which can be by no means applied to 
 its double source, because the name was evidently 
 meant for Belgium and the neighbourhood of the 
 Morini. 
 
 However, the Rhine at Cattwyck below Leyden 
 is no longer suffered to filtrate through the sar.Jy 
 
 R 3 
 
186 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 soil, and convert the surrounding country into a 
 marsh. A proper channel has been made for this 
 river, and sluices formed to prevent the rising tide 
 from forcing the water of the sea and the river back 
 upon the country. The canal, made for this pur- 
 pose, is twenty feet broad, and the water passes 
 through a triple succession of sluices. That near- 
 est the ocean is a very solid construction, and has 
 a sloping angle of considerable extent. The sluice 
 is always shut during high tide ; but when the flood 
 is down, and the weight of the fresh water forces 
 the sluice open, it rushes through into the ocean 
 with a degree of noise and rapidity that renders it 
 frorth the observation of a stranger. 
 
 CHAPTER VIL 
 
 Inn-keepers in Zealand — A large Obelisk — Beneficial 
 Increase of small Farms — Gates of Copenhagen — 
 Gardens — University, fyc. — Port and Population 
 — Batlle of Waterloo — Elsinore — Berlin — Bohe- 
 mia — Prague — Vienna — Hungary — Gratz — 
 Leoben — Lay back — Trieste. 
 
 Mh. Bramsen, passing through Holland in his way 
 to Copenhagen, represents the inn-keepers in Zea- 
 land as remarkable for rude and unpolite behaviour 
 to strangers, though they make them pay dear 
 enough for what they have. Affecting much pa- 
 triotism, they are often loud in their invectives 
 against most European nations. The inns here, 
 having no signs, are called after the names of the 
 proprietors. The road from Roskild to Copenha- 
 gen, is very good, and well studded with country- 
 houses. The inhabitants appear healthy and ac- 
 tive; this is very common with the Danish pea- 
 santry. 
 
VOTAdES AND TRAVELS. 187 
 
 A short distance from Copenhagen is a large 
 obelisk, erected by the inhabitants, in 1793, to the 
 honour of Christian Vlh on his abolition of slavery. 
 This pedestal is surrounded by four female figures, 
 very gracefully executed in white marble. Till 
 this took place, there were persons that acted on 
 that false and miserable maxim, M That it was bet- 
 ter to increase than to diminish the numher of 
 huge farms." The government that saw and la- 
 mented the impolicy and inhumanity of such a 
 system, began to remove these impediments, by 
 the improvement of the common lands. Yet it re- 
 quired the strongest arguments and examples, to 
 convince the peasants of the utility of the measure ; 
 but as its advantages began to be discovered, most 
 of the peasants wished that their portions should be 
 measured off, so that each might be put in posses- 
 sion of his own. The bonds of servitude being re- 
 laxed, and service limited in every part of the 
 kingdom, many of the great proprietors let their 
 estates, in small farms, to the peasants, at an easy 
 rent. The pleasing result was soon visible in every 
 place we saw, and in every countenance. What- 
 ever road we now take through Denmark, we meet 
 with commodious and well-built cottages, gardens, 
 cultivated grounds, rich meadows, fine cattle graz- 
 ing in clover fields, and, above all, a hale, healthy 
 peasantry. All this was begun in the auspicious 
 reign of Christian VII. who had the will and the 
 power to promote such useful institutions, even 
 when the peasants shut their eyes to their own in- 
 terests, and seemed to hug their chains. In the 
 space of forty years, barren wastes were divided, 
 and converted into fertile fields ; and bond-service 
 limited, or altogether abolished. Every peasant 
 has his own farm, and builds his own house ; large 
 farms being divided into small ones, some peasants 
 became lords of the soil, which they formerly culti- 
 vated. 
 
188 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 The gates of Copenhagen have two portcuHisses,* 
 which exhibit a very warlike and imposing appear- 
 ance. The ramparts are well mounted with can- 
 non, and the houses lofty and commodious. The 
 streets are wide, and have the convenience of a 
 foot pavement. 
 
 The interior of the exchange, a fine old building, 
 is filled with shops. The new palace is a stately 
 structure, situated in a square, surrounded with 
 handsome buildings, with an equestrian statue of 
 Christian V. in the centre. 
 
 The palaces of the great treasurer, and prince 
 Augustenbourg, are among the best edifices. The 
 hospital and the barracks are kept in excellent or- 
 der. Another square contains an equestrian figure 
 of Frederick V. for which the artist received half a 
 million of rix-dollars, and a pension of a thousand 
 dollars per annum. The old palace, destroyed some 
 time since by fire, is actively rebuilding. 
 
 Among the churches, that of our Saviour, ap- 
 peared to Mr. Bramsen to be superior to the others 
 in the beauty of its architecture, and the grandeur 
 of its design. The theatre, a large building, is 
 only open in winter. At a small one, without the 
 gates of the town, where rope-dancing was the prin- 
 cipal performance, our traveller saw, in the stage 
 box, one of the royal princes, with no attendants 
 but an aid-de-camp : he was plainly dressed, and 
 had no mark of distinction but a ribbon. 
 
 The Royal Garden, one of the most fashionable 
 walks, is laid out with much taste, and kept in very 
 good order. Here are a number of orange trees, 
 and many fine statues. It is frequently enlivened 
 with music ; and genteel persons of both sexes, may 
 be^ seen late in the summer evenings. Another 
 walk, on the ramparts of the town, is not frequented 
 by the higher ranks. 
 
 The university is described as a noble building, 
 and provided with professors of superior talents. 
 
VOYAGE* AND TRAVELS. I SO 
 
 The royal library contains upwards of 300,0000 
 volumes, and also the manuscripts of the celebrated 
 traveller, M. Niebuhr. Here the first book printed 
 in Denmark, is to be seen ; it is dated 1492. 
 
 The port of Copenhagen is supposed superior to 
 any in Europe. Many ships may be seen loading 
 and unloading in the midst of the city, upon the 
 broad and deep canals, that admit of the passing 
 and re-passing of vessels. 
 
 The environs of this city are picturesque, and 
 well cultivated ■ being ornamented with a number 
 of handsome houses, with large gardens, which 
 command an extensive view of the sea. One of 
 these was pointed out to our traveller, as having 
 been the head-quarters of Lord Cathcart, in ISO/. 
 
 The most magnificent of the palaces near the 
 city, is that of Fred.ricksbour,:. Its church, and 
 the blight's garden, are highly spoken of; and the 
 latter contains some fine statues. 
 
 In summer, it is the practice of the inhabitants 
 of the city of Copenhagen, to go into the country, 
 taking their provisions with them ; when, after 
 dining in the open air, they generally walk in the 
 king's park, which is often honoured with the royal 
 presence, a tent being erected, where the family 
 partake of refreshments. 
 
 The population is reckoned at about 100,000; 
 they are generally active and industrious, but are 
 represented as being too much attached to strong 
 liquors. Education is not promoted as in London, 
 and in other cities: hence their behaviour to stran- 
 gers is described by Mr. Bramsen, as below what 
 might be expected from a civilized nation ; and in 
 this respect differing from their neighbours, the 
 Swedes. " They appear particularly loyal, and 
 are warm and sincere in their attachment to their 
 sovereign. They, nevertheless, seem to entertain 
 a partiality for the ruler of the French nation, as 
 ihey manifested great displeasure when the corps 
 
190 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 diplomatique illuminated in honour of the glorious 
 victory of Waterloo. The front of the house of 
 Mr. Foster, British ambassador, was the most splen- 
 did on that occasion, representing Prince Bhicher 
 and the Duke of Wellington, over which was writ- 
 ten la belle alliance. Towards evening, the inha- 
 bitants gathered in crowds before the door, and 
 testified their displeasure, by hissing and throwing 
 stones at the windows and the porter's lodge, and 
 damaging the transparencies, with loud shouts of 
 Vive I'Empereur! till a patrole on horseback dis- 
 persed them, and arrested the ring-leaders, which 
 proved to be a student and a soldier." 
 
 His Danish Majesty lives with great economy, 
 being averse to shew and splendour. He often 
 walks unattended even by a single footman, and 
 without any mark of distinction ; and is extremely 
 affable and condescending to all his subjects. 
 
 Elsinore is the second town in the island of Zea- 
 land ; and it has been remarked, that if the spec- 
 tator were to calculate on the activity and bustle 
 visible in every corner of it, he would estimate the 
 number of its inhabitants at many thousands. The 
 fact however is, they scarcely exceed 5000. Little 
 penetration is necessary to discover to whom this 
 town chiefly owes its prosperity ; for if the flag on 
 the castle did not proclaim it was Denmark, a per- 
 son might fancy himself in England ! The exterior 
 resemblance is verified, with still more exactness in 
 the interior. Many of the inhabitants are Britons 
 born, and naturally retain the manners and customs 
 of their country; and those who are not, take pe- 
 culiar delight in wishing to appear like Englishmen. 
 To form a proper idea of the business transacted 
 at Elsinore, it is necessary to repair to the bridge, 
 which is constantly filled with merchants, clerks, 
 and boatmen, upon the look-out for every new arri- 
 val. The moment a vessel appears in sight, the 
 boatmen put off, contending which shall first reach 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 
 
 191 
 
 tlie ship; but they often labour in vain, when the 
 captain chooses to go on shore in his own boat. 
 On his arrival at the bridge, there is as much con- 
 tention among the merchants to welcome him, and 
 to offer their services, should he not be recom- 
 mended to any particular house. In the summer, 
 the liveliness of this place is comparatively much 
 greater than at Copenhagen ; but during the win- 
 ter, the appearance is very much changed, as the 
 navigation is often closed four or five months. In 
 the mean while, though there is no regular theatre, 
 the inhabitants give balls, form clubs, and other- 
 wise contrive to amuse themselves, till the return 
 of the season of general employment. 
 
 As hostilities had not ceased in the environs of 
 Berlin, when Mr. Bramsen was theie in 1813, his 
 description of that city is not sufficiently copious to 
 be interesting ; though, as far as circumstances 
 would permit, his residence there was not unplea- 
 sant, and he quitted it with regret, and the next 
 morning reached Frankfort, on the Oder. This 
 town, though badly payed, is regularly built, and 
 has a large market place, and a good wooden 
 bridge, near which stands a monument to the me- 
 mory of Prince Leopold, of Brunswick, who was 
 drowned near the spot, whilst generously endea- 
 vouring to save some of the inhabitants from the 
 effects of a dreadful inundation. The Oder gene- 
 rally swells to a great height every spring and fall. 
 In one of these spring tides, the bridge was carried 
 away. The prince endeavouring to assist some of 
 the unhappy persons struggling in the river, was 
 upset in his boat, and perished. 
 
 The three great annual fairs here are much fre- 
 quented by Polish merchants. The public build- 
 ings most worthy of notice, are the churches of St. 
 Nicholas and St. Mary, the town-house, and the 
 barracks. Near this place is the spot where the 
 great battle of Kunersdorf was fought, between the 
 
192 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 Prussians and Austrians, in 1759. When the 
 French were compelled to leave Frankfort in 18T2, 
 they destroyed a part of the bridge. The roads 
 through Silesia, are described as tolerably good, 
 and the soil well cultivated and productive. The 
 peasants are generally tall, and bear in their coun- 
 tenances the marks of comfort. Their wooden 
 houses have a gallery round them, and their gar- 
 dens regale the eye with abundance of fruit, parti- 
 cularly cherries, apples, gooseberries, &c. The 
 town of Sagan suffered much from the French ; for 
 as it was their intention to convert it into a fortress, 
 they destroyed or burnt the greater part of the 
 suburbs. An extensive manufactory of cloth is 
 carried on here. 
 
 From this place, entering Bohemia, the travellers 
 observed this country is enclosed within lofty 
 mountains. The inhabitants, far behind the Ger- 
 mans in cleanliness in their houses and persons, are 
 generally of dark complexions, and rather sallow. 
 The women, mostly brunettes, appeared more re- 
 markable for gracefulness of manner, than beauty 
 of person. The language has a great resemblance 
 to the Sclavonian, though German is generally 
 understood, especially at the inns. 
 
 Prague is a large and well-fortified town ; the 
 houses are lofty, but antique ; and the streets broad 
 and well paved, with the advantage of footways. 
 The place is divided into the old, the new, and the 
 lesser town ; and the population is estimated at 
 about 85,000. The royal palace is an immense 
 building, in a very superior style, and contains 147 
 splendid apartments, with two noble ball-rooms, 
 one of which is appropriated to waltzing, and the 
 other to country dances. The bridge over the 
 Muldaw consists of twenty-four arches, and is 17CO 
 feet in length. The palace of Lobkowitz, the hos- 
 pital of the invalids, and the Jesuits' college, are 
 all elegant structures. The gates of the town have 
 
 5 
 
 1 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 
 
 193 
 
 also a very imposing appearance ; and here are 
 about a hundred churches, some of which are very 
 rich. The most remarkable of these is the cathe- 
 dral of St. Veir, which is the burial place of the 
 ancient kings, and contains several relics of St. 
 Nicholas. The palace of Tschernin is of singular 
 construction, and has a good gallery of paintings. 
 The ruins of Vischerod, once the residence ot the 
 old sovereigns of Bohemia, are worthy of attention. 
 Manufactures of gloves, hats, lace, linen, and steel, 
 are carried on here. 
 
 The road from Prague to Vienna, like all the 
 roads of Austria, are excellent ; and the country of 
 Moravia appeared to be no less fertile than Bohe- 
 mia, though its wines are inferior. The manners 
 of the people are rough ; and, owing to their irre- 
 gular mode of living, and their uncleanly habits, 
 their appearance is far from healthy. The pea- 
 sants, on the farther side of the river Hanak, are 
 called Hanakers. The men wear very wide red 
 leather small clothes, and small round hats; and 
 the women, red stockings. Brunn is the capital ; 
 and Olmutz, the principal fortress, is kept in good 
 order. 
 
 Iglau, situated on the river of this name, is badly 
 built, and thinly inhabited, but remarkable for the 
 mines in its neighbourhood. Znaym is a conside- 
 rable town, situated on the Teya ; the houses in 
 the market-place are all constructed with colon- 
 nades. This is the last town on the Austrian fron- 
 tier : the abbey of Lukar, and the Chartreuse, an 
 old palace, are objects that deserve the attention of 
 the traveller. 
 
 The streets of Vienna are described as generally 
 narrow and dirty, and without a foot-way ; the most 
 handsome among them are the Herren Gasse, lined 
 with elegant mansions ; the Kohlgraben and the 
 Karntner Strasse. The two latter contain the most 
 splendid shops in Vienna, and exhibit the great 
 
 VOL. iv S 
 
19 i 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 lounge, between twelve and two o'clock, for the 
 gay and fashionable company of the place. Among 
 the churches, the cathedral of St. Stephen is the 
 most conspicuous. It is built afteV the model of St. 
 Peter's at Rome, and contains thirty-eight altars. 
 The columns of the high altar are magnificent, as 
 are also the tombs of Frederick and Prince Eugene. 
 During the holy week this temple is splendidly 
 lighted up, and the bishop and all the clergy go in 
 procession. During this period ail the churches are 
 open the whole day. In the church of St. Augustin 
 is the tomb of Field-marshal Daun. St. Rupert 
 deserves a visit, as a curious piece of antiquity ; and 
 the church of St. Charles is remarkable for the ele- 
 gance of its architecture. Next to these are the 
 palaces of the princes, with the Burg, or Imperial 
 Palace ; the Imperial Chancery, the Hospital, the 
 Mint, the Museum, the Bank, and the Custom- 
 house. In the Citizen's Arsenal strangers are shewn 
 the head of Kara Mustapha, a Grand Vizier, taken 
 at the siege of Belgrade, and afterwards strangled. 
 The Imperial Library contains from five to six thou- 
 sand volumes, printed in the fifteenth century. The 
 celebrated clock here is constructed on the princi- 
 ples of the perpetual motion, and the cabinet of 
 medals is extremely rich. The Imperial Hiding- 
 school is esteemed one of the finest in Europe. 
 Vienna also boasts of many fine squares ; that of 
 Joseph's Piatz is the most conspicuous, having a 
 fine equestrian statue of Joseph the Second. Seve- 
 ral other squares are adorned with beautiful foun- 
 tains. The environs of Vienna are very agreeable, 
 especially Schonbrunn, with its magnificent palace 
 and extensive gardens. 
 
 Dorbach, a village, half a German mile distant 
 from Vienna, is remarkable for its romantic scenery, 
 and that of Rodauen is frequented on account of its 
 baths and mineral waters ; though Baden, three 
 German miles from the capital, is the resort of the 
 higher classes, to drink the waters, during the sum- 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 
 
 titer months. The best bath is the Josephsbad ; the 
 charge is moderate, being only thirty-six kreutzers, 
 or fourteen pence each. There is a good theatre 
 here, and the walks in the environs of the place are 
 delightful. 
 
 Jn an excursion to Hungary, Mr. Bramsen de- 
 scribes the usual dress of the peasantry as, a great 
 coat of goats skin, and sometimes of cloth, very 
 wide pantaloons, of coarse linen, trimmed with red 
 and black ; blue waistcoat, profusely embroidered, 
 and ornamented with a quantity of small white but- 
 tons ; a small round hat, and frequently a cap made 
 with skin, with a rim of iron to tit the head : this 
 latter curious article they call a kalpag. They also 
 wear large formidable mustachios, with long black 
 hair flowing over their shoulder?, and altogether 
 present a very fierce and forbidding aspect; they 
 are also remarkably serious, and a traveller may 
 pass whole villages without seeing a single person 
 laugh. Among such a race as this, it is observed, 
 " One is almost prepared to hear of robbers and 
 banditti; anticipations which will be found too truly 
 realized.'* Intire villages are said to be inhabited 
 by these wretches, who differ from common high- 
 waymen only in this particular, that they rob only 
 a certain description of people. They generally 
 live in the woods, and the most of them are a kind 
 of herdsmen, who are so inveterate against the 
 Jews, that they never let one pass without robbing 
 him; but if a traveller is so fortunate as to be able 
 to converse with them in their own native tongue, 
 he is sure to escape without molestation. 
 
 Mr. Bramsen was assured, that some of these pea- 
 sants, who devote their lives to the rearing of 
 horses, have never seen a house, and are completely 
 ignorant of its use or construction ! Neither disease 
 or sickness is ever heard of among these people ; 
 but it is understood, that if any one falls sick, and 
 becomes burthensome to his friends, they feel no 
 
196 
 
 ^LOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 remorse in dispatching him. Their hatred to the 
 Germans seems to be as sincere as their aversion to 
 the Hebrew race, before mentioned. They are 
 passionately fond of horse racing, and all kinds of 
 gymnastic exercises ; and, in their estimation, the 
 utmost effort of human genius is to manage a restive 
 and ungovernable horse. The people of the coun- 
 try, upon the whole, are very hospitable to> 
 strangers, Jews excepted. The inns and villages 
 being uniformly bad, the accommodation, if such 
 it may be called, is miserable. " If you can ma- 
 nage to live upon badly cured bacon and pork, sour 
 wine, black and half baked bread, you may do; 
 but this is nearly the whole bill of fare of the lux- 
 uries you are likely to obtain at these places; 
 though some of the inns belonging to noblemen are 
 a little more decent than the rest.'' 
 
 Some remains of Roman antiquities are to be 
 seen between Deutsch Altenburg and Haynburg. 
 Kaab is badly built, and the streets, though broad, 
 are badly paved, having no raised foot-way. Round 
 the spacious market-place are some tolerably good 
 buildings. The bastions and ramparts of the place 
 were destroyed by the French last war. The ca- 
 thedral, standing on an eminence, is the most con- 
 spicuous object in the town, and the interior is 
 very rich and superb. The inns here are tolerable, 
 and the people civil. 
 
 Gratz is a fine fortified town ; but the road from 
 Buda to this place is not so good as that from Raab 
 to Buda. The post-houses too are badly kept, and 
 the postillions do just as they please ; not being 
 being sufficiently under the controul of the post- 
 masters; a case too common in Hungary. The 
 houses at Gratz are high; but the streets are nar- 
 row, and without any foot pavement. The town, 
 in fact, is delightfully situated, and the people are 
 remarkable for their politeness and attention to- 
 wards strangers; the women are remarkably hand- 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 197 
 
 some, and are much noticed for the taste and 
 neatness displayed in their head-dresses and their 
 bonnets. So far is the politeness of the people 
 carried here, that they bestow the epithet of " Your 
 Grace," upon every respectable traveller, and usu- 
 ally kiss the hand when they receive any thing. 
 The Burg Palace here is a curious old structure, 
 and here the crown of the Dukes of Styria is pre- 
 served. An extensive college, that belonged to the 
 Jesuits, remains here, with a good public library, 
 and an observatory. The town-house, and what 
 is called the Lamprechthoff, are fine buildings, 
 and here is also a small theatre. The walks 
 round the town are delightfully shaded by rows of 
 fine trees, which afford a refreshing promenade to 
 the inhabitants, especially in the summer evenings. 
 The Castle of Gratz was destroyed by the French, 
 during the late revolutionary war. The toil of as. 
 cending the mountain, upon which this castle stood, 
 will be amply repaid, by the bold and extensive 
 views it presents of the neighbouring towns, vil- 
 lages and farms, bounded by mountains, whose 
 tops, during the greatest part of the year, are co- 
 vered with snow. Though the summers are re- 
 markably hot, the climate is very healthful. A 
 species of white wine is produced in the neighbour- 
 hood, and the epicures of Vienna are largely sup- 
 plied with a fine breed of turkies from this place. 
 Several manufactories of steel, silk, &c. are car. 
 ried on here. 
 
 The road from Gratz to Vienna is very excellent, 
 and the country one of the most romantic in Eu- 
 rope. The beauties of nature thicken as we ap- 
 proach the village of Merzuschlagg. The Sam. 
 mering mountains divide Styria from Austria. On 
 the summit is a large pyramid, with a Latin in- 
 scription, mentioning the different divisions of the 
 country. 
 
 At Bruck, many people are seen with goitres on 
 
 s 3 
 
198 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 their necks, which some think is in consequence of 
 the air from the mountains, b}' which the town is 
 inclosed ; whilst others attribute this protuberance 
 to the water they drink. After passing Schottween 
 towards Neuburg, the road is entirely hemmed in 
 by mountains. 
 
 The remainder of Mr. Bramsen's journey through 
 part of Styria to Trieste, was not less agreeable 
 than the former, being through a turnpike road, 
 kept in good repair. The country, from Lilien- 
 feld, a small neat town, is extremely hilly. Mari- 
 enzell is situated in a most delightful and romantic 
 spot, on the brow of a commanding eminence, hav- 
 ing other stupendous mountains around it, with their 
 summits white with snow. The valley that extends 
 at the foot of the town is beauty and fertility itself. 
 Here the travellers observed a procession of pil- 
 grims, walking two by two, with their heads unco- 
 vered, according to seniority ; the eldest person 
 among them serving as their leader, and carrying 
 a large black cross. Other parties, about sixteen 
 in number, were also seen together, followed by 
 the female pilgrims, who proceeded in the same 
 order. Hymns were chaunted by the whole body, 
 with much earnestness. These people came from 
 a village in Hungary, several hundreds of English 
 miles from this place. During these pious journeys, 
 these people, who generally travel bare-footed, live 
 very hard, of course the aged seemed to be great 
 sufferers by fatigue. The church of Marienzell, a 
 large gloomy building, was not only surrounded, but 
 filled, by these devotees, who, on reaching a particu- 
 lar spot in it, kneel down and kiss a large plain cane, 
 deposited upon one of the altars. This cane is said 
 to have belonged to a priest who came here, some 
 centuries since, mounted upon a white horse, and 
 remained six weeks in prayer and fasting. Not 
 satisfied with this penance, the tradition says that 
 he mutilated both himself and his horse. After his 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS, 199 
 
 death his cane is said to have been found, and pre- 
 served, and by some persons is supposed to blos- 
 som like a tree in spring. The church was erected 
 in honour of this pious priest; but it is justly 
 deemed a disgrace to the age, to permit that a 
 number of misguided people should quit their 
 houses, neglect the important duties of life, and 
 ramble several hundreds of miles for the purpose of 
 kissing a cane ! 
 
 Leoben, the next town, is rendered memorable 
 from the circumstance that, in a garden near it, the 
 Emperor of Austria concluded a peace with Napo- 
 leon. The houses here are low, but have a neat 
 and cleanly appearance. The contrasts of scenery 
 in the valley of Sovishoer, arise from the mountains 
 on one side being topped with snow, whilst the 
 other displays beautiful vallies, adorned with the 
 most luxurious vegetation, watered by streams de- 
 scending like cascades from the heights. Daring 
 winter these rocky recesses are infested with wolves, 
 and other wild beasts, that sometimes make terri- 
 ble incursions into the vallies. About Judenburg 
 the people did not appear healthy, and there was 
 but little pasturage for cattle. 
 
 Clagenfurt is a strong town, surrounded by walls, 
 the palace is in the ancient style of architecture; 
 the new palace, and the establishment for soldiers' 
 orphans, with other public buildings, are worthy 
 the traveller's notice. In the public square are two 
 statues, representing Prince Leopold and the Em- 
 press Maria Theresa. 
 
 From the Leobel mountains, those in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Saltzburg may be seen at the distance 
 of forty miles. Travelling at the foot of the former 
 the heat is sometimes nearly suffocating; but upon 
 the summit our travellers were obliged to have re- 
 course to their great coats. Upon this drear v and 
 desolate spot the snow lay deep, and the only liv- 
 ing thing to be seen was the raven, fcktiog so! r tary 
 
200 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 on the pine, perfectly at ease with the desolation 
 of the scene. Still the spot they had just quitted 
 was all sunshine, and the image and beauty of 
 spring, affording a transition as sudden and extra- 
 ordinary as if they had been transported from the 
 glow of an Italian summer to the horrors of a Rus- 
 sian winter. At an inn upon this mountain it was 
 thought a luxury to get a warm by the kitchen 
 fire ; but to this the Germans generally add their 
 schnapps, or a dram. 
 
 Laybach, or Laubach, is a fine fortified town, on 
 the river of this name. The streets are broad, and 
 well paved. The castle, upon an eminence, is 
 strong, both by art and nature ; here the French 
 maintained themselves for some time, after they 
 had surrendered the town, to which they did con- 
 siderable damage, by firing upon the houses, se- 
 veral of which retain the marks of the cannon balls. 
 The cathedral of St. Nicholas, and the church of 
 St. Peter, are fine buildings. The arsenal, the town- 
 hall, and the palace of Count Aversperg, and the 
 military hospital, are the most considerable build- 
 ings in the place. A little excursion to Idria, fa- 
 mous for its mines of quicksilver, will repay the 
 traveller for his trouble. 
 
 The way from Laybach to Trieste is very agree- 
 able, though hilly ; the soil rich, and the country 
 well cultivated. The views from the Karst, near 
 Trieste, are extensive, and pleasing. At Trieste 
 the travellers observed " the voices of the inhabit- 
 ants, who are very clamorous in their bargains ; the 
 peculiarity of their dress and gestures, the singular 
 intermixture of strangers, of all nations, the tar- 
 banned Mussulmen, Greeks and Jews, with the 
 Germans and Italians, all are calculated to strike 
 the stranger with surprize; especially if he had 
 been for some time wandering among the peaceful 
 vales of Hungary and Styria.'' Trieste carries on 
 an extensive trade with the Levant, which accounts 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 
 
 201 
 
 for the great influx of strangers of every nation. 
 The voices were so loud, and the confusion in the 
 market place so great, when Mr. Bramsen and his 
 friends arrived, that they actually supposed some 
 public disturbance had taken place. Trieste is well 
 built, and the streets rise from the very margin of 
 the sea, and spread into a kind of amphitheatre on 
 the side< of the hill, upon which the town is situ- 
 ated. The principal buildings are the palace, the 
 public library, the hospital, and the theatre. The 
 exchange is a handsome edifice ; and in one of the 
 halls there is a very large and well executed paint- 
 ing of the battle of Leipsic, lately placed there. 
 The most conspicuous among the churches are the 
 cathedral, the church of , v t. Anthony, and the Je- 
 suit's church. The principal street is full of good 
 shops, and some of the houses have the advantage 
 of a piazza, or colonnade. Three of the public 
 walks are much frequented: one of them is on the 
 sea shore, and the other two at a small distance 
 from the town. The harbour, though fine, is not 
 considered secure in winter, from the severe north- 
 erly blasts ; large vessels therefore generally leave 
 it before the rough season comes in. 
 
 The grotto of Corgnale is only two leagues from 
 Trieste, and will amply repay the visitor's curiosity. 
 The old palace of the Serf also merits attention. 
 A boat may also be hired, to visit Pola, about 
 twenty miles distant. The amphitheatre here is in 
 good preservation, together with the Roman tem- 
 ple, but this and the triumphal arch are falling to 
 ruin. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII, 
 
 Vienna — Fortifications — Morning and Evening 
 Amusements — Dinner Parties — Theatres — Ta- 
 bleau — The Prater — Horsemanship — Panorama 
 
202 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 — Carrousels — A Sledge Procession — Moral ten-* 
 dency of the Catholic Ceremonies — Empress Ma- 
 ria Louisa — Young Napoleon — The Capuchins — 
 Presburg — Carnuntium — Freystadt — Neutra — - 
 Gypsies, or Cyganics Leva — A Funeral Service — ■ 
 Bat ha — Foreign Ideas of the Riches of England. 
 
 Dr. Bright arrived at Vienna in the latter end of 
 November, 1814, during the sitting of the Con- 
 gress. He lodged in the commercial part of the 
 city, in an inn, which he describes as busy and 
 dirty, built in the form of a hollow square ; the 
 rooms communicated with each other by means of 
 open galleries, and looked into a space crowded 
 with tilted waggons, and various other springless 
 machines, for which the English vocabulary affords 
 no names. The apartment of our traveller was 
 large, and desolate, without a carpet, having only 
 an earthen stove in one corner, and a small wooden 
 bedstead in another ; and such, he observes, are 
 the miserable accommodations in most of the inns 
 at Vienna. Walking in the streets appears to re- 
 quire some courage, most of them being narrow, 
 and the pavement, praised throughout the whole 
 empire, is so little elevated above the carriage 
 tract, that a pedestrian has no safety but in the 
 forbearance of the charioteer, who frequently en- 
 dangers your feet, to avoid the wheels of a passing 
 carriage. The houses, when they can be observed 
 under such disadvantageous circumstances, appear 
 large, and handsomely built ; all of them are very 
 high, this, and the narrowness of the streets, spreads 
 a perpetual gloom; and it is only in a few more 
 open parts that the real beauty of the buildings can 
 be perceived. The shops contain a good assortment 
 of goods, but frequently a glazed case of patterns 
 hung at the door is the only display of articles dealt 
 in ; besides this, each shop is distinguished by some 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 203 
 
 painted sign, as the Golden Fleece, the Sceptre, 
 the Schwartzenburg Head, or the Holy Ghost. 
 
 Vienna consists of two parts, perfectly distinct. 
 That part properly called the city, is surrounded 
 by walls, bastions, and a dry fosse ; while the sub- 
 urbs are contained within a line of circumvallation, 
 with barriers at all the openings, and are separated 
 from the city by the glacis and an intervening 
 space, entirely free from buildings. The circuit of 
 the inner fortification is less than three miles, whilst 
 that of the external lines exceed twelve, including 
 the line of the works, which occupies about two- 
 thirds of the whole, and the natural line formed by 
 the southernmost branch of the Danube, on which 
 the city is built. This river, touching at one part 
 the walls of the city, forms one-third of the .sur- 
 rounding line of defence. A part of the suburbs 
 is cut orf by this branch of the river, and occupies 
 part of a large island, formed by the divided stream. 
 The whole population of this capital amounts to 
 about ^70,000, of which 20,000 reside in the exten- 
 sive suburbs. 
 
 In 1809, when the French were in possession of 
 Vienna, they began to destroy the fortifications, 
 and, before they left it, had made such extensive 
 breaches, that their repair would require an im- 
 mense labour and expense. The Austrians at length 
 perceiving the impossibility of defending a town 
 commanded by its suburbs, resolved not to repair 
 the walls, and are busily employed in pulling down 
 several parts, in order to facilitate the approaches 
 to the town. On a cursory view of the Austrian 
 capital, the traveller will observe antiquated build- 
 ings, piled up in successive stories, streets narrow- 
 ed to the utmost by the trembling people, who 
 sought protection within its walls; a town irregu- 
 larly constructed by frequent additions, yet orna- 
 mented by many substantial public edifices, arising 
 under the comparatively quiet and peaceful reign 
 
204 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 which preceded that of the present monarch. In 
 the suburbs will be perceived a more regular and 
 open plan of building ; houses less elevated, gar- 
 dens and places of recreation, the work-yards of 
 artificers and the seat of many manufactures. 
 
 The city of Vienna, and its suburbs, as it relates 
 to the elevation of the buildings, approaches some- 
 what to the figure of a cone ; of which the apex is 
 formed by the steeple of St. Stephen's church, and 
 the circumference of the basis by the external lines 
 of fortification. The best houses of the suburbs 
 are generally built in those parts which face towards 
 the city, where are seen several fine streets, palaces 
 of the nobility, and public institutions. The glacis 
 and the area are always preserved free from build- 
 ings, extending nearly a quarter of a mile in width, 
 and are most valuable means of securing the health 
 of the inhabitants. 
 
 Morning calls are not practised in Vienna, but 
 when a stranger has been properly introduced to a 
 family, he receives a general invitation, of which 
 he is expected to avail himself. Accordingly he calls 
 in the evening, or previously sends his servant, and 
 if the family is at home is admitted, and, as it hap- 
 pens, meets others, or is the only visitor. Easy 
 conversation, or cards, music and tea, chess, or 
 enigmas, fill up the evening ; or, if the party be 
 numerous, dances and refreshments, the rehearsal 
 of poetry, &c. enliven the visit. 
 
 The evening amusements of Germany are very 
 various, sometimes puerile. Young ladies recite 
 verses, children are compelled to act plays, while 
 grown people will play at cross questions and crook- 
 ed answers ; or, standing in a circle and holding a 
 cord in their hands, pass a ring from one to the 
 other, imposing it on one of the party to discover 
 in whose possession it is to be found. Acting rid- 
 dles is a favourite game : a certain portion of the 
 company retire into an adjoining room, where 
 
VOYAGE* AND TRAVELS. -05 
 
 they concert together how best to represent by ac- 
 tion the different syllables which compose a word, 
 and then the remaining of the whole word. They 
 presently return, and carrying on their precon- 
 certed action, require the company to resolve their 
 riddle. 
 
 Dinner parties are not uncommon, though they 
 do not form the every-day amusement of life in 
 Vienna. There is much similarity in the style of 
 dinners throughout Germany, and some peculiar 
 points of excellence. The tables are generally 
 round or oval, so that each guest has the advantage 
 of intercourse with the whole party, even when it 
 is large. It is covered, for the most part, with a 
 tasteful display of fruits and sweets ; two places 
 only being left near the centre, for the more sub- 
 stantial dishes. Each person is provided with a 
 black bottle of light wine, and every cover (even 
 at a table d'hote) is furnished with a napkin, and 
 silver forks. The first dishes which occupy the 
 vacant spaces are always soups ; they are quickly 
 removed to the side-tables, and distributed by the 
 servants. In the mean time the next dish is placed 
 upon the table, taken off, carved, and carried round 
 to the guests, in precisely the same manner ; and 
 so on till every thing has been served. The plates 
 are carefully changed, but the knives and forks, 
 at best, are only wiped and returned. The variety 
 of dishes is so great, that as every body eats a 
 little of every thing, they seldom partake twice of 
 the same. The succession of dishes is not ex- 
 actly the same as with us, a joint of meat 
 being sometimes followed by a fish ; or a savoury 
 dish usurps the place of one that was sweet. At 
 the conclusion of the meal, each servant takes one 
 of the sweetmeat ornaments, and carries it as he 
 has done the other dishes to all the guests. The con- 
 versation which is general and lively, is thus neve r 
 interrupted, as in England, by the attention which 
 
 VOL. IV. T 
 
1206 T LOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 «very one is there bound to pay to the wants of 
 persons at the more distant parts of the table. 
 While the sweetmeats are served, a few glasses of 
 some superior kinds of wine, which have likewise 
 been distributed at intervals, during the dinner, 
 are carried round ; and then the company, both 
 ladies and gentlemen, rise at the same time, by 
 a kind of mutual consent, which, as the rooms are 
 seldom carpeted, occasions no inconsiderable noise. 
 To this succeeds a general bowing and compli- 
 ment from every one to each of the company in- 
 dividually, each hoping that the other has eaten a 
 good dinner. This phrase is exactly the counter- 
 part of another, always employed on the parting 
 of friends about mid-day, expressing i( sl sincere 
 hope that the other will eat a hearty dinner/' and 
 is the form of civility most usual in Vienna. The 
 party now adjourns into another apartment, where 
 coffee is served. Here other visitors, chiefly men, 
 are frequently met, these come, without particular 
 invitation, to pay their respects, or converse on 
 business, in the manner of a morning call, and 
 prolong their visits as the movements of the first 
 party indicate : for an invitation to dinner by no 
 means necessarily implies, that you are to spend 
 your evening, or any part of it, at the house, or 
 that the family has no other engagement as soon 
 as dinner is concluded, and the coffee and liquors 
 have been served. The dinner being early, always 
 between twelve and five, the remainder of the day 
 is employed in various pursuits. A drive to the 
 prater, or to some place of public resort, a visit 
 to the theatre, or a succession of the calls just 
 described, employ the evening. In some instances, 
 if the dinner has been very early, the party resume 
 the occupations and business of the day. 
 
 The theatres are the usual evening resort, and 
 at the time of our traveller's visit, they were all 
 occupied by German companies, the Italian opera 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 
 
 having been recently discontinued : they begin 
 their performance about six, and conclude a little 
 after nine. There are five theatres ; one commu- 
 nicating with the palace, is called the palace 
 theatre j this and another, called the Coentnor- 
 thor theatre, from its situation, are within the 
 boundary of the city. In these, as well as the 
 chief theatre of the suburbs, the representations 
 are highly respectable, and the language spoken 
 is pure. In the two smaller theatres, situated in 
 the suburbs, the pieces are generally of an inferior 
 character, and the German language, even when 
 not meant to imitate the low and vulgar dialect, is 
 often extremely bad. The prices are moderate, 
 and the houses generally well filled. The par- 
 terres correspond with the English pit, but places 
 may previously be taken. '\ he greatest dec orum 
 prevails during the representation. The police- 
 military, that is, police-officers, dressed in a par- 
 ti* ular liver}, and wearing swords, are placed in 
 all the avenues ; they, however, do not usurp any 
 unpleasant authority, and any person who goes to 
 hear the play is sure of not being interrupted by 
 the bursting out of rude quarrels. Nor is there 
 any part of the house, to which a party of the most 
 delicate females might not resort with the greatest 
 propriety. The performances continue through- 
 out the whole year, with the exception of the days 
 prohibited by the Catholic calendar, on many of 
 which, however, concerts, public rehearsals, and a 
 species of exhibition, called tableau, are permitted. 
 The nature of these is to represent, by groups of 
 living figures, the compositions of celebrated sculp- 
 tors, or painters. That part of the theatre, be- 
 yond which the tableau is to be placed, is darkened, 
 and on raising a curtain, the figures are discovered, 
 dressed in the costume which the painter has given 
 them, and firmly fixed in the attitude which his 
 pencil has prescribed. The light is skilfully in- 
 
 t 2 
 
208 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODEIIX 
 
 troduced, and other objects arranged so as to give* 
 as nearly as possible, the effect of the original 
 painting. After some minutes, the curtain drops 
 to give the performers time to rest and relieve 
 themselves from the painful attitudes which they 
 are often obliged to maintain, and the curtain 
 again drawn up, discovers them still in their cha- 
 racteristic postures. Thus several pictures are 
 exhibited in succession. This amusement is gene- 
 rally accompanied by a theatrical performance, or, 
 if in private, by dancing and music. A pleasing 
 diversity of this entertainment was once witnessed 
 by our traveller. At a certain hour, in the midst 
 of a splendid assembly, the folding-doors of ano- 
 ther room were suddenly thrown open, and what 
 appeared a beautiful collection of wax figures, met 
 the view. They were placed on pedestals, or in 
 groups, around the room, they represented heathen 
 deities, or gnomes, and fairies, with all their em- 
 blematical accompaniments and dresses. This 
 exhibition seemed to throw a magic spell over the 
 spectators, and the great difficulty was to induce 
 them to retire, when it was actually necessary to 
 relieve the figures from the painful position in 
 which they stood. 
 
 Another favourite recreation of the inhabitants 
 of Vienna, is the prater. It is situated on a large 
 island, formed by the Danube, and is a very mag- 
 nificent ornament to the city. The principal drive 
 extends above two miles, between double rows of 
 horse-chesnut trees. Many other drives and walks 
 intersect the woods, but all the intervening space 
 of turf and grove, with the exception of some pre- 
 serves for game, is open to the pedestrian. The 
 grand avenue at one end terminates in extensive 
 public walks, called the Augarten, where a large 
 building is constructed, with rooms for entertain- 
 ments, and saloons for public balls and concerts : 
 while the garden, which affords a variety of ar- 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 209 
 
 bours and recesses for tables in the open air, is 
 laid out in avenues, formed by cut hedges and 
 magnificent trees, occupying in the whole a space 
 equal to half the city of Vienna. 
 
 At no great distance from the grand drive of 
 the prater, are several houses for refreshments, a 
 circus for the exhibition of horsemanship, a pano- 
 rama, several houses for what are here called ca- 
 rousels, from their resemblance to horses in a 
 tournament, and a very high and extensive scaf- 
 folding for the display of fire-works, near to which 
 is erected a kind of open theatre for the specta- 
 tors. The whole island is adorned with beautiful 
 elms, and near the banks of the river are many 
 alders and willows, the latter of which have at- 
 tained a most unusual size. Even in winter this 
 spot is much frequented, but when the trees are 
 clothed with leaves, and the days lengthen, these 
 visits are more general, and the hour of retiring 
 becomes later. In summer, a double row of car- 
 riages extend frequently for upwards of a mile, 
 each preserving the exact line prescribed by cus- 
 tom, or where this fails, by the interference of men 
 in the livery of the police, who are stationed in 
 proper places. This regular mode of driving is 
 observed by persons of the highest rank, and the 
 emperor himself may be seen in his carriage, im- 
 peded by a fiacre, hired by a little shop-keeper, to 
 take his wife and child an airing in the prater. 
 
 The little societies who frequent the prater, and 
 there under the green shade, dine or chat over 
 their coffee, frequently extend their excursions to 
 more distant spots ; at one time to the beautiful 
 parks of Dombach, or at another, climbing the 
 towers on the rocky Griffinstein, or visiting the 
 heights of Johannesberg. 
 
 What is called " a sledge procession" at Vi- 
 enna, occurred in the winter of 1S14. The cli- 
 mate was then nearly as variable as that of Lon- 
 
 T 3 
 
21o 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 don ; however, from the middle of December till 
 the middle of February, there was frost sufficient 
 to keep the ground almost continually covered with 
 snow. The thermometer was often at 25° of Fah- 
 renheit during the day, and at midnight seldom 
 below 20. At this period, the streets of Vienna 
 were crowded with sledges, the greater part of 
 the wheel-carriages having disappeared; even the 
 wheels had been taken from the hackney-coaches, 
 which were afterwards placed upon sledges. The 
 horses' heads were adorned with plumes ; and as 
 they passed over the hardened snow, without 
 causing any sound, it became necessary to pro- 
 vide them with numerous bells, to warn passengers 
 of their approach. The scene afforded by these 
 sledges is much more gay than any produced by 
 an equal number of common carriages ; as there is 
 always no small emulation in adorning them with 
 plumes, or coloured cloths. Among the nobility y 
 the vanity of possessing rich and beautiful sledges, 
 was carried to such excess, and produced such 
 extravagant expences, that it was at length dis- 
 couraged by the court. However, on the present 
 occasion, the emperor invited the nobility to assist 
 in forming a magnificent procession of these ve- 
 hicles, for the amusement of his august visitors. 
 
 The good order that prevailed among an im- 
 mense crowd, assembled on this occasion, is im- 
 puted by our traveller, more to the sedate and or- 
 derly feeling communicated by a Sunday dress, 
 than to the accustomed subjection of the Austrian 
 people. At two in the day the procession began 
 to move through the streets ; it was formed by 
 forty sledges, fitted up and adorned in the most 
 splendid manner, being of various colours, green, 
 blue, and red of every shade, covered with orna- 
 mental work of gold and silver, and lined within 
 with velvets and rich furs. They were generally 
 formed like light cars, for two persons, a gentleman 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 2ll 
 
 driving, and a lady sitting by his side ; the former in 
 full uniform, the latter with "high plumes of feathe rs, 
 rich dresses, and a notable quantity of rouge. The 
 greater part of the visitors in this assembly were royal 
 persons ; two emperors, three kings, two or three 
 hereditary princes, and several archdukes. Among 
 the ladies were two empresses, two queens, several 
 princesses and archduchesses ; and with them were 
 observed two of the English nobility. Each 
 sledge was drawn by a single pair of horses, 
 covered with richly embroidered cloths of gold, 
 with plumes upon their heads and necks, and a 
 great mass of silver or gilded bells, hanging in the 
 usual manner across their shoulders. A servant, 
 in a rich fur cloak, stood behind each sledge, and 
 between each of these rode three or four equer- 
 ries, decked in the uniforms and liveries of the 
 emperor, or those of their respective masters. 
 The whole was preceded by a band of military 
 music, on a large sledge constructed for the pur- 
 pose, and a similar band closed the procession, 
 with a body of cavalry in the front and in the 
 rear. This brilliant spectacle passed and repassed 
 through all the streets of Vienna ; then, leaving 
 the town, proceeded to a palace of the emperor at 
 some distance, where a magnificent dinner was 
 succeeded by a theatrical representation. The 
 ground was covered with deep snow, and the wide 
 course of the procession was marked in the even- 
 ing like a river of fire, by the flames of the moving 
 torches. When they entered the streets the ef- 
 fects were in a great degree lost, and the company 
 retired soon after to their respective habitations. 
 
 After describing at a great length, the various 
 ceremonies of the Catholic church, as exhibited 
 upon numerous occasions, Dr. Bright makes seve- 
 ral judicious observations upon the moral ten- 
 dency of them. The churches, he remarks, are 
 almost constantly open ; and here, even servants 
 
212 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 may be seen, who have been sent on errands, with 
 their baskets or parcels lying by their sides ; chil- 
 dren, too, have been observed prostrated before 
 the images at the corners of the streets and pas- 
 sages in Vienna, and apparently fixed in serious 
 devotion. <f The great multiplicity of holy days 
 interferes with the common occupations of life, 
 without giving that complete periodical and salu- 
 tary rest, which is derived from a well observed 
 Sabbath ; an institution which, amongst us, civi- 
 lizes and enlightens the lower orders of the peo- 
 ple. The Catholic festivals, on the contrary, ap- 
 pear to strengthen feelings which are always 
 enough inclined to go beyond the reach of sober 
 reason ; they encourage the common people to in- 
 dulge in the raptures of enthusiasm, instead of in- 
 ducing them to enjoy and improve the solid ad- 
 vantages of domestic comfort and society. De- 
 vout and uninformed Catholics seem to be con- 
 stantly living in an ideal world, perpetually think- 
 ing upon and accompanying our Saviour, yet, in 
 point of real imitation and obedience, are, at 
 least, as far behind as the Protestants. " 
 
 The amusements of Vienna were nearly damped 
 by the irreparable loss of the Prince de Ligne, 
 almost at the age of ninety ; his funeral was cele- 
 brated by military honours, and witnessed in par- 
 ticular by the King of Prussia, then, with the 
 other allies, on a vis t to the imperial court. The 
 Empress Maria Louisa, was, during all this pe- 
 riod, called upon for the most arduous exercise of 
 resignation, amidst the agonies of contending af- 
 fections ; but she suffered with a dignity that did 
 honour to her character. With her infant upon 
 whom, a few months before, the eyes of all Eu- 
 rope had been fixed, she lived at the palace of 
 Schonbrunn, a few miles from Vienna, without 
 taking the least part in those festivities with which 
 her father's court re. echoed ; lout daily paid a, re- 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 215 
 
 spectful visit to her parents, and then returned to 
 her infant charge, whom Dr. Bright, by applica- 
 tion at Schonbrunn, was permitted to see. He 
 represents him as the sweetest child he ever be- 
 held ; his complexion light, with fine light silky hair, 
 falling in curls upon his neck ; he was dressed in 
 the embroidered uniform of a hussar, and seemed 
 to be the least embarrassed of the party. He 
 was rather too old to allow of loud praises of his 
 beauty, and too young to enter into conversation. 
 All the servants about the place were Frenchmen, 
 and still wore the livery of Napoleon. After an 
 attempt had been made to carry off the young 
 King of Rome from Schonbrunn, he was removed 
 to Vienna, and there exhibited every day from the 
 window of the royal palace. 
 
 Visiting the cemetry of the imperial family, be- 
 neath the chapel of the Capuchins, the coffins of 
 bronze were seen lying exposed to view. Here 
 are the bodies of nine emperors, thirteen empres- 
 ses, and in all above eighty. Before the party 
 quitted the vault, a monk, kneeling at the foot of 
 the coffin of Maria Theresa, invited them to join 
 in prayer for the repose of her soul. Leaving Vi- 
 enna, in March, 1815, for Prcsburg, Dr. Bright 
 took the road on the right of the Danube. Here 
 the villages afforded as little interest, as the inter- 
 vening country, which is flat and open. 
 
 To the right, before entering Haimburg, are the 
 remains of a Roman triumphal arch, the lower 
 parts of stone, and the upper of that thin flat 
 brick so frequent among Roman remains. The 
 traces of the ancient town of Carnuntum, in which 
 this arch is supposed to have been erected, are 
 now become very faint. 
 
 Presburg, as a town, is insignificant; the streets 
 are steep and narrow, the good houses but few, 
 and the shops bear a poor and retail appearance. 
 The castle, used as a barrack, was some years 
 
214 FLOWERS OF MODE R I? 
 
 since burnt down. The hill on which it stoocf> 
 ma) be reckoned the first of the Carpathian chain. 
 The principal church is said to have been built in 
 1090, and has over its altar an excellent eques- 
 trian figure of St. Martin, its tutelary saint. Here 
 is also a theatre and a public walk in the middle 
 of the town. In the suburbs are a few large 
 houses, with gardens, belonging to Hungarian no- 
 blemen. Beyond Presburg the country seemed 
 almost deserted, the peasants were dirty, and the 
 road very bad, and when passing a village the tra- 
 veller's carriage sunk to the naves in mud. Pro- 
 ceeding towards Sarfo, Dr. Bright found the road 
 improve, and his driver cheered the scene by sing- 
 ing a Sclavonian song; still the way was destitute 
 of trees or hedges. The long black hair of the 
 peasants is negligently plaited, or tied in knots. 
 Over their dirty jackets they wear cloaks of coarse 
 woollen cloth, or sheepskin, still retaining its wool ; 
 and to these are to be added, a pair of heavy 
 boots. What is called a village here ?i is two rows 
 of cottages, separated by a white muddy road. 
 In some of these villages the cottages present their 
 ends, in others their sides to the roads ; they ge- 
 nerally consist of three small rooms on the ground- 
 floor, and a space between them and the roof for 
 lumber ; two small windows are commonly seen 
 towards the road, and the cottages stand a few 
 yards from each other. The intervening space is 
 defended by a rail and gate, and a hedge of wicker- 
 work. A triangular stone edifice, and some pil- 
 lars, observed about this time, the traveller learned 
 was a gallows ; but a man advanced in years as- 
 sured him, he did not remember a single execu- 
 tion. Dining at Tyrnau, about fourteen English 
 miles from Sarfo, a nobleman formed one of the 
 most conspicuous guests ; his conversation in La- 
 tin was rapid, and in this the whole company oc- 
 casionally joined. Approaching Freystadt, tfaej 
 
VOYAGES AND ^TRAVELS. 
 
 observed the regular fortification of Leopoldstadt, 
 so called from Leopold the First, who built it 
 after the twenty years truce had been concluded 
 with the Turks, in 1664 It is situated on the 
 river Waag ; but at present is only a station for 
 invalids. i reystadt is well built on a rising 
 ground ; being market-day the streets contained 
 a number of peasants, with their light waggons, 
 drawn by two oxen, or small horses, a- breast. 
 Here, in addition to the usual sheep-skin cloak, 
 many men had two tails hanging from the collar 
 tlown their backs, generally made of black lamb- 
 skin, or variegated in some rude pattern of black 
 and white. Numbers of horses, &c. had been 
 brought here for sale, but a more wretched col- 
 lection could scarcely be seen. Beggars, Jews, 
 and Gypsies, served to fill up this motley assem- 
 . blage. 
 
 Neutra is a town situated on two elevations, one 
 of which contains the bishop's palace and the cathe- 
 dral, and the other a public school. Here are several 
 good houses. At Urmeny, as Dr. Bright had let- 
 ters of recommendation to Count Hunyadc, he re- 
 paired to the chateau, where his first supper is 
 described as a patriarchal meal. A large round 
 table comfortably served in the manner of the coun- 
 try, was surrounded by a numerous family of the 
 director's children. The supper was simple and 
 plentiful, and excellent cheese, having many quali- 
 ties of the Stilton, was found the produce of the 
 count's estate near Balaton lake ; w ine, not unlike 
 claret, was from another of his estates, besides a 
 very fine fish called fogas. Highly gratified with 
 all that he had seen upon the various estates of 
 this nobleman, Dr. Bright remarked at one of the 
 villages, that the generality of the inhabitants were 
 Sclavonian ; but that the gypsies here called 
 Cyganis were spread through all the hamlets of 
 Hungary^. They seldom marry out of their own 
 
216 
 
 l'LOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 body, and rarely employ themselves in agriculture. 
 Being esteemed inferior to the peasants, they follow 
 the occupations of smiths, carpenters, or letter car- 
 riers. Their houses, always small and poor in ap- 
 pearance, are on the outskirts of the villages, or 
 near some thicket or rough land. Dirty and scantily 
 clothed, they may easily be distinguished by their 
 oval faces, small curved nose, and black eyes- 
 Some of them become dealers in horses or tobacco, 
 and frequent the fairs and markets ; but generally 
 skilled in music, they wander about among the 
 gentry, and introduce themselves at weddings and 
 feasts. The majority of the people in these Hun- 
 garian villages are called bauers, and the peasants 
 of every description seem to be oppressed by a sys- 
 tem equal in this respect to any period of the feudal 
 times, and yet an English traveller would be sur- 
 prised at seeing the plenty of provision in some of 
 their houses, which he would be astonished to find 
 in an English cottage. 
 
 Having at length set out for Leva, our traveller 
 arrived there just as the wife of the post-master was 
 carried to the burial ground upon an elevated spot 
 half a mile from the town, where a number of 
 crosses had been raised by the friends of the de- 
 parted. The service being over, the assembly se- 
 parated, most of them retiring to a higher ground 
 covered with vineyards, on the summit of which is 
 a building erected in memory of the death of the 
 Saviour upon Mount Calvary. Here the tribute of 
 tears was paid by mothers, by children, and friends, 
 to the memory of those that were gone before them. 
 A mother and daughter were observed weeping at 
 the side of a tomb, that seemed to have been long 
 the abode of him whose loss they deplored. In 
 another spot two little children cried aloud as they 
 lay wiih their faces upon an heap of earth, whilst 
 others kissed the mold which had been lately raised. 
 " These humble peasants of Hungary," it is ob- 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 
 
 217 
 
 served, " have through the active promptness of 
 the heart, so blended the memory of their departed 
 friends, with the feelings of devotion, that nations 
 boasting of higher degrees of cultivation, may re- 
 spect and follow their example. The inn at Leva 
 was large, but, like most in Germany as well as in 
 Hungary, very deficient in comforts. Many en- 
 treaties are requisite to be favoured with the key of 
 a room ; but clean sheets are utterly unattainable. 
 
 At Batha, Dr. Bright found himself for the first 
 time in his life, obliged to speak Latin. The post- 
 master was a gentleman dressed in a complete 
 Hungarian habit ; a light bluejacket, edged with 
 fur, and ornamented with silk twist and buttons, a 
 pair of blue pantaloons with the seams embroidered 
 in the same manner, and half boots; he had mus- 
 tachios on his upper lip, and his hair was tied be- 
 hind in a queue. Batha and Steinbach, the next 
 post, belonged to Prince Esterhazy. Whilst at din- 
 ner at the latter place, the doctor's companions at 
 table freely expressed their very grand ideas of the 
 riches of England. The bank of England, and all 
 others in this country, they persuaded themselves 
 were prodigious storehouses, and contained incal- 
 culable hoards of money lying useless ; and they 
 were with great difficulty made to believe that 
 England contained any paper money. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Schemnitz — The Mines — Szent Kerezt — Bishop's 
 Palace — Kremnitz — Mode of Saluting — House of 
 a Magnat or Noble — Manufacture of Snuff— A 
 Musical Concert — Hungarian Dresses — Voracious 
 Wolves — Jew Merchants — Waitzen — Debrctzen — 
 Singular Dresses — Quarterly Fairs — Pesth and 
 Buda — Public Buildings — Hungarian Theatre — 
 vol. iv, U 
 
218 
 
 FLOWERS OF MOD£RN 
 
 Amusements — Coffee Houses— Public Gardens — 
 Manners of the People — Easter Monday— Public 
 Warm Baths — Measures taken for preventing the 
 Spread of Fires—Alt Offen — The Vintage Feast 
 — Post Carriages — The Neusiedler Lcdce — The 
 Water Croats — Agriculture — Hungarian Robbers 
 — Punishments — Hungarian Mansions — Kesz- 
 thely Sz Miklos — a Franciscan Friar — Indolence 
 — Houses of singular Construction — Villages of 
 an English Appearance — Perlac — Varasdin — Ce- 
 remony of Blessing the Fields — Cattle Keepers — 
 Gypsies — Settled Gijpsies — Mode of seizing Swine 
 — Hordes of Wallachians — Huts, Diet, and 
 Dresses — Germans in Hungary — Funfkircheii — 
 Mohaes — Gratz—Palota — Raab — Beggars ai 
 Gratz. 
 
 The road from Steinbach to Schemnitz is ex- 
 tremely beautiful. Every thing, however, soon 
 bespoke a mining country. After proceeding 
 through Windshacht, the centre of the mining dis- 
 trict, the travellers reached the gate of Schemnitz, 
 where they found no impediment to their admission. 
 At this place, attended by the treasurer of the 
 mines, Dr. Bright descended one of them ; but af- 
 ter arriving at a certain depth, they turned into a 
 gallery dark and dismal, and pursued its various 
 windings for several hours. After following an ir- 
 regularly excavated passage for some time, during 
 which his guide frequently stopped to shew him by 
 the light of his lamp held up to the roof, the traces 
 of metallic veins, they suddenly heard the hollow 
 report of a blast of powder in the rock within a 
 short distance of them, and the thick smoke which 
 filled the gallery began to affect their respiration. 
 The guide then stopping a moment, called out 
 loudly, and having received an answer, proceeded, 
 and soon fornd a group of miners in the recess 
 from which the report had issued. These workmen 
 
 8 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 219 
 
 were sometimes in situations which allowed them 
 to stand upright, but were more frequently sitting 
 or kneeling, and sometimes even lying on their 
 sides, boring holes to receive powder, or working 
 out the little veins of ore with axes, hammers, and 
 wedges. When the ore is high up in the gallery, 
 they build scaffolding to support them. The men 
 were divided into companies of eight each, and paid 
 according to the quality of the ore they collect, so 
 that they have an interest in the research. The ore, 
 when dug out, is placed in a small oblong box or 
 wheel -barrow, and conveyed with wonderful ra- 
 pidity and skill along narrow planks to the shaft, 
 and is there drawn up in large buckets to the sur- 
 face. 
 
 Glasshutte, the next stage from Schemnitz, is 
 much frequented in the summer, on account of its 
 baths, by officers of government and Hungarian 
 nobles. Each of the houses, six or eight in num- 
 ber, have a bath attached to them. Szent Kerezt 
 or Holy Cross, is a bishop's residence, though a 
 small village, and the ecclesiastical palace here rises 
 like a giant amidst diminutive cottages. The only 
 room at the inn for travellers, was the common 
 chamber fitted up with long wooden tables and 
 benches, and well warmed by a large stove. Here 
 about a dozen young men in cloaks made their en- 
 trance with instruments of husbandry in their hands, 
 with their over-looker, a decently- dressed man. 
 They had been at work in the garden of the palace, 
 and were now conveyed here to have their dinner. 
 " They were cheerful ; but it was easy to see that 
 this was the cheerfulness of boys under the eye of 
 their master." Visiting the bishop's palace, Dr. 
 Bright found the rooms dark and low and meanly 
 furnished, the walls being thinly covered with plans 
 of churches and wretched portraits of popes and 
 bishops. The house was uninhabited, the late oc- 
 
 u2 
 
220 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 cupant having been dead two years, and no succes- 
 sor appointed. 
 
 At Alt or Old Kremnitz, the Crown inn being the 
 best, the doctor had his choice, either of a large 
 low room with chandeliers hanging from the roof, 
 and an orchestra, yet dirty and mean, or a little 
 apartment with one window opening on a wooden 
 gallery, constructed on the outside of the house, 
 and looking into a dirty back yard furnished with a 
 bedstead like a box, an old oak table, and a broken 
 chair ; when having bargained for a curtain to the 
 window, he chose the latter. Kremnitz, like 
 Schemnitz, is situated in the midst of mountains; 
 the town, if such it may be called, has not more 
 than thirty-three houses within the walls, and one 
 of these is the mint. Here are four churches, and 
 the interior of one of them is ornamented to a de- 
 gree of superfluity. 
 
 There are several streets without the walls, and at 
 the distance of about a quarter of a mile in the 
 valley are the silver mines. Here the people both 
 in the mines and at the mint were very badly paid, 
 and as a great many were out of employ, the streets 
 and lanes of the suburbs were infested with beg- 
 gars. Something very peculiar is remarked in this 
 place ; so secluded as to seem almost out of the 
 sphere of society and information, yet the seat of 
 important science and most valuable practical 
 knowledge. " It will scarcety be conceived possi- 
 ble, that an officer connected with the most cele- 
 brated source of gold and silver in Europe, should 
 still believe that Mexico is an English island : and 
 that others here reputed clever and intelligent, 
 could with difficulty be convinced that coffee, sugar, 
 and rice, are not the product of Great Britain." 
 It is here the custom to salute at parting, by kissing 
 the cheeks ; and this compliment was actually paid 
 to Dr. Bright by M. Korper, counsellor of the 
 mines, before he left Kremnitz, which he observes^ 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. gfi I 
 
 though frequent on the continent, an Englishman 
 can with difficulty bring himself to return. Leaving 
 Kremnitz, a mountain-valley leads to the river Gran, 
 which is there of considerable width. Entering an 
 inn at Busca, they found some women sitting upon 
 a bench round the stove spinning with the distaff. 
 The rain, it was observed, having taken the natural 
 curl out of the peasants' long hair; this with their 
 filthy clothes and huge boots gave them a most un- 
 couth appearance. Very unlike the boisterous revelry 
 of an English public-house, at an Hungarian inn 
 no one speaks but in a low voice. Entering a pub- 
 lic room here seldom excites any curiosity to know 
 who you are or what you want ; so that many tra- 
 vellers come in and rest themselves, and then pursue 
 their journey. The wine was bad, and five-pence a 
 bottle charged for it. Bread and eggs seems to be 
 the common refreshment at these inns. 
 
 The house of a magnat or nobleman, the chief of 
 the Hungarian chancery in Vienna, is described as 
 a large pile in the form of a hollow square, three 
 stories high besides the garrets, and having eighteen 
 windows on each side. The houses in the village 
 scattered round this mansion, were frames of tim- 
 ber, having the spaces filled up with closely beaten 
 clay. The whole country here is diversiried with 
 acclivities, and covered with wood. At an inn at 
 LMaroth, a common Hungarian village, our travel- 
 ler's entertainment was eggs, brown bread, and 
 brandy, the produce of the place, as the landlord 
 distils a large quantity of grain every week. At a 
 place called Sagh, the inn promised well ; the 
 keeper was a German, and the people obliging. No 
 less than six Cigany or gypsy families resided here, 
 who by industr}', music, and the manufacture of 
 snuff, had raised themselves above the condition of 
 the peasantry. Dr. Bright visited one of their cot- 
 tages, which was so filled with tire particles of to- 
 bacco, that he found breathing rather difficult, 
 
 u 3 
 
222 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 These people were busily employed in packing up 
 snuff, and the room not above ten feet square and 
 seven in height, contained six or seven men besides 
 women and children. Pleased with the visit of a 
 traveller, whom they considered as a person of dis- 
 tinction, they invited him to another cottage, where 
 he would not be incommoded by the snuff, &c. 
 This was rather larger than the other, though the 
 beds occupied the greater part of the space, but the 
 walls were beautified with the pictures of saints. 
 Here sat a woman upon the projecting part of the 
 stove spinning, and the children crowding behind 
 her : four persons, who were to perform the part of 
 musicians, formed themselves into a circle, and a 
 few peasants made up the party within doors, though 
 on the outside the company was much more numer- 
 ous, as the news of the arrival of an Englishman 
 excited such curiosity, that a peep through the 
 windows was an object of no small consequence. 
 The tunes played on three violins and a violincello, 
 were the national airs of the Hungarians and 
 Sclavonians; but under this low boarded roof, so 
 little calculated for so powerful a band, the fa- 
 voured visitor was glad to put an end to this concert 
 in the course of an hour. 
 
 Leaving Sagh, and passing through the village 
 of Honth, the harsh sound of a trumpet caught the 
 traveller's ear; this proved to be the village herds- 
 man, whose wooden trumpet was four feet in length. 
 This person at a certain time in the morning, drives 
 the cattle belonging to the peasants to the common 
 pasture, and brings them home at night, when each 
 individual animal finds, as it were by instinct, the 
 cottage of his owner, or retires quietly to his stall. 
 Every peasant pays the herdsman a small considera- 
 tion for each animal entrusted to his care, but not 
 always in money. The peasants, after the party 
 left this place, being more generally Hungarians, 
 began to evince greater attention to personal neat* 
 
VOYAGES AXD TRAVELS. 
 
 223 
 
 ness ; more blue occurred in the dress of the men, 
 to set oft* the dirty white, of which so much had 
 been seen. Some Cygany horse-dealers also were 
 met, who bore more the appearance of a banditti 
 than any thing else. At Orozi, it appeared, more 
 than eighty French officers made prisoners at Dres- 
 den, had been on their parole for some months. 
 Hills and forests now arose on both sides, from 
 whence the wolves committed frequent depredations 
 upon the peasants. This voracious animal is not 
 dreaded without reason in Hungary, since in the 
 single province of the Walacho Illyrian government, 
 in the hard winter of 1803, not less than 1533 head 
 of cattle were destroyed by them. They will even 
 sometimes approach the cottages, and not long be- 
 fore Dr. Bright visited the neighbourhood of 
 Leutschau, a woman had her face dreadfully torn by 
 one of them, who afterwards quitted her and fixed 
 upon a child, lacerating its head, and depriving it of 
 both its eyes. Her elder son, about twenty, being 
 alarmed, flew to the spot, and seizing the wolf by 
 the throat, held it at bay till his strength being ex- 
 hausted, the wolf fixed his fangs deep into his 
 neck. The cries of the party having brought the 
 neighbours to the spot, the wolf fled. Being pur- 
 sued, he was discovered in a thicket, and a young 
 man's piece missing fire, the enraged animal was in 
 the act of springing upon him, when he was brought 
 to the ground by the well-aimed blow of a club. 
 
 The Jew merchants in this part of Hungary wear 
 large cloaks and three cornered hats. These people, 
 who probably amount to upwards of 10,000, are all 
 engaged in commerce, and the traffic in wool and 
 wine seems to be monopolized by them entirely. 
 Some have a constant residence in the towns, but 
 most of them travel from place to place, and bein^ 
 well acquainted with the state of the markets, they 
 take the mott cruel advantages of the peasants, 
 
 <2 
 
224< FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 whom they in a manner compel to sell at prices 
 fixed by these keen purchasers. 
 
 Waitzen is a considerable town, with good houses, 
 wide streets, and three churches : one of these, 
 situated in an open square, is a handsome modern 
 edifice with a Corinthian portico. After leaving 
 Waitzen, the traveller enters upon the plain that 
 forms the eastern half of Hungary, and this is so 
 much of a flat, that scarcely a single elevation is to 
 be met with between that place and Buda. De- 
 bretzin, the principal town in this flat country, is 
 probably one of the most singular in Europe, for 
 though formed almost entirely of cottages, it con- 
 tains 40,000 inhabitants. Here is a large reformed, 
 or Calvinistic college, with a number of students ; 
 but as most of the houses are thatched, the town 
 has suffered much by fire : in 1811, 2000 houses 
 were reduced to ashes in the course of a few hours. 
 Of this great number of habitations few are above 
 one story high, and all are irregularly built. In 
 summer it is necessary to wade through sand, and 
 in winter through deep mud, even in the public 
 paths. Here blank walls, dark retail shops, tobac- 
 co-pipe sellers, smokers, dogs, and the stillness 
 which reigns in the midst of the da}', with the 
 earnestness which dwells upon every countenance, 
 strongly excite the recollection of Eastern manners. 
 The black handkerchiefs which the women wear on 
 their heads, resemble hats, whilst their blue pe- 
 lisses, approaching to the uniform of the hussar, 
 almost disguise their sex. The men wear large 
 cloaks, mostly blue, whilst their hats are nearly 
 large enough to serve the purposes of an umbrella. 
 
 When the quarterly fairs are held here, an extent 
 the eye can scarcely command is covered with 
 flocks and waggons, bales and cases, tents and huts, 
 attended by thousands of people. At the different 
 cottages a species of soap is made in small quanti- 
 ties, which is considered as a luxury through the 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 225 
 
 Austrian dominions. Another branch of industry, 
 that occupies many hands in this part of Hungary, 
 is the clay heads of tobacco pipes. Many of the 
 poorest inhabitants of Debretzin depend upon fields 
 situated upon the plain for their subsistence, as two 
 or three times in a year they retire here with their 
 cattle, and whilst employed in cultivating the land 
 or working at harvest, live in a hut, a tent, or a 
 waggon, as circumstances may admit. Others eo 
 further into the level country, and become herds- 
 men or shepherds to their superiors for months to- 
 gether. In this district, there are villages, the pro- 
 perty of single individuals, which contain 2 or 3000 
 peasants. 
 
 Pesth and Buda, or as the Germans call it, OfFen, 
 form almost one city, the capital of Hungary. 
 They are separated by the Danube, here seen 
 in all its majesty, over which is an easy communi- 
 cation by a bridge of boats united by chains and 
 covered with planks. However, in winter, the 
 large shoals of ice that come down the river, render 
 it necessary to remove this bridge, and a temporary 
 suspension of the communication takes place. The 
 toll here is paid alone by the peasantry, as the 
 nobles and citizens are exempted. Buda, the seat 
 of the Hungarian government, contains 30,000 in- 
 habitants, and its situation on the right bank of the 
 Danube is high and commanding. The extensive 
 fortress, which occupies a high rock, contains the 
 palaces of the Palatine, and of several Hungarian 
 nobles, the public arsenal and theatre, with many 
 churches and streets, forming a complete town. 
 One street runs round the foot of this rock, while 
 others with gardens surround it in different direc- 
 tions, upon what is called the Blocksberg, which 
 inclines over the river at a short distance to the 
 south, upon which the new observatory is con- 
 structed. Pesth, on the opposite side, is the seat 
 of commerce, containing nearly 33,000 inhabitants, 
 
226 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 and the buildings are still increasing ; and here is a 
 considerable display of good streets and handsome 
 houses, besides many churches, mostly adorned 
 with two steeples, with various buildings belonging 
 to different religious communities. The new town 
 is of course the most regular. Many of the large 
 buildings facing the streets are entered by covered 
 gateways, having the nobleman's name to whom they 
 belong inscribed over them. Several of these are 
 let out in tenements ; and one situated at the corner 
 of the Landstrasse, which has three entrances, is 
 chiefly inhabited by Jews, and contains a syna- 
 gogue. 
 
 In Pesth, the native merchants may be seen 
 smoking at their shop doors, a bale of tobacco on 
 one side, and a huge tub of caviare upon the other. 
 The baker with a light basket, as he trots nimbly 
 from street to street, announces his approach by 
 the shrill sound of a small wooden trumpet, while 
 Jews, Armenians, and Turks, each in the costume 
 of their country, form promiscuous groups. The 
 most conspicuous of the public buildings here is the 
 grenadier's casernes, built by Charles VI., with a 
 a handsome and regular front. Another edifice in 
 the Leopold stadt was begun by the Emperor 
 Joseph in 1786 ; the only part of it that has been 
 finished is occupied by soldiers. The large theatre, 
 commenced in 1808, has been lately completed ; 
 the performance at this house is always in German. 
 The Hungarian theatre, though till lately the only 
 one, is a small and poor building. Here between 
 the acts national music is performed. A dudelsack 
 is a genuine bagpipe, with a fine drone, adorned in 
 front with a goat's head, and covered with the skin 
 of the same animal; this, again wrapped in the 
 cloak worn by the performer, makes a most formida- 
 ble appearance. Most of the other instruments 
 have bells about them, and are apparently of 
 Turkish origin. Theatrical exhibitions were quite 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 
 
 227 
 
 unknown in Hungary about fifty years since. At 
 present the Hungarian theatre is espoused as a na- 
 tional cause; the nobles have come forward with 
 large subscriptions, and in the beginning of the 
 year 1816, the building of the new edifice com- 
 menced. 
 
 The amusements of Pesth and Buda resemble 
 those of German towns in general. The coffee- 
 houses and the public gardens are the resort of the 
 evenings. The favourite place of assemblage, when 
 the weather is fine, is a shady walk along the 
 western ramparts of Buda, overlooking the moun- 
 tains and vineyards. Another similar to this has 
 lately been formed on the bank of the Danube at 
 Pesth. The garden of Graf Ortzy in the environs, 
 and the spot called the Forest, are also places of 
 promenade. The forest is a kind of unfinished 
 shrubbery. With respect to the manners of the 
 persons who frequent the great fairs here, a passage 
 is borrowed from a writer in an Hungarian miscel- 
 lany : 14 The Sclavonian enlarges on the excel- 
 lence and cheapness of his ware with palpable and 
 suspicious eagerness. The German dresses out his 
 merchandize, and presents himself to the pur- 
 chasers with a commanding self-sufficiency. The 
 Jew swears with heart and soul that he will iajure 
 no man ; and the Raitzer is stern, silent, and unac- 
 commodating; but on that account his characteris- 
 tic and fiery eye pleads with greater eloquence. 
 The Hungarian alone keeps himself perfectly pas- 
 sive in his dealings. He allows his goods to be 
 inspected, answers shortly and directly to the 
 question, and attempts not to impose either by 
 words or artifice. You perceive by his embarrass- 
 ment, that he is unaccustomed to low arts; his 
 good temper evidently counteracts the feelings of 
 poverty, which is therefore borne with ease and 
 content. Shirt and skin, and little else are to be 
 seen except his long hair which hangs loosely over 
 
228 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 his shoulders, all much disguised by filth and negli- 
 gence." 
 
 Pesth has become the central point both of the 
 inland and foreign trade of Hungary. From this 
 city great commercial roads lie over Komorn, 
 Raab, and Mosony, towards Austra Moravia, and 
 Moravian Silesia ; and towards Gallicia, by Kas- 
 chau, Eperies, Leutschau, and Kesmark : through 
 Debretzin, Segedin, and Temeswar ; towards Tran- 
 sylvania; through Eszek, Neusatz, and Semlin, 
 towards Turkey; by Canesa, to Croatia; by Carl- 
 stadt, to Fiume, [Dalmatia, and Italy j and over 
 Stuhlweissenburg and Pettau, to Styria, Triest, 
 and Fiume. 
 
 Easter Monday is observed at Pesth, as a parti- 
 cular festival. At this time, upon the ground 
 where the people assemble, waggons may be seen 
 with large casks of wine and beer, surrounded by 
 persons drinking. At some tents honey cakes are 
 sold ; others are filled with tobacco pipes, rosaries, 
 pictures, toys, combs, buttons, &c. At some 
 booths lotteries are drawn ; others have tables upon 
 which fat mutton is served out, and times past re- 
 called over many a glass of old Ofener wine. At 
 other places are groups of mischievous boys throw- 
 ing fire-works. Nor are there wanting examples 
 of the feebleness of age, and the sprightliness of 
 youth, nor beggars who boldly claim charity, and 
 misers who never afford theirs. All these, it is ob- 
 served, promiscuously mixed in every possible 
 variety, form a partial sketch of that which, in its 
 whole extent, scarcely admits of description. 
 
 The public warm baths at Buda are introduced 
 by Dr. Bright as too singular to be forgotten. 
 Many of them are ancient ; but doubtful whether 
 of Roman or Turkish origin. At each of the bath- 
 ing houses there are also private baths ; little can 
 be said in praise of the public ones. On entering 
 the latter from the open air, the room seemed in- 
 sufferably hot. It also appeared dark, but in a few 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 229 
 
 minutes both the bodies and eyes of the strangers 
 become accustomed to this new situation. The 
 apartment was spacious, and the centre occupied 
 by a circular basin under a dome, supported by 
 pillars. Here were ten or twenty persons of each 
 sex, partially covered with linen drawers, and the 
 long tresses which fell loosely from their shoulders, 
 splashing each other with the hot sulphureous wa- 
 ter. But on the outside of the pillars, on the 
 pavement, a number of persons lay at full length 
 indulging amidst the fumes a kind of lethargic 
 slumber. Others extended upon the steps going 
 down to the bath, submitted to the kneading prac- 
 tised upon them by old women employed for the 
 purpose. Others were resting upon the benches, 
 while some, in different corners, were enjoying 
 their mid- day meal of sour crout and sausages. 
 Others again, were under the operations of cup- 
 ping and scarification. Almost fainting with heat, 
 from such a number of disgusting objects, the 
 strangers were glad to retire without bestowing any 
 great length of time in gratifying mere curiosity. 
 
 The measures taken for preventing the spread of 
 fire at Pcsth, are extremely singular. For water, 
 buckets, fire hooks, iron crows, &c. no person can 
 refuse access to their houses, nor even a passage 
 through them. Besides this, every householder in 
 the neighbourhood and in the streets leading to the 
 fire is obliged to light up his house with lanterns 
 or candles, and to this the glaziers and sculptors 
 are required to attend. Brewers, millers, coach- 
 masters, and hackney coachmen are bound to 
 furnish the means of conveyance. To manage the 
 fire engines, copper-smiths, metal-founders, gun- 
 makers, and knife-grinders, are called upon. Lock- 
 smiths, braziers, wheel-wrights, coopers, butchers, 
 hatters, farriers, and nailors, must see to the supply 
 of water. Tanners, fishermen, millers, and boat- 
 men, pump water out of the Danube; and for 
 
 vol. iv. X 
 
230 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 obtaining it from wells, the well sinkers, bakers, 
 gardeners, and starch-makers are summoned. The 
 brush-makers, glovers, basket- makers, tailors, 
 buckle-makers, and shoe-makers, form ranks for 
 pasing water in buckets, &c. Brewers, labourers, 
 joiners, and rope-makers, bring ladders, and fire- 
 hooks. 
 
 But chimney inspectors, bricklayers, stone-ma- 
 sons, tilers, and carpenters, are specially called 
 upon to attend and assist at all fires. The sick, 
 the infirm, and the children are entrusted to the 
 care of the apothecaries, surgeons, and shop- 
 keepers ; whilst book-binders, chocolate-makers, 
 sieve-makers, gold-smiths, map-stainers, engravers, 
 painters, snuff-makers, watch-makers, paper-hang- 
 ers, and sugar-bakers, are entrusted with the 
 preservation of furniture, and valuables. Cattle 
 dealers, cow-keepers, &c. are to look to the pre- 
 servation of the swine. And, lastly, masters of 
 coffee houses and inns, and the barbers, are quietly 
 to look about the whole city for thieves and pick- 
 pockets. No man is suffered to stand by a fire, 
 idle, whatever his situation may be, and thus the 
 busy picture is complete. 
 
 After passing the bridge of Pesth, the road to 
 Vienna turns to the right through the Lower Street 
 and long village of Alt Ofen. The elevated coun- 
 try to the left, is covered with vineyards, having 
 some country seats among them, and a summer 
 residence of the Palatine. At the vintage feast in 
 this quarter the bacchanalian dance is performed, 
 accompanied by the lesekranz or garland, when 
 the fruit is gathered in. . A procession is also 
 formed, in the front of which a man rides in com- 
 plete armour, bearing a red and white flag, fol- 
 lowed by a harlequin, and other maskers; then six 
 young dancing men, in white with red ribbands 
 and bows, and velvet caps, with the same number 
 of young women, also dressed in white. Each 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 
 
 231 
 
 person holds in the left hand a plate and a glass, 
 and in the right a flask of wine. They dance and 
 drink at the same time, in a manner that would re- 
 quire some practice. Eight men then follow in 
 couples, with as many women holding in their 
 right hands gilded shepherds crooks, and their 
 heads adorned with vine leaves, flowers, and 
 ribbands. Four women follow, bearing the 
 garland upon two poles. This is formed in the 
 shape of a bell, being the finest branches of the 
 grape, curiously intertwined and adorned with rib- 
 bands. The whole procession is closed by eight 
 more couples, whose office is from time to time to 
 relieve the others in carrying the garland. The 
 whole accompanied by music amidst incessant 
 shouts of rejoicing, pass through the fortress and 
 part of the suburbs, finally returning to the house 
 of the possessor of the vineyard, where the day is 
 concluded with a feast. 
 
 The post carriages that run between Vienna and 
 Ofen are the most wretched vehicles imaginable, 
 being not only without covers or springs but con- 
 structed of unpainted boards, nailed together by 
 a country carpenter, and though just large enough 
 to hold one person, instead of a seat, a bundle of 
 straw is thrown into the back part, over which if 
 the traveller choose, he may throw his cloak; and 
 though they run upon four wheels, they arc loB 
 commodious than the smallest English tax cart. 
 Komorn is situated on the Danube, but its cele- 
 brated fortifications have been levelled ever since 
 the time of Joseph the Second. The whole road 
 from Szony to the neighbourhood of Kaab is flat 
 and wearisome. The town of Raab in one instance 
 resembles Vienna, having a glacis and open space 
 between the walls and the suburbs. The inhabi- 
 tants are about eleven thousand in number, and 
 besides the cathedral there are three or four 
 churches, and some handsome houses belonging 
 
 x 2 
 
232 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 to the family of Esterhazy and Zichy, with the 
 bishop's palace. 
 
 Describing the Neusiedler lake, Dr. Bright ob- 
 serves that many superstitious traditions are con- 
 nected with it, such as its ebbing and flowing in 
 alternate periods of seven years, a subterraneous 
 passage, and the birth of a wild boy upon its banks, 
 who was taken a few years since, but resisting all 
 attempts at domestication made his escape, and 
 has never since been heard of. Passing through 
 several villages, where a number of soldiers were 
 quartered, from the railing of almost every little 
 garden a piece of board with two wooden hammers, 
 were fixed up to be used as a drum to warn the 
 peasants to provide provender and water in time for 
 the soldiers' horses. 
 
 •Nogag Barom contains the first post house after 
 leaving (Edenburg ; this is a village of Croats, 
 where they speak both ; Croatian and imperfect 
 German, and are besides called the Water Croats 
 on account of their proximity to the marshy banks 
 of the Neusiedler lake. These robust Croatians 
 willingly undergo the severest labour of the week 
 for the sake of dancing on the Sunday. The 
 young women, frequently pretty, wear a number 
 of short petticoats, heaped one over the other, 
 and stiff bodices in proportion to their wealth ; and 
 this mass of clothes is further lined and stuffed till 
 their size becomes enormous. Describing Sabaria, 
 our traveller observes, whether the monument there 
 be the tomb of Ovid, or a cenotaph in honour of 
 his memory, in either case it tends to prove that 
 this town was a place of some consequence, even 
 before it was raised to the dignity of a Roman 
 colony. 
 
 Of the very considerable agricultural improve- 
 ments in Germany, our traveller speaks in several 
 places. The highest nobility in the Austrian pro- 
 vinces have been active in establishing societies of 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 
 
 233 
 
 this kind. The Archduke John has greatly en- 
 couraged that of Vienna ; that at Prague has been 
 stimulated by the exertion of the Bohemian nobles. 
 In Carinthia and Styria, the same spirit has been 
 adopted ; in all these, premiums have been distri- 
 buted, and subjects proposed for the discussion of 
 the members ; and besides these, schools for agri- 
 cultural education have been formed both public 
 and private ; and one of the most important objects 
 intended is the cultivation of the forests. A Pomo- 
 logic society at Jelschau, since 1809, has pursued 
 with ardour the improvement of various fruit trees. 
 
 The number of robbers in some parts of Lower 
 Hungary is very great ; in a village near Hez- 
 thely, among forty fathers of families not one could 
 read ; and though the village schools established 
 by the emperor Joseph, are still maintained, yet as 
 the children can only be spared in the winter, and 
 neither the clergy nor the landlords are anxious to 
 improve them ; this with a bad police pretty well 
 accounts for the state of morals. Frequent rob- 
 beries occur when these people are pasturing their 
 cattle in the forests ; the Kanasz, a description of 
 these cattle keepers are reckoned the most notori- 
 ous ; and even the herdsmen will steal cattle if an 
 opportunity offers. A good opportunity for plun- 
 dering a traveller they seldom or never omit, and 
 murder is often added to the crime. Jews and 
 butchers are mostly exposed to their attacks ; but 
 the nobles and the officers of the crown are safe 
 from the dread of the enquiry that might be made 
 on any such occasion. Of the carriages they often 
 beg, styling themselves " poor fellows," and at 
 other times enter the little secluded public houses 
 and carry off what they please ; some inn-keepers 
 are said to be in league with the robbers, either as 
 receivers or accomplices. The mode of adminis- 
 tering criminal justice in Hungary is very singular. 
 A person called the Hofrichter, may at all times 
 
 x i 
 
234 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 punish a peasant with stripes when the culprit h 
 laid on a low bench with iron cramps at each end, 
 for fastening the hands and feet, and a larger one 
 in the middle which passes over the back. A stick 
 is used for this chastisement. A notorious robber 
 taken in the act may be put to death immediately. 
 If a peasant is suspected he may be examined and 
 flogged many times for several weeks, when if no 
 confession is made, nor other evidence obtained, 
 he may be set at liberty ; but if the contrary hap- 
 pen, the man is detained for trial by the Fiscal, 
 who may punish him with confinement, and more 
 stripes. To try causes of greater importance, a 
 court named " the Herren Stuhl," is summoned, 
 consisting of a few respectable freemen, one of 
 whom is named the president. These are assisted 
 by one or two other officers, and the causes are 
 determined by a majority, the president having a 
 casting vote. The Hungarian mansions are like 
 the English castles of the feudal times ; the travel- 
 ler seldom approaches the house of a Hungarian 
 nobleman, who possesses the jus gladii, without 
 being shocked by the clanking of chains, and the 
 exhibition of some of those objects of misery, loaded 
 with irons. Here, as the prison is never concealed, 
 it seems to be considered as a kind of badge of the 
 power which the lord possesses. Dr. Bright saw 
 seventeen persons in the prison at Kesthely mostly 
 young men ; some had been tried, others had not, 
 and some had been confined seven or eight years. 
 Kesthely, our traveller observes, affords a fair ex- 
 ample of the situation of a great part of the popu- 
 lation of Hungary. The number of those who in- 
 habit large towns and free cities, is so limited as 
 not to exceed one in nineteen of the whole people. 
 The rest live either in market towns like Kesthely, 
 or in villages; the latter amount to 11,608, and 
 the former to 691 . 
 
 Hungary is designated as an agricultural nation, 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 
 
 235 
 
 as even among the different trades a mixture of 
 agriculture is mixed ; whilst the trades connected 
 with luxury and taste are necessarily neglected. 
 
 At Sz Miklos one of the Franciscan friars from 
 Kanisa made his appearance. For the service 
 performed here he was annually paid from the 
 estate sixty florins, beside eighty bushels of wheat 
 and rye. Every peasant must also carry for him, 
 to Kanisa, a load of fire-wood, and he also receives 
 fees at all marriages, deaths, and baptisms. This 
 order appears to do nothing for the poor except 
 giving them absolution, though they are constantly 
 going from cottage to cottage, to beg eggs and 
 butter for the church, and never fail entreating the 
 peasants at the wine gathering not to forget the 
 poor priests at Kanisa. The indolence of a greater 
 part of the lower orders of Hungary is very strik- 
 ingly depicted. fi If any thing could show a want 
 of reason, domestic connection or civilization, it 
 was to see groups of men, not with their families, 
 nor their wives, nor in conversation, but herding 
 together merely because the same sloping bank af- 
 forded them an opportunity of basking in the sun- 
 beams, in their greasy sheep skins, and dreading 
 the trouble of entering into the church where the 
 priest had already begun to read the prayers. 
 Being within sight of the island formed by the Drave 
 and the Muhr, the travellers found the inhabitants 
 were called the islanders; they are almost entirely 
 of Croatian origin, and retain much of the lan- 
 guage and manners. Being subject to inundations 
 elevated ridges, resembling the dykes in Holland, 
 had been raised, and upon which the roads run. 
 
 The village of Vidovecz contains houses larger 
 and higher than those of most of the Hungarian 
 villages ; and the roof, projecting four or five feet 
 beyond the front wall, rests upon large beams of 
 timber : thus a gallery is formed the whole length 
 of the house. Under the centre of this, the fc- 
 
236 FLOWERS 01? MODERN 
 
 males generally sit at a table, at work. The walls 
 of this part of the house are covered with shelves 
 on the outside, upon which the dishes and utensils 
 are arranged. A cupboard is generally fixed be- 
 tween the pillars, containing water for domestic 
 use. The kitchens are usually convenient, and for 
 cooking, the ordinary hearth-tire of Germany is 
 used, besides an oven. 
 
 Between this place and Perlac, the villages as- 
 sume a very English appearance ; the houses being 
 placed on the edges of small commons, and having 
 flocks of geese grazing before their doors. The 
 people however were extremely dirty, and badly 
 dressed. Perlac, a small town of thatched houses, 
 is the principal place in Hungary where the silk is 
 prepared, and much pains taken to encourage the 
 rearing of silk- worms by the peasants. 
 
 Passing the Drave to Varasdin, the town about 
 a quarter of a mile from the shore, exhibits three 
 or four high steeples. The mountains, about four 
 miles beyond it, are lofty, and finely varied. At 
 Varasdin, the large cloak is worn by the men ; but 
 the head-dress of the women is elegant, consisting 
 of a large square of white linen, forming a roll in 
 front, and having the margins adorned with lace 
 two or three inches deep. They have a vest of 
 woollen cloth, fitted to the body, without sleeves, 
 which falls below the knees, and is trimmed with a 
 few coloured stripes, generally red, and bordered 
 by fringe or lace. The white shift sleeves hang 
 large and loose, and are also ornamented with 
 coarse lace. As the vest opens on the sides, or in 
 front, the lace of a bodice is displayed held toge- 
 ther by clasps formed of bunches of coloured glass 
 beads. Beneath the vest, about two inches of 
 white petticoat appear ; and under this again, ano- 
 ther, neatly plaited : the boots are either of black 
 or yellow leather. The women also wear coarse 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 237 
 
 linen shawls, folded round their shoulders and 
 arms. 
 
 At Czaktornya, the travellers witnessed the ce- 
 remony of blessing the fields, and praying for a fer- 
 tile season; but this consisted only of two or three 
 Franciscan friars, with attendants bearing banners, 
 and a crowd of peasants. At the convent there 
 were only four fathers, and three noviciates. One 
 friar had lately died ; another had been dismissed, 
 for a breach of continence ; and those that remain- 
 ed, seemed but little troubled with austerity. 
 Every member of their society performs mass once 
 a day, for which they receive a certain stipend from 
 the peasants, and the lord of the estate. 
 
 The dress of the cattle keepers of the Schumeg- 
 her district, is described as consisting of a shirt, 
 and wide trowsers of coarse linen, stiff with grease. 
 The object of besmearing their clothes, is to render 
 them more durable, and to prevent vermin from 
 harbouring in them, besides resisting the bite of 
 gnats. This clothing is seldom changed, before it 
 is ready to fall to pieces. Their feet are enveloped 
 in wool, to which a leathern sole is fastened by 
 straps. The round hats are frequently ornamented 
 with ribband ; and they wear a large mantle of 
 thick coarse woollen cloth, and have a leathern 
 pocket, suspended by a broad belt over the shoul- 
 der, which is mostly adorned with two or three 
 rows of shining metal buttons, which these rude 
 herdsmen are so anxious to acquire, that they have 
 been known to attack travellers merely for their 
 buttons. They carry an axe, which serves them 
 in the place of a stick ; and from the dexterity with 
 which they can use it, this is a formidable weapon 
 against man or beast ; as in throwing it to a dis- 
 tance of twenty or thirty paces, they seldom miss 
 their mark ; but they are constantly practising this 
 while their flocks are feeding. 
 
 Speaking of the gypsies, Dr. Bright expresses 
 
238 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 his disappointment in not finding them in a situa- 
 tion correspondent with the means used for their 
 improvement ; but quite unchanged, as nothing 
 can induce them to join in regular labour ; yet 
 never was a greater appearance of external cheer- 
 fulness, and internal misery. Besides being dirty 
 in their persons, and scantily covered with rags in 
 their houses, where six or seven live together, 
 there was no stock of food, nor other comforts ; 
 they, however, danced and sang ; but could not be 
 prevailed upon to give any thing like a rational ac- 
 count of their language. A recent traveller in 
 Transylvania says, in that quarter, they wander 
 from one place to another ; though in summer they 
 generally live in tents, and in winter, in miserable 
 huts of clay, or in holes, which they excavate to 
 the depth of a few feet in the declivity of the hills, 
 and cover with branches, moss, and turf. From 
 these habitations, air and light are almost excluded ; 
 though in the centre of this cave, a fire serves at 
 the same time to warm the place, and cook the vic- 
 tuals. On fine days, they open their cavern for a 
 few hours to the sun ; but in bad weather, unless 
 pressed by extreme want, they nestle round the 
 fire, dividing the food chance or theft has left at 
 their disposal, and pass the time in chatting and 
 smoking. Men and women, and even children, 
 know no greater happiness than enjoying a short 
 pipe, or in chewing a piece of the wooden pipe, 
 when it has been well imbued with the essential oil 
 of the tobacco. An earthen pot, an iron pan, a 
 spoon, a jug for water, a knife, and sometimes a 
 dish, generally constitute the whole of their fur- 
 niture ; but if the father happens to be a smith, he 
 has a pair of smpll hand-bellows, a stone anvil, a 
 pair of pincers, and a couple of hammers. To 
 these may be added, a knapsack, and some coarse 
 woollen, to form a tattered tent, the whole of which 
 is sometimes transferred from, one place to another, 
 
VOYAGES AMD TRAVELS. c Jj9 
 
 by the assistance of an old foundered horse. Their 
 naked children may often be seen tumbling and 
 begging upon the roads. Some cut spoons and 
 shovels, and little troughs, out of wood ; others 
 make besoms of twigs, weave baskets, and gather 
 herbs, rushes, or juniper berries. And but too 
 often, the extent of their earnings is spent in strong 
 liquors. 
 
 The settled gypsies, first so called by Maria The- 
 resa, reside in the outskirts of suburbs and villages, 
 in habitations much more comfortable than caves. 
 Being smiths, or rather tinkers, they visit the adja- 
 cent villages, to mend pots or kettles. Others en- 
 gage in music, and collect contributions from par- 
 ties that meet to amuse themselves in dancing. 
 Some mend shoes, and now and then assist in agri- 
 cultural labours. The business of flaying animals 
 that have died a natural death, is also confided to 
 them ; and the men are usually employed as exe- 
 cutioners. Sometimes both sexes trade in old 
 clothes ; whilst the women avail themselves of the 
 superstition of the peasants, by fortune-telling, and 
 a pretence to magic. Another class are much en- 
 gaged, in Transylvania, in gold washing, in the 
 many rivulets of the country, which yield this me- 
 tal. These people, as it may be expected, are 
 under very severe restrictions. 
 
 With respect to the native peasantry of Hungary, 
 it does not appear that there are manv lords under 
 whom they are really comfortable and prosperous. 
 The Counts Ssecbeaye raid Szermay, are noble ex- 
 ceptions to this sweeping charge. Dr. Bright saw 
 some fine men among the herdsmen of the former, 
 who evinced great strength and agility. These 
 indeed were employed in a duty that called forth 
 all their exertion. Amongst a large drove of seve- 
 ral hundred swine, which had been wandering wild 
 in the forests, and were at length got together, they 
 were to select particular animals, to rush into the 
 
240 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 drove, and sieze and hold them till they were mark- 
 ed. In effecting this, it was necessary that they 
 should throw themselves upon their object, and 
 grapple with it upon the ground, till they had se- 
 cured their hold. This species of gymnastic exer- 
 cise afforded the spectators no small amusement. 
 
 Some hordes of Wallachians are almost as sin- 
 gular in their habits as the gypsies. As soon as 
 one of these saw the count's carriage approaching, 
 the richter, or ruler, dressed himself, and came for- 
 ward to pay his respects. The costume of this 
 Wallachian, was handsome, though simple, consist- 
 ing of a clean white shirt and trowsers, and a beau- 
 tiful mantle of sheep- skin over his shoulders, neatly 
 ornamented with flowers and patches of variously- 
 coloured leather. The wool is turned inside, and 
 the mantle has facings of fir, and a two-tailed cape 
 of fine wool. The covering of the rest of the party 
 was wretched enough ; and the children, eight or 
 ten years old, were entirely naked ; though many 
 of them had necklaces of shells. The colour of 
 these people are a complete copper brown ; and 
 they are lower in stature than other Europeans. 
 Their residence consisted of about twenty huts, 
 placed in an irregular circle, round the dwelling 
 of their chief. To construct them, thick branches 
 of trees were inclined towards each other, so as to 
 form an arch, the ends being driven into the 
 ground, and turf laid along the bottom, to keep 
 them steady. Other branches being next inter- 
 woven, mud and turf was worked in, to fill up the 
 remaining spaces. These huts are of an oval 
 form, about seven feet long, four feet high, and 
 four feet wide, inhabited by three, four, or five in- 
 dividuals, who sit upon their haunches before the 
 fire, and eat, drink, and sleep, on the bare ground. 
 The door-way is formed of two upright sticks, very 
 rudely inserted into a cross bar. When these peo- 
 ple were not employed in carrying letters, they are 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 
 
 241 
 
 set to work by the lord of the estate, in manufac- 
 turing of wooden troughs, bowls, and spoons, which 
 they make with tolerable dispatch, whilst sitting on 
 the ground, and principally with an adze. But 
 though they partake of very little animal food, 
 many of them live to a very great age. These 
 hordes, cautious and fearful of robbers, always go 
 in pairs, when employed on errands ; nor were they 
 even suspected of dishonesty; but this is not the 
 case with the Wallachians in general. The habita- 
 tions of the better sort, even in the towns, are 
 mostly built of mud ; and timber and stone is used 
 very seldom ; though, in what are called the Saxon 
 stuhls, there are well built villages inhabited by 
 Wallachians. 
 
 The common houses have seldom more than one 
 room, besides a small kitchen, and an oven, to 
 which sometimes are added a stable, and other low 
 buildings. They keep their grain in pits ; and have 
 so little skill in gardening, that very often the fruit 
 trees are left to the care of nature. The internal 
 furniture consists of the family bed, formed of 
 straw, sacks, coverlets, &c. ; but if the possessor 
 be in easy circumstances, he has feather-beds, and 
 bolsters with covers, ornamented with coloured 
 stitch work, a very favourite luxury. Instead of 
 chairs, they have benches ranged round the room, 
 and one or two wooden chests, for their clothes, 
 &c. Pitchers, plates, and dishes, are hung or ar- 
 ranged against the wall, with the pictures of Greek 
 saints, before which lamps of coloured glass are 
 sometimes suspended. As glass windows are con- 
 sidered dear, the light is generally admitted into 
 these houses through a piece of bladder. 
 
 Some of the free families among the Wallachians 
 who breed cattle, are possessed of considerable pro- 
 perty ; and their general love of indolence is said 
 to be the reason, why they prefer this habit to all 
 other occupations; but to many privations, and 
 
 VOL. IV. y 
 
242 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 especially the changes of weather, the Wallachians 
 are accustomed from their infancy. Within a few 
 years past, since they have been suffered to become 
 members of the trading companies, many are to be 
 found employed in the manufacture of wood, and 
 in the pottery, particularly in the making of black 
 earthen tobacco-pipe heads, at Borgo. Others 
 employ themselves in tanning; and many enter into 
 service, to do the rough work, or are employed as 
 day labourers. From maize, they prepare a thick 
 porridge, called mamaliga; the cakes they make 
 from the same meal whilst fresh, are palatable, but 
 they soon grow hard. As they strictly observe the 
 rules of the Greek church, they eat very little ani- 
 mal food ; but substitute for it milk, cheese, onions, 
 garlick, vegetables, &c. Their brandy they distil 
 from grain and plumbs, in large quantities. 
 
 The summer dress of the common Wallachians 
 is a large coarse shirt, with wide open sleeves ; the 
 breeches, of linen or coarse white cloth, descend 
 nearly to the ankles. Over rags wrapped round 
 the feet, they put a piece of raw leather, bound on 
 with thongs. The more wealthy sort wear short 
 boots, and have a leathern girdle, generally orna- 
 mented with brass buttons, in which they carry a 
 knife, a flint and steel, and a tobacco-pipe. Over 
 the shirt, they sometimes have a jacket of coarse 
 brown woollen cloth. None but old men, or such 
 as clergymen, &c. who, from their office, are enti- 
 tled to respect,^ suffer their beards to grow. The 
 head is covered with a round flat hat, a white cloth, 
 or a woollen cap ; but when in mourning, a Walla- 
 chian never wears any thing on his head, be the 
 weather ever so bad. The long shirt, worn by the 
 women, is ornamented at the breast and arms with 
 coloured stitches ; and from a small girdle, two 
 aprons are suspended, one before, and the other 
 behind, made of striped woollen cloth, and bor- 
 dered with a fringe. A stomacher of cloth or lea- 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 
 
 2¥6 
 
 ther, is often worn ; the women in the plains wear 
 boots, others, the common hide. Even the poorest 
 are fond of paint, using red to the cheeks, and black 
 to the eye-brows. The rich wear several necklace 
 of gold or silver coins. In the winter, the women, 
 as well as the men, wear cloaks of sheep- skin, made 
 with arms, and more or less ornamented, according 
 to the ability of the wearer, being fastened in front 
 with laces and buttons. 
 
 At the town of Szigetvar, Count Zrinii, in tlie 
 Turkish war of 1566, defended the place with 2500 
 men, against an immense army. 
 
 Funfkirchen was the next place worthy of ob- 
 servation. Here our traveller's window overlooked 
 a wide plain, on the opposite side of which were the 
 remains of a Turkish mosque, with the minaret, 
 still perfect. The herdsmen, with their large black 
 dogs, were collecting the cattle ; whilst a proces- 
 sion, from the neighbouring villages, was coming 
 to offer up their prayers in the churches for a plen- 
 tiful harvest, a ceremony never omitted by the 
 Catholics. 
 
 The Germans in this quarter are distinguished 
 by their short breeches and stockings ; the former, 
 with their jackets, are edged round with green or 
 red ; the dress of the women appears to be ail blue. 
 The bishop's palace at Funfkirchen is the principal 
 among the public buildings, though the kitchen is 
 the chief object of its internal economy, and with 
 which strangers are always made acquainted. Here 
 are seven churches, one of which has been a 
 mosque, besides the cathedral of St. Peter, and the 
 remains of at least ten mosques. The cathedral, 
 a fine building, with four large square towers, is 
 very spacious ; and so arranged, that the whole 
 chancel and high altar are elevated so far above 
 the other part of the church, as to be approached 
 by a considerable flight of steps, beneath which 
 another chapel is constructed ; and as there are 
 
 y 2 
 
344 FLOWERS OP MODERK 
 
 three other chapels of moderate size, it often hap- 
 pens that service is performed at the same time in 
 the Hungarian, the Illyrian, and the German lan- 
 guages ; this peculiarity in the cathedral, it is said, 
 gave origin to the name of the town. 
 
 At a religious hospital, visited by the strangers, 
 it was observed, the importance of ventilation was 
 little understood by the brethren, ie who were only 
 anxious to conceal, by the fumes of incense, that 
 which a little fresh air would have driven com- 
 pletely away." The universal costume of the head 
 among the females at Funfkirchen, seems to con- 
 sist of a handkerchief rolled round the forehead, 
 then brought down the cheeks, and over the chin, 
 leaving nothing but the eyes and nose exposed. 
 In the pilgrimages, so common in this part, a cross 
 or banner is generally carried in front; and the 
 company, composed of young and old, sing psalms 
 as they go. It is not uncommon for parties on 
 these occasions, to be absent from their homes 
 fourteen or fifteen days. One procession that en- 
 tered Funfkirchen, whilst Dr. Bright was there, 
 consisted of about forty young peasant girls, neatly 
 dressed, each carrying a vessel of holy water, form- 
 ed of black earthen- ware, and moulded quite after 
 an antique model. Another procession of school- 
 boys, clergy, and citizens, exhibited a mixture of 
 the various people inhabiting this part of the Hun- 
 garian dominion. The Germans were generally 
 muffled up in great coats ; the Illyrians less gaily 
 ornamented than the Hungarians in their hussar 
 dresses, &c. but wearing their hair in a large club 
 at the back ; whilst the women, without caps, had 
 their hair smoothed back, hanging in a long plait 
 behind, and tied at the end with a bow of pink rib- 
 band. Visiting a German peasant, the strangers 
 observed he had a plentiful store of provision ; and 
 his wife was preparing for dinner a pottage of meal, 
 milk, and herbs, and a soup of vermicelli. At ano- 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 
 
 245 
 
 ther house, where they had eaten as much curd and 
 milk as they wished, each had to pay about the 
 value of one penny. 
 
 The country, after leaving Funfkirchen, is open, 
 but cultivated. Passing Szederkeny, we arrive 
 within sight of the town of the Mohacs. The first 
 appearance of this is remarkable for two or three 
 church steeples ; but, upon nearer approach, it is 
 found to consist mostly of miserable thatched 
 houses. The inhabitants are Hungarians and Ger- 
 mans ; and here storks are held in the same rever- 
 ence as in Holland, being encouraged to build upon 
 the roofs of the houses. Bataszek is chiefly inha- 
 bited by Germans, who settled here after the final 
 expulsion of the Turks. The road, after leaving 
 this place, stretches along an unbounded plain to- 
 wards the east ; whilst, on the west, a broken ridge 
 of beautiful vineyards and orchards delight the eye; 
 and vegetation is abundantly luxuriant. 
 
 Arriving at Paks on a Saturday, as the place 
 contained a number of Jews, the shops were almost 
 all closed, and the streets thronged with people, 
 walking about in cocked hats, and long black coats, 
 bound round the waist with a girdle. The Jewesses 
 here were observed to be very fond of red shawls, 
 and finery in general. 
 
 Dr. Bright having returned to Pesth, spent a few 
 days there, in getting his passport altered, so as to 
 enable him to proceed towards Gratz, and thus in- 
 tersect Hungary, by a new route ; and also avail 
 himself of the opportunity of passing through the 
 province of Styria. A good road leads from Mar- 
 ton Vazar, towards Valeneze, a flat country with- 
 out hedges, but cultivated in large extents. Here, 
 for the first time, he saw examples of habitations 
 constructed under ground, formed by digging out 
 the earth, and simply throwing a roof over the pit; 
 and as the sides were cut neatly, and afterwards 
 white-washed, the windows near the roof admitted 
 
246' FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 a tolerable light. At Valeneze, which had suffered 
 considerably by an earthquake in 1810, three 
 shocks also occurred in one day, in 1815. Earth- 
 quakes are not uncommon in Hungary and Tran- 
 sylvania. 
 
 Palota is a small market town, situated on an 
 eminence, with a church, a very ancient chateau, 
 and out- works. After the war of 1686, it was dis- 
 mantled, and is now almost in a state of ruin. It is 
 the frequent residence of Count Zichy, the minis- 
 ter of police at Vienna ; and some of its old square 
 towers look venerable, notwithstanding the modern 
 green window blinds, with which {hey are embel- 
 lished. On a small rise near the castle ditch, stands 
 the gallows, facing a hill adorned with crosses, and 
 the statue of a saint. After leaving Palota, the 
 beauty of the country increases. At Weszprim, 
 to supply the rock with water, upon which the bi- 
 shop's palace, &c. are situated, the water of a spring 
 in the valley is forced up through leaden pipes, by 
 means of a wheel, turned by the stream of the river 
 Sed ; many other wheels are put in motion by this 
 stream, to move stampers for bruising Hungarian 
 gall-nuts, called kloppern. Upon the forest of 
 Bakony, villages frequently occur ; and as a proof 
 of the superior industry of the German settlers, 
 almost every cottage has a manufacture of the 
 wooden rakes, shovels, and forks, used in agricul- 
 ture. Another village is occupied in a peculiar 
 branch, that of converting a species of boletus, 
 that grows wild upon the trees, into tinder for 
 lighting pipes, an article which every Hungarian 
 and German carries in his pocket. 
 
 A total change is observed in all the external ob- 
 jects, on reaching the frontier of Styria : the pea- 
 sants, their habitations, the cattle, the very forests 
 themselves, wear a different appearance. The mo- 
 notonous dress of the Hungarian peasantry is laid 
 aside; the tall, grey cattle, are exchanged for a 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 
 
 247 
 
 more compact breed, with short horns; the land is 
 more carefully cultivated, and its divisions smaller. 
 
 Passing the Iltz and the river Raab, our traveller 
 entered Gratz on the Saturday evening, and on 
 Sunday morning, he had the pleasure of viewing 
 the costume of the throngs that were repairing to 
 the town, on affairs of pleasure or devotion. The 
 head-dress of the women of Gratz, and others in 
 decent circumstances, generally consisted of a cap 
 of heavy gold lace, in the shape of a helmet, richly 
 varied with alternate stripes of embossed silver 
 lace, &c. Others wear a cap of the same form, 
 made of black silk and lace, or richly worked with 
 flowers. The country women wear broad hats of 
 light coloured felt, lined, or half covered with linen. 
 They also wear double handkerchiefs about the 
 neck and shoulders, and a tight bodice, of some 
 gay colour, cut low in the back, with a triangular 
 false cape, running in a point almost to the waist. 
 Round the broad hats of the countrymen, a rib- 
 band, or a broad gold lace, was tied. These men 
 also wore fancy waistcoats, with ornamented braces 
 on the outside, with blue stockings, and half boots ; 
 some had jackets; but for the Sunday dress, lo 
 frock coats, of some dark colour, are preferred, 
 ornamented with a number of shining buttons. The 
 beggars at Gratz, appeared to receive uncommon 
 attention. 
 
 Since 1S09, when the French obtained possession 
 of this place, the ruin of the fortifications, began by 
 them, has been nearly completed. Gratz is rich in 
 charitable foundations, and establishments for edu- 
 cation. Styria is also rich in copper and lead 
 mines ; some of the latter yielding silver : and the 
 salt works of Sandling and Ausee, are very produc- 
 tive. Excellent wines are also produced, though 
 the culture of the vine is not sufficiently understood. 
 A more beautiful valley is not to be found, except- 
 ing in the heart of Switzerland and the Tyrol, than 
 
24?8 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 that through which the road passes to the very 
 northern boundary of Styria. After passing the 
 summit of the lofty Semmering, Schotwein, the 
 first town within the confines of Austria Proper, is 
 only at the distance of a few hours' ride. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Bohemia- — Saxony — Dresden — Public Buildings — 
 Libra ry — Sch ools — Amusements — the Pop injay — 
 Public Psalm Singers — Centenary of the Reforma- 
 tion — Anniversary of the Battle of Leipsic— 
 Young Ladys Funeral — Singular Christian 
 Names — Meissen — Dresden China — Catholic 
 Ornaments — Old fashioned Houses at Leipsic, fyc. 
 — Funeral of a Student — Collecting for the Poor — 
 Theatres — Witt ember g — Potsdam — Berlin — The 
 Brandenburg Gate — W retched Accommodations — 
 A Lottery — Prussian Costume — Brandenburg— An 
 uncourtly Nobleman — A Ragged Reciter — Burg — 
 Colossal Statue — Magdeburg— A Wedding Feast 
 — Eisleben — Helmstadt — Grotesque Buildings — 
 Brunswick — Beauty of the Saxon Peasantry — 
 Carolina College. 
 
 Having passed through part of France, Italy, 
 Switzerland, the Tyrol, and the South of Germany, 
 Mr. Hodgskin arrived at Dresden early in Septem- 
 ber, 1817. He performed these journeys chiefly 
 on foot, having commenced his travels in the year 
 1815. 
 
 He observes, that coming from Bohemia, his 
 first entrance into Saxony gave him a favourable 
 opinion of the people. The floor of the first house 
 he entered wae sanded ; the tables, though only of 
 fir, edged with copper, like those commonly used, 
 were kept washed, and looked white ; the pewter 
 
VOYAGES AND TUAVELS. -i9 
 
 toils were clean and shining, and a female, 
 ieatly dressed, was occupied with her needle. All 
 his, he remarks, was very different from any thing 
 le had seen passing through Vienna, Presburg, 
 31mutz, or Prague, on his route to Saxony ; as in 
 ill this way the floors appeared to be seldom, it 
 3ver, swept, and the tables so filthy, that their ori- 
 ginal wood could not be discerned without scraping. 
 
 The Bohemian landlords, proverbial for fatness 
 uid insolence, were equally dirty and disgusting ; 
 much of Bohemia is naturally fertile, but the peo* 
 pie have such miserable ideas of domestic com- 
 forts, that they generally deep on straw • and the 
 same material, strewed in a public room, even in 
 large towns, is the common reposing place of the 
 wearied traveller. This is accounted for, by the 
 generality of visitors at these inns being foot tra- 
 vellers, such as Jew merchants and mechanics, who 
 are generally too poor to pay for beds ; thus the 
 innkeepers, accustomed to these travellers, provide 
 accordingly. 
 
 All strangers are subject to the same inconveni- 
 encies, coming in a carriage, or belonging to the 
 softer sex, by no means exempts you. The rooms 
 in these inns are generally lighted by a three cor- 
 nered lamp, similar to those seen in old pictures, 
 suspended from the middle of the ceiling, exhibiting 
 a motley group, sometimes resembling companies of 
 pilgrims, and at others hordes of banditti. 
 
 Dresden is pleasantly situated on the banks of the 
 Elbe, which soon winds out of -ight, both above and 
 below the town. The north side exhibits a ridge of 
 sand hills, which, within these few years, have all 
 been planted with pines or shrubs, and in many 
 places with vines. On the south side of the town 
 there is another ridge of gentle hills, which, extend- 
 ing both above and below it to the Elbe, appears to 
 join the opposite sand hills, and shut up Dresden in 
 a long oval vale. The mountains of Bohemia rise 
 at a distance, while beautiful walks, public garden 
 
250 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 fine scenery, and a well cultivated neighbourhood, 
 leave nothing to be desired in point of situation. 
 The parts of the town, on the opposite sides of the 
 river, are united by a long bridge, over which the 
 people all pass on one side, and repass on the other. 
 The only buildings worthy of notice in Dresden, are 
 the house appropriated to the meeting of the states, 
 in the Pima street \ a little palace in the Great 
 Garden, some distance out of the town, which is 
 uninhabited, and falling to ruins; the Catholic 
 Chapel, and the Japanese Palace, now the public 
 library, which is open every day, except Sundays 
 and holidays. Any books it contains are given on 
 being asked for ; and there is a small well warmed 
 room to sit and read in. A stranger must be re- 
 commended to the librarian, or be answered for by 
 a citizen, and then he has the farther advantage of 
 taking books home with him : all the respectable 
 inhabitants have the same privilege; and though 
 few of them frequent the library, the number of 
 servants who come for books prove that reading is 
 pretty general. 
 
 Schools of all kinds have been established by the 
 various sovereigns, for the education of the people. 
 Dresden abounds with learned and clever men; 
 with societies of poets, of both sexes, among whom 
 the ancient German custom of recitation is a fa- 
 vourite amusement ; and with artists of all descrip- 
 tions. 
 
 There are two places in Dresden where both 
 French and English newspapers, with most of the 
 German political and scientific journals of the day 
 are found. One of these is a club, uniting conve- 
 niences for playing billiards and other games, with 
 books and newspapers : here an introduction is ne- 
 cessary for a stranger, and is easily procured through 
 the English envoy, or by some acquaintance. The 
 other, a mere Speculation, is a complete cabinet 
 liter aire, such as is common in the cities of France, 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 
 
 '251 
 
 :o which people subscribe for a month, or for a 
 fear. The former of these places is much fre- 
 quented, the latter hardly pays the expences. 
 
 Amusements are touch sought by the inhahabit- 
 ants of Dresden, and great part of their time is 
 passed in walking in the public gardens, in listen- 
 ing to music while sipping coffee, in playing at bil- 
 liards, chess and cards, and in conversation. All 
 the men smoke, and the women knit, in public 
 places, and the latter are so accustomed to the 
 fumes of tobacco, that they seem to think them no 
 inconvenience. A pipe, or segar, forms a part of 
 every German ; and a most elegantly fhtSMcfl young 
 man, whenmaking his best bow to his mistress, puts 
 the burning tobacco under her nose, letting her 
 inhale at once flattery and smoke. 
 
 Shooting at the popinjay is a favourite amuse- 
 ment of the c itizens. A large pole, resembling an 
 English May pole, stands in the neighbourhood of 
 most places of public entertainment. It is fixed in a 
 sort of box, like the mast of a small vessel, so that 
 it can be let down horizontally, and elevated again 
 without much trouble. At the top a thing is placed 
 resembling the Austrian eagle, but resplendent with 
 feathers and gold ; he that can shoot the head off is 
 considered the most skilful marksman. A cross-bow, 
 fashioned somewhat like a musket, is employed to 
 shoot with ; and it is loaded with ■ small iron bolt, 
 The owner of the cross-bows, or some other per- 
 son, is hired to load them. 'I he citizens, who con- 
 tinue to smoke their pipes, ask when is their re- 
 spective turns, talk over their shots, and, when the 
 turn comes to any one, he lays the ready loaded 
 cross-bow on a bar of wood, about forty yards dis- 
 tant from the pole, and tries to hit the wooden 
 bird ; a boy looks after the bolts as they fall, and 
 brings them back. Thus it is an amusement that 
 requires no labour and no thought ; it - Hows the 
 continued enjoyment of smoking "while it furnishes 
 
S52 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 materials for interminable talk. This may serve a« 
 a specimen of the inclination of the Germans to shun 
 active exertion. An amusement, requiring rather 
 more activity, is nine pins ; this is very common, 
 but it also admits of continued smoking, and de- 
 mands no labour beyond bowling. Dancing is the 
 only recreation of this people that requires bodily 
 exertion, but, from the slowness of their motions, 
 even this does not ask much. Waltzing probably 
 demands more. 
 
 The most curious custom in Dresden is, that of 
 young lads singing Psalms on Sundays, and feast 
 days, about the town. Several sums have been 
 bequeathed, for providing a number of boys, who 
 are also choristers at the different churches, with a 
 cocked hat, a black scarf, and a suit of clothes, on 
 condition of their entertaining the inhabitants with 
 sacred music. Bands of ten or a dozen, with one 
 for a leader, march slowly about the town, and 
 stopping at every second or third house, sing a 
 Psalm. The shrill clear voices of the youngsters, 
 sounding in the morning through the streets, though 
 they will not bear a comparison with the perfect 
 music of the Royal Catholic Chapel, have some- 
 thing in them of a simplicity that pleases the untu- 
 tored ear, nearly as well as the multiplied tones and 
 complex warblings of the whole royal orchestra. 
 
 The return of the Centenary, or the hundredth 
 year, of the Reformation, was celebrated during 
 the residence of our traveller in Dresden. The 
 festival lasted three days. The churches were all 
 hung with flowers, made into festoons, wreaths, 
 nd crowns, according to the taste of their several 
 clergymen. Orange trees, borrowed from the nur- 
 series, and various shrubs and leafy ornaments, 
 were placed in the churches, giving them a very 
 gay and pleasing appearance. Religious worship 
 was performed each day, but the croud rendered it 
 extremely difficult to get in ; even the veryporches 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 
 
 253 
 
 Were full. At the end of three days, a great num- 
 ber of the singers, accompanied by persons carrying 
 torches and pictures of Luther, with banners, on 
 which various mottos were inscribed, paraded the 
 streets, followed by a great multitude; they came 
 at length to the Old Market, a large clear space, 
 surrounded by houses. Here all the people could 
 assemble, and while the singers formed a circle, 
 and continued singing, all the torches were thrown 
 together, and made a splendid bonfire. The crowd, 
 the houses, and singers, were all distinctly seen by 
 the glare, and nothing seemed wanting but that the 
 whole multitude should join. But as it might be 
 supposed that they could not sing so well as the 
 choristers, the effect of a multitude of voices was 
 sacrificed to a little scientific music. By the last 
 glare of the bonfire the concluding Psalm was sung, 
 and the people retired to their homes. There were 
 no great preparations on the part of the police, and 
 yet there was no quarrel or disturbance. Similar 
 festivals were held all over Germany on this occa- 
 sion, while medals and pictures of Luther, and the 
 other reformers, were exposed for sale, and many 
 of them were bought and worn. There were me- 
 dals of silver for the rich, and of baser metals for 
 the poor. 
 
 At nearly the same period was celebrated the an- 
 niversary of the Battle of Leipsic, the students of 
 the different universities of the whole of Saxony, 
 amounting to about a thousand, assembled at the 
 Wartburg, once the refuge of Luther, here they 
 formed a solemn procession, and burnt the em- 
 blems of several things they did not like, such as 
 the tail worn by the Hessian soldiers, the false 
 breasts of the Prussians, an Austrian corporal's 
 stick, the article of the Congress of Vienna, which 
 decreed the partition of Saxony, and some books, 
 among which was the History of the Germans by 
 Kotzebue. Speeches were made by some of the 
 
 vol. iv, Z 
 
254 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 leaders, and the whole assembly are said to have 
 made vows to die for the freedom of Germany, and 
 to have burnt the hats which they waved as they 
 made these vows, that they might never serve any 
 ignoble purpose. 
 
 At Leipsic they commemorated the day in a dif- 
 ferent manner. They marched to the field of battle 
 in great numbers, and, forming a ring, kneeled 
 down, and celebrated with prayers the victory that 
 had delivered Germany, though it divided their 
 country. 
 
 At Dresden our traveller visited a procession of 
 a different nature ; it was the funeral of a young 
 lady, attended and followed like a funeral in Eng- 
 land; a great number of people were however pre- 
 sent, and amongst them all the servants of the fa- 
 mily. The hearse was little more than wheels, with 
 a place for the coffin to rest on, over which a hand- 
 some pall was thrown. The burying ground was 
 out of the town, near the Elbe, and the soil so 
 sandy, that the grave was boarded up to keep it 
 from filling, before the corpse was deposited. At 
 the moment of interment the lid of the coffin, which 
 had never been screwed down, was lifted off, and 
 the body, the colours just beginning to fade, was 
 shewed to the surrounding spectators; it was neatly 
 dressed, and ornamented with flowers. This exhi- 
 bition produced the greatest effect on every spec- 
 tator, and expressions of grief and agony continued 
 till the coffin was fastened, and the earth covered it 
 for ever. 
 
 In Dresden, and many other parts of Germany, 
 Christian names are common, which recal those 
 days of English fanaticism, when Praise-God, and 
 Hold-fast- the-Faith, were common baptismal names. 
 The Germans are too much accustomed to these 
 names to remark them as peculiar; but Gott-lob, 
 Gott-fried, Gott-furcht, Gott-lieb, and many other 
 such combinations, expressing, love God, fear God, 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 255 
 
 praise God, God's peace, &c. &c. can scarcely fail 
 to excite a smile on the face of a stranger. 
 
 On a hill, on the south side of Dresden, about 
 three quarters of a mile from the town, is the place 
 where General Moreau was standing when he was 
 wounded, and on this spot a small monument has 
 been erected to his memory. It is merely a small 
 block of granite, on which some instruments and 
 ornaments of war are placed, sculptured in stone; 
 it bears a simple inscription ; a few trees are plant- 
 ed round it, and the spot commands a good view 
 of the town. 
 
 Saxony boasts one university at Leipsic, royal 
 schools at Meissen, Wurzen, and Grimma, and se- 
 veral lyceums, town schools, and village schools. 
 There is an academy of arts at Dresden, and regu- 
 lar schools at Freyberg, for the instruction of mi- 
 nisters. The city of Dresden has many charms, and 
 is enlivened by many amusements, besides which, 
 the kindness and gentleness of the people cannot 
 fail to interest the stranger. 
 
 Our traveller quitted this city on the 23d of De- 
 cember, not without evident regret, and this feel- 
 ing was heightened by a cold, thick, and snowy 
 morning ; a ridge of sand hills extended on his right, 
 and the Kibe flowed on his left. Small parallel walls 
 are built along the sides of the hills, to prevent the 
 earth from being washed down, and to which the 
 vines are at the same time trained. In the spaces 
 between the walls they are tied to little stakes 
 planted in the ground ; at this season they were all 
 cut close, and laid down under the ground, or co- 
 vered with straw. Those against the houses were 
 all carefully tied up in matting. At a distance of 
 eight miles from Dresden these hills extend down 
 to the Elbe, and as a continuation of thein appears 
 on the opposite side of the river, it looks as if this 
 stream had forced its way between them. Here the 
 points of the granite rocks, which form the masses 
 
 z2 
 
256 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 of these hills, whose surfaces are covered with sand, 
 shew themselves to the very top. It is said that 
 some of the granite hills of Germany, particularly 
 the Hartz, are in a constant state of decomposi- 
 tion and destruction ; and this is probably the case 
 with most of the high peaks in the world. 
 
 Meissen, on the opposite bank of the Elbe, is 
 approached by a bridge, exhibiting a curious ap- 
 pearance. It has been built, or repaired, at three 
 different times, and displays three different manners 
 of turning arches. Some are turned after the com- 
 mon manner ; there are wooden arches ; and there 
 are some, which are the most ancient, turned 
 after the Gothic manner. Some parts of the bridge 
 are of stone, some of brick, and some of wood. It 
 is here that the Dresden china is manufactured. 
 There is an exhibition room, to which all persons 
 have access ; but the process of the manufacture 
 cannot be viewed, without a particular permission 
 from the superior inspector. The old castle stands 
 on a high projecting rock, that domineers over the 
 river and town, and it incloses the cathedral within 
 its walls. 
 
 Oschatz, a small town, was the place where our 
 traveller reposed for the night. Of the small towns 
 of Germany, and particularly those of Bohemia, he 
 observes, that they have all a large square in them, 
 of which the town-house forms the most conspicu- 
 ous part. Throughout that Catholic country, 
 some saint, or pillar of clouds, with a gilt cross, 
 or a column composed of three smaller ones 
 twisted together, as a type of the Trinity, is the 
 great central ornament. Oschatz has the square 
 and the town-house, but the gilded cross and 
 twisted pillars are wanting. The gable-ends of 
 many of the houses are placed towards the street, 
 and their fronts are often built up in very fantastic 
 shapes, so as to conceal the roofs. The upper part 
 of the front of the town- house, which is built in 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS* 257 
 
 the style described, instead of forming an angle 
 like the gable end of the roof, diminishes in steps, 
 each of which sustains some little ornament, such 
 as a weather-cock, or an image. On the upper 
 point is also a figure, and the whole end full of 
 windows, resembles nothing but the little German 
 tov-houses, which have been made in imitation of 
 old-fashioned buildings. The roofs of all the old- 
 fashioned houses in Germany are immoderately 
 high : some of them are, indeed, higher from the 
 top of the walls to the top of the roof, than the 
 walls are from the ground ; but this originally had 
 its rise in necessity, for a strong covering against 
 the snow. The less flat the roof was, so much the 
 better for this purpose, and this occasioned it to 
 be carried to a most ungraceful extremity. 
 
 The market-place of Leipsic fully justifies Ma- 
 dam de Stael's description of the strange old towns 
 of Germany. Goethe describes the houses of 
 Leipsic as " extraordinary shining buildings, with 
 a front to two streets, inclosing courts, and con- 
 taining every class of citizens within : heaven- 
 high buildings, that resemble large castles, and 
 are equal to half a city." Roofs, which alone con. 
 tained six stories of windows, with small steeples 
 on their tops ; circular houses, diminishing at 
 every story, resembling the pictures of the tower 
 of Babel; two or three towers, placed by the sides 
 of houses, as if a stair-case, separate from the build- 
 ing, had been provided for it ; some fronts, which 
 had been modernized and disfigured by a multi- 
 tude of pillars and pilasters, above others of the 
 same description. These and the ancient gaol- 
 like, but fantastical town. house, make the market- 
 place of Leipsic one of the most grotesque looking 
 spots ever beheld. While our traveller remained at 
 Leipsic, lie witnessed the funeral of a student, follow- 
 ed by nearly all the equipages of the town. It waa 
 beheld with interest even by the inhabitants, and 
 
 z 3 
 
258 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 the severe cold did not prevent the people from 
 looking out of their windows, while they leaned on 
 the little cushions which are placed on most Ger- 
 man window-frames, for the more comfortable 
 gratification of curiosity. Owners of carriages 
 allow their servants to let them on such occasions 
 as this, and the students wishing to do honour to 
 their departed comrade had hired a vast number. 
 The body, covered with a pall, was carried on 
 men's shoulders ; a company of soldiers, — the de- 
 ceased had been in the army, and a band of mu- 
 sic playing slow and solemn tunes, preceded the 
 corpse. The carriages and a great crowd of peo- 
 ple followed. At the grave an eulogium was de- 
 livered by one of the students, resembling those 
 eulogiums which are spoken in France over the 
 graves of distinguished men. The purport of it 
 went to state, that the dead man had served his 
 country both with his pen and his sword, and that 
 he would long be remembered by his brother stu- 
 dents, as an example of industry in his studies, 
 and of urbanity and politeness in his deportment. 
 His whole history was also detailed. He was of 
 the middling ranks, not rich, and the present re- 
 spect was paid only to his merit. Hymns were 
 sung over the grave, music played ; there was more 
 than one speaker, and the student was in all things 
 honoured as if he had been some respected chief. 
 This is a specimen of the brotherhood and enthu- 
 siasm which prevails amongst the students of Ger- 
 many ; no son of study in any other country could 
 possibly expect such an attendance to his grave as 
 accompanied this young man. Most of the tomb- 
 stones had crowns of laurel, or flowers, hung on 
 them, and garlands decorated them, as is usual in 
 German burial-grounds. Small shrubs and flowers 
 were planted on the graves ; some were carefully 
 watered and cherished, and others were faded, or 
 fading, like the affections which planted them. A 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. £&9 
 
 widower may attend his daughters to the grave of 
 their mother, and a husband his wife to the tomb 
 of their child, but it is principally women who 
 thus honour the dead, and who always at least 
 most gracefully display all our better affections. 
 At Leipsic, and most of the large towns of Ger- 
 many, the traveller is almost sure to be visited by 
 a man with a request for a donation, for the relief 
 of the poor. He brings with him a book, where 
 the names of the donors, and the sums subscribed, 
 are carefully registered ; and as in these books 
 may be found the names of kings, princes, and no- 
 bles, of all ranks, a refusal is^ received with some- 
 thing like an expression of contempt for a person 
 who declines to purchase, on such easy terms, the 
 honour of recording his name among the mighty 
 of the earth. 
 
 At the theatre a great difference may be ob- 
 served in the manners of the inhabitants of Leip- 
 sic and Dresden. Here no women are admitted 
 into the pit ; there that part of the theatre is 
 chiefly occupied by them. There the occasional 
 presence of the royal family prevents any thing 
 like noise ; here the pit has some resemblance to 
 the same part of an English theatre, stamping with 
 the feet, and striking with sticks, and other marks 
 of impatience are frequent. The mercantile pur- 
 suits of one town, and the almost want of any pur- 
 suit but amusement in the inhabitants of the other, 
 make a striking distinction of character visible 
 to the most superficial observer. 
 
 The same difference may be observed at the 
 table d'hote, this is mostly frequented by mercan- 
 tile travellers, who often sit down in large par- 
 ties, exceeding sixty in number. Their conver- 
 sation relates chierlv to their amusements, mixed 
 with matters of commerce and remarks on the po- 
 litical changes of the times : while in Dresden the 
 conversation takes a more library turn^- 
 
f<30 IXOWERS OP MODERN 
 
 Wittemberg, formerly a part of Saxony, now 
 belongs to Prussia. Its fortifications have been 
 put into repair, and it is now a frontier town to 
 the latter country. In this point of view its situa- 
 tion on the Elbe gives it advantages, but they are 
 not perceived or improved. It contains only 
 about ,5000 inhabitants, and has no commerce 
 whatever, though situated in a country that wants 
 only industry to make it fertile, with both iron and 
 coal in its neighbourhood, and with the high road 
 from Berlin to Leipsic passing through it. Ruin 
 is, however, making rapid strides, and nothing is 
 in repair but the new fortifications, whose nicely 
 formed mathematical angles form a striking con- 
 trast to the ruins they protect. This town was 
 the birth-place of the Reformation, and at its then 
 famous university, Luther first started into notice. 
 The university is now suppressed, but the tombs 
 of Luther, Melancthon, and Frederic the Wise, 
 are still in the castle church. The road from this 
 place to Truenbritzen is little better than a tract ; 
 but from the latter place the myal chaussee is com- 
 pleted, arid was pursued with pleasure to Potsdam. 
 
 It is certainly a fine road, and is paved in the 
 middle, though the pavement is but broad enough 
 for one carriage, the road itself however will allow of 
 four passing arbreast ; trees are planted on each 
 side, and the whole is very magnificent. The 
 branches leading from it, though they terminate 
 at a collection of mud huts, are equally spacious 
 with the main road. Potsdam, though not regu- 
 lar, may be called a well built town. Most of the 
 houses are clean and nicely painted. Sign-boards 
 and gilded letters are displayed to tell you, where 
 coffee and tea, or brandy and beer, are to be 
 bought. There are no less than eight spacious 
 palaces in Potsdam, or its vicinity, belonging to 
 the sovereign : the extensive gardens of these pa^ 
 laces are o.rnamented with a great number of stau 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 2(31 
 
 tues and busts. The most meritorious of the pub- 
 lic works at Potsdam is the canal, which passing 
 this place connects the Spree with the Havel, and 
 thus affords a water communication from the Elbe 
 to Berlin ; but even this seems more magnificent 
 than it need to have been, and made more to gra- 
 tify the vanity of the monarch, than to improve 
 the condition of the people. 
 
 Berlin stands in a flat country in the midst of 
 forests, deserts, and swamps. The Havel and the 
 Spree rather spread themselves into innumerable 
 lakes and ponds, than flow through the sandy flat 
 country in its vicinity. In proportion as its situa- 
 tion is bad its splendour is great. Entering the 
 city over a little bridge, leading from the palace 
 to the arsenal square, or the Platz am Zeughaus, 
 nothing appears wanting but a Seine, the lofty 
 trees of the Champs Elysees, and the Tuillerie 
 gardens, to make this, in point of the surround- 
 ing buildings, equal to the beautiful view from the 
 bridge of Louis XV. at Paris. Many of the cities 
 of Europe may contain, on the whole, more fine 
 buildings than Berlin, but there are few where 
 there are so many all collected on a spot. The 
 palace, in which the sovereign resides, the arsenal, 
 which is a very handsome building, the library, the 
 university, the Catholic church, the opera-house, se- 
 veral very fine private houses, and a handsome street, 
 called Unter den Linden, planted with rows of trees, 
 and at the end of which stands the famous Bran- 
 denburg-gate, may be all seen, from this spot, 
 by merely turning the head. The residence of the 
 king is not a very showy building, but the Schloss, 
 the proper palace, is very large, consisting of three 
 distinct buildings. The most modern of these is 
 in the Italian style, and one of its entrances is a 
 triumphal arch ; this is the most elegant part of 
 the erection. The next in point of age joining 
 ami forming one side of the first, is a mixture of 
 
26$ FLOWERS OF MODEllN 
 
 various styles, and the third is a dismal Gothic 
 castle. The whole is kept for state, and is in- 
 habited merely by officers of the court, and ser. 
 vants. 
 
 Berlin, though well built, contains many houses 
 obviously patched up to make a shew; and the new 
 town too plainly indicates, that it has not grown 
 out of the wants of the people, it being as it were 
 but half inhabited. The best street extends from 
 the Brandenburg- gate to the square of the arsenal; 
 it is planted with trees, is wider than the Bou- 
 velards of Paris, and is the fashionable promenade. 
 The Brandenburg gate was built after the manner 
 of the Propyleum at Athens, but is much larger. 
 It consists of twelve large columns, and eighteen 
 small ones. On the top is a triumphal car, carry- 
 ing victory, who bears a lance, with the iron cross 
 of Prussia, This figure was taken to Paris, but 
 brought back when the armies of France could no 
 longer claim that fickle goddess as their own ; her 
 statue now makes a very splendid entrance to this 
 military city. Just without this gate is the Thier 
 Garten, a park, containing fine walks, and places 
 to purchase refreshments ; and here is music and 
 dancing on Sundays and holidays. Even in win- 
 ter, on particular occasions, such as new years 
 day, &c. this park is crowded. A great portion 
 of the company then come in sledges, the horses 
 of which are decorated with small bells and fine 
 feathers. The drivers cracking their whips, and 
 driving along with great velocity, give life to this 
 winter scene. 
 
 A handsome square is called Gen d'Arm Platz. 
 Here stood the theatre which was burnt in 1817 ; 
 enough of its walls remained, when our traveller 
 viewed its ruins, to testify that it had been a very 
 handsome building. In this square are also two 
 churches, equal in beauty, and resembling one 
 another in their porticos and steeples. The por- 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 563 
 
 ticos resemble Grecian temples, and are built in 
 the form of a square, three sides of which are 
 formed of flights of steps, columns, capitals, cor- 
 nices, and pediments, with a multitude of figures. 
 These temples support the steeples. The church 
 is attached to the fourth side. The churches them- 
 selves cannot be praised for their architecture, and 
 the porticos are almost large enough to conceal 
 the original structures. One of these elegant 
 flights of steps was mounted by our traveller, and 
 he found it like all unemployed buildings, in large 
 towns, little better than a common receptacle for 
 dirt. 
 
 Wilhelm's Platz, or William's Square, is adorned 
 with the statues of some of the most famous of 
 Frederick's generals ; and the many other squares 
 and fine buildings of Berlin, cannot but cause re- 
 gret that so fine a city should stand in so bad a 
 situation. Even at Leipsic more business and 
 bustle is seen than is common in German towns ; 
 but at Berlin the stir is still greater. A greater 
 population would certainly increase this ; but, as 
 it is, each individual appears more occupied, and 
 seems to move with greater activity than Germans 
 generally do. In each inn, the police stations a 
 person as a valet de-place, he is their official spy ; 
 and obliged to give an account of all strangers on 
 their arrival, and to carry their passports to the 
 police for inspection. He is officially licensed, 
 and no other can be employed. When any person 
 wishes to remain three days or longer in Berlin, 
 his passport must be deposited in the police office, 
 and he receives a particular permission to remain 
 the time he requests. 
 
 Berlin contains an university, established in 
 1810, by the munificence of the sovereign, who 
 gave a palace for this purpose, and salaries to se- 
 veral learned professors, whom lie called from 
 other places. More than S'oO students received 
 
264 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 instruction here in 1818 : the mode of instruction 
 is similar to that at Gottingen. Breslau, also, con- 
 tains an university, as does Konigsberg, Halle, 
 and Griefswalde ; to these may be added one newly 
 established at Bonne. Thus the kingdom contains 
 six universities, besides what are called high 
 schools, in most of the towns in which a learned 
 education is begun. There are five such establish- 
 ments at Berlin alone. It contains also a military 
 school, and one for engineers ; three seminaries 
 for the instruction of schoolmasters ; besides seve- 
 ral academies for the arts, singing, and architec- 
 ture. Here is also a laudable institution for edu* 
 eating the blind, and a similar establishment for 
 instructing the deaf. This city contains in all 
 more than 250 places for education, but though 
 many of these are private, not one can be es- 
 tablished without legal permission. What must 
 strike a Briton as a strange concomitant to all 
 these plagues of education is, that Berlin is one of 
 the places where animal magnetism is most cul- 
 tivated and studied, and where a professor makes 
 experiments, and instructs others in this branch of 
 knowledge ! Laws are also enacted to regulate its 
 administration, and to prescribe to what persons 
 the blessings of magnetism may be given, and its 
 secrets revealed! Though there are few public 
 reading-rooms in Berlin, yet a great number of 
 pamphlets and periodical works are published there; 
 some of these are devoted to political subjects. 
 Wolfant, the professor of animal magnetism, pe- 
 riodically published to the world the progress of 
 his so called science. All new voyages and tra- 
 vels are regularly recorded in another work, and 
 the progress of the fine arts is detailed in various 
 daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly publications. 
 Of what may strictly be called newspapers, there 
 are only two that admit political discussion in 
 their columns. These are both published twice a 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 565 
 
 week. In 1813 the population of Berlin, exclu- 
 sive of military, amounted to 106,584 ; but in 
 181/ it had increased to 178,811, by which, and 
 other estimates, it appears, that the population of 
 this country is rapidly increasing. Our traveller 
 censures the inhabitants of Berlin, as given to 
 trifling and debauchery, and notices the same sort 
 of meretricious glare which he had seen at Pots- 
 dam. There are some splendid shops; but in 
 general the fine painted houses, gilded signs, and 
 golden letters, only concealed poverty and dirt. 
 The cabarets, or dancing-houses of the town, are 
 notoriously numerous and profligate ; and the peo- 
 ple are less domestic than those of any other part 
 of Germany. 
 
 Our traveller quitted Berlin very early on the 
 morning of the 3rd of January, 1818. The frost was 
 intense, ieicles formed from the breath, attaching 
 themselves to the whiskers of the men, and to the 
 necks and heads of those horses that were proceed- 
 ing with the wind in their faces towards Berlin. 
 Many people, mostly women, were going into the 
 town with quantities of vegetables, and indeed much 
 of the common labour which in Britain is performed 
 by horses or machines, in Germany falls to the lot 
 of women. Many of these in the present instance, 
 had profited by the snow to yoke dogs to little 
 sledge?, and were thus conveying their goods to 
 market. None of these people saluted the traveller, 
 as he had always found the Saxons ready to do ; and 
 though lie allows this might in some measure be ow- 
 ing to the cold, yet he concludes that it must be 
 partly attributed to the less civil, less soft, and less 
 pleasing character of the Prussians. Charlotten- 
 berg is another palaee belonging to the monarch : 
 its garden contains the tomb and monument of the 
 late Queen of Prussia. The route pursued was by 
 Brandenburgh to Magdeburg, by the way of Span- 
 tlau. This was formerly the post road, but has now 
 
 vol. iv. A a 
 
£65 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 degenerated to a mere tract over wild and unculti- 
 vated heaths, and consequently difficult to find. 
 This difficulty prevented our traveller reaching 
 Brandenburg, and induced him to stop at the com- 
 mencement of night, where no sort of decent ac- 
 commodation was to be had. Here he was treated 
 first with bad coffee, and in answer to a request for 
 something more substantial for supper, was in- 
 formed that the house afforded nothing more except 
 brown bread, bad butter, and new brandy. On 
 asking to go to bed, though that convenience was 
 previously promised him, he was apprized that he 
 could have no other bed than some straw strewed 
 in the room in which he was sitting, and which was 
 occupied by a number of persons apparently in no 
 hurry to depart. 
 
 An itinerant dealer in earthenware had arrived, 
 and carefully summoned all the inhabitants of the 
 village to risk the r money in a kind of lottery. 
 Towards eight o'clock accordingly an assembly of 
 old and young men, women, and children collected, 
 who completely filled the room. The merchant dis- 
 played his wares in the most tempting style on a 
 large table ; these consisted of cups and saucers, 
 glasses, plates, and pipes, in their manufacture 
 neither coarse nor inelegant. Every one of these 
 articles was put up at rather more than its value. 
 The price of a chance was eight grosschen, or 
 about one shilling, and he delivered out eight 
 tickets, and when each was sold at that price, the 
 purchasers threw dice among themselves to decide 
 which should have the prize. 'Ihe pedlar risked 
 nothing himself, but the peasantry, by their gamb- 
 ling, perhaps acquired things of which they had no 
 need. 
 
 During this scene the lads and lasses were 
 roughly playing with each other, and as the gam- 
 bling was principally among the middle aged, the 
 more elderly people were sitting quietly with their 
 
VOYAGES AXD TRAVELS. 207 
 
 pipe?, enjoying their drams or a little conversation. 
 Nearly all the young men were dressed in short 
 blue jackets and trowsers, with caps like the un- 
 dress of soldiers, and had a military air. 'I he 
 elderly men wore long blue coats hanging nearly to 
 the ground ; these are peculiar to the peasantry. A 
 striking contrast was observable between the length 
 of coat and size of breeches. The jackets of the 
 youngsters reached but half way down their backs, 
 whilst their trowsers were loose and large like those 
 worn by Cossacks. The coats of the old men on 
 the other hand nearly reached the ground, while 
 their leathern breeches fitted as close as a second 
 skin. The modes of dress among the women of the 
 towns are in a perpetual state of change ; those of 
 the country remain the same for ages; but as the 
 men travel more about, the fashion of their dnss 
 changes almost as often in the country as in the 
 towns. 
 
 Brandenburg is surrounded by rivers, which 
 might readily afford a more industrious or enter- 
 prizing people better means of communication, 
 than is enjoyed by its inhabitants. This town dis- 
 plays no vebtiges of its having once been the seat of 
 the present reigning family of Prussia. Frederic 
 the dreat demolished the old castle that stood on 
 the Marienberg close to the town. All that was 
 contained of any value was then carried to Potsdam. 
 Brandenburg is situated on the river Havel ; its po- 
 pulation is estimated at 10,000. Its principal 
 manufactures are wool, linen, and cotton. It is 
 however much noted for its corn mills, which sup- 
 p.v the inhabitants of Berlin with flour. In this 
 vicinity there are also about ^500 acres of vineyards, 
 probably the most northern of all Germany. A 
 new road begun here is completed as far as the 
 village of Plauen ; it is designed to extend to Mag- 
 deburg. Not many years since there was nothing 
 
 a a 2 
 
268 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 but a tract between Berlin and Magdeburg, one of 
 the most important fortresses of the kingdom. 
 
 Perghen, the next stage of the traveller, has at 
 its entrance a toll-bar and house, with a coat of 
 arms, not royal, painted on that sort of shield, fixed 
 to a post, which in this country tells the traveller 
 he has money to pay. This w r as dated 1602. The 
 name of the owner, and the word adeleche, noble, 
 was prefixed. It is a toll levied by the nobleman 
 on all carriages and horses passing through his 
 estate. These kind of tolls used to be common, 
 and still exist in various parts of Germany. The 
 people of this nobleman, as the inhabitants of this 
 village styled themselves, for all belonged to him, 
 were exempted from any toll when they employed 
 their own waggons, but were obliged to pay if wag- 
 gons belonging to other people brought any thing 
 to them. The government wished to destroy this 
 toll, but the inhabitants were senseless enough to 
 exult in " their nobleman being too strong for it," 
 as they expressed themselves. The new road to 
 Magdeburg, if carried straight, would pass through 
 the estate of this Mr. Adeliche Beerhern, as he is 
 titled, but he is a sturdy sort of fellow, living on 
 his own property, and seldom going to court, and 
 as he seemed to like no such novelties as good 
 roads, he displayed his independence by compel- 
 ling the engineer to make a considerable circuit in 
 order to avoid his grounds. The road to this place 
 was over a soil generally light and sandy-. Some 
 forests were passed, but no inclosures. Where the 
 country was cultivated, there was no separation be- 
 tween the fields but water courses, and the fur- 
 row extended farther than the eye could trace it. 
 Notwithstanding it was Sunday, many persons were 
 working, and the girls of the public-house where 
 our traveller spent the night, continued spinning 
 all the evening, as they listened to the stories or 
 joined in the songs of a ragged man, who paid for 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVEL?, 269 
 
 his entertainment by relating the triumphs, real and 
 imaginary, of the Prussian armies, the fatherly care 
 of old Blucher, and the crimes of Buonaparte. 
 
 For the two last nights Mr. Hodgskin had been 
 unable to procure a bed at either of the houses at 
 which he spent the night, and his inference is just : 
 •« what I experienced these two nights, and on the 
 road, where I could not procure a bed, and scarcely 
 any thing to eat, may serve as a specimen of the 
 wealth, or rather the poverty, in which his majesty 
 of Prussia's subjects live. The reader will remem- 
 ber that I was on a high road, and that houses 
 of public entertainment had neither beds nor any 
 thing to eat. Such is the state of the dominions 
 of the great Frederick. With such a degree of po- 
 verty, and thinly scattered as these people are, it is 
 in vain to hope for any improvement but by enrich- 
 ing them, and letting their numbers increase; and 
 it is quite certain these objects can never be accom- 
 plished by the glories of the monarch, nor by those 
 multiplied governments and governors, who pro- 
 duce poverty in proportion as they are numerous.'* 
 
 The next stage of our traveller was to Burg, an 
 old fashioned city with gates and walls, having cen- 
 tinels and tax-gatherers at the gate like all the per- 
 fect cities of Germany. The church is an immense 
 pile of stones rudely heaped together, having no- 
 thing to relieve the heavy fiat uniformity of a gable 
 wall rising into a steeple, except two small windows 
 and a door. It had the appearance of having been 
 built to overshadow the houses in its neighbour- 
 hood. In the parade, as the public square in most 
 of the towns of this part of Prussia is named, there 
 stands a colossal statue of some warrior of the 
 fifteenth or sixteenth century. This statue, hewn 
 out of sand stone, is in armour, and now placed 
 against the corner of a house, as if its present situa- 
 tion had not been its original one. The It gs were 
 nearly worn awav, having served as tirhetstOQC! fo: 
 
 a a 3 
 
$70 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 the knives of the neighbouring butchers. The 
 ground between this place and Magdeburg is 
 partly cultivated, though much is forest, and near 
 Magdeburg there is a great deal of marsh and 
 and morass. Magdeburg stands on the banks of a 
 river, and has one long handsome street justly called 
 the Broad-street : however a church terminating it 
 at each end, detracts from its appearance. What 
 was once the cathedral square is now the parade. 
 Platz, another square, still contains a monument - 
 erected to the Emperor Otto in the tenth century. 
 It is hewn out of sand-stone. 
 
 The cathedral is a celebrated piece of Gothic ar- 
 chitecture, but is not to be compared with many of 
 the cathedrals and abbeys of Britain. All the 
 churches here have two steeples ; this may also be 
 observed in some other towns. The houses resem- 
 ble those of Leipsic, but the fronts are more orna- 
 mented with all kinds of fantastical things. Among 
 these the great dragons and flying serpents placed 
 at the ends of water spouts, vomiting the rain from 
 the roofs to the middle of the streets, are the most 
 conspicuous and singular. The town altogether has 
 a clean and neat appearance ; and the palace of 
 Justice " Gerichtshof, ,, stands open, but it is only 
 into the deserted halls } r ou are allowed to enter. 
 The chambers of justice are closed against all but 
 advocates and judges. 
 
 Magdeburg is very strongly fortified. It was 
 formerly the capital of an independent archbishopric 
 of the same name. Its present population is stated 
 at 34<,700 people, and it enjoys considerable trade. 
 The Prussian government appears very favourable 
 to Magdeburg. Ribbons and woollen cloths are its 
 principal manufactures. Its cotton manufactures 
 are also on the increase. The peace and the steam 
 navigation between Berlin and Hamburg operate 
 favourably on its trade. 
 
 The country between Magdeburg and Brunswick 
 
r 
 
 VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. WJ I 
 
 is much better peopled, than that between Berlin 
 and Magdeburg. The soil too, losing its sandy 
 nature, becomes a good day, and the country is 
 open and well cultivated. Gently undulating hills, 
 and numerous villages adorning the vallies, sur- 
 rounded with tall pines, above which nothing is to 
 be seen but the church steeple or some nobleman's 
 house, give to this vicinity a more picturesque ap- 
 pearance than any part of Germany recently 
 described. Though the houses were built of the 
 usual materials, and were in the ordinary form, yet 
 the men and women looked cleaner than the pea- 
 santry do in general. 
 
 A wedding feast, as occurring in a village on his 
 rout, is described by our traveller. These feasts 
 are generally attended by as many as the party giv- 
 ing them can possibly entertain, having sometimes 
 upwards of a hundred guests. In the present in- 
 stance there were not more than forty or fifty per- 
 sons present. Each of the peasant girls wore a 
 small green silk cap, from which streamed a great 
 variety of different coloured ribbons : on ordinary 
 occasions the cap is black or entirely laid aside. 
 The hair is all combed back from the forehead, and 
 rolled up from behind, and kept in this situation by 
 the cap, which is made of pasteboard, or some stiff 
 substance. ]t is covered with silk, tits close to the 
 top of the head, and conies down on each side 
 towards the cars, and altogether resembles a monk's 
 cowl. Similar ones are worn in southern Germany, 
 but are there generally embroidered with gold or 
 silver. Their long stays are tightly laced, at the 
 bottom of which the loose petticoats project all 
 round, and then hang straight down • this makes 
 them appear as if some artist had formed them, who 
 first designed they should terminate at the waist in 
 a point, but altering his mind, had placed them on 
 a large base supported on two legs. A short linen 
 gown or rather jacket fits tight over the long stays, 
 
fj% FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 terminating with them. The petticoats are univer- 
 sally made of blue, white, and red striped woollen, 
 descending only half way down the legs ; white 
 worsted stockings, with flaming red or other 
 coloured clocks, and high-heeled shoes complete 
 their dress. This costume had so little variation, 
 that the whole party might have passed for sisters. 
 The young men were dressed like the inhabitants of 
 towns; the old ones wore long blue home-made 
 ceats that descended to their ankles, lined or faced 
 with red, and ornamented with large metal buttons. 
 The old men wore cocked hats, and had the appear- 
 ance of veteran soldiers. This dress, it is probable, 
 is derived from that worn by the soldiers of the great 
 Frederick. The peasants then as now were soldiers, 
 and their dress in that capacity was afterwards re- 
 tained, just as at present. The dress of the 
 younger peasantry resembles the military undress: 
 the use of this dress is promoted by the peasants 
 who retire from service, who are allowed as a pri- 
 vilege to wear regimentals. 
 
 Two noblemen resided at Eisleben at the time it 
 was visited by our traveller, and their presence ap- 
 peared a source of great discontent to the inhabi- 
 tants. When these noblemen do not reside among 
 them, they are generally free from all services ex- 
 cept a certain rent either in money or corn ; but 
 when on their estates, the peasantry must supply 
 them with horses, carry their harvest in, plough 
 their ground, and give them the third goose and the 
 tenth lamb, exactly conformable to the ancient 
 feudal state. 
 
 Though the road through this village is the prin- 
 cipal communication between Magdeburg, Bruns- 
 wick, and Hamburg, it is very bad and full of hol- 
 lows, in which, as it thawed when our traveller 
 passed, waggons were sticking fast, and people la- 
 bouring to extricate them. Not only about Mag- 
 deburg, but generally throughout Germany, the 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 273 
 
 people reside in villages, and not in detached farm 
 houses. There was a time when it was necessary 
 for common security, that the people should crowd 
 round the castle of their lord, and when, as his pro- 
 perty, it might be needful that they should labour 
 under his eye or that of his bailiff ; but the custom 
 of herding together continues now, the circum- 
 stances are changed, excepting one, which is the 
 manner in which the land of the peasantry is di- 
 vided, each possessing a piece here and a piece 
 there. 
 
 Helmstadt is an ancient town in the territories of 
 Brunswick. Its university was founded by Julius 
 then duke of YVolfenbuttel. It is principally to him 
 that the peasantry are indebted for what is called 
 the Meyer Law ; this secures to the peasant the 
 possession of his little farm, on paying to the lord a 
 certain rent which must not be increased. The pa- 
 tronage of the latter dukes of Brunswick being 
 diverted to their newly founded college of Caro- 
 lina, and the university of Gottingen supported by 
 a more powerful sovereign, has deprived Helm- 
 stadt of much of its lustre. The latter university 
 was abolished when the French took yossession of 
 the country, and this ended all the importance of 
 the town. Its population is about 5000, but it has 
 nothing to recommend it but a pleasant country. 
 This town still retains many marks of its antiquity, 
 crooked streets, houses facing every corner of the 
 heavens, and some of them with large courts before 
 them, and all of an indescribable shape, seem to 
 have been built from the corners of other buildings ; 
 they have all high roofs, and everv story as it rises 
 above another projects beyond it, so that the roof is 
 the largest and most conspicuous part of the house. 
 The building materials are generally timber filled 
 in with clay white-washed, or with bricks. All the 
 beams are covered with inscriptions principally 
 taken from Scripture. The doors are all of oak 
 
2/4 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 often highly polished, and always ornamented with 
 shining brass handles and knockers ; and the nu- 
 merous small windows are decorated with white 
 curtains. On the whole, Helmstadt presents ano- 
 ther specimen of the old grotesque German towns. 
 
 The road to Helmstadt had been bad, but that 
 to Brunkswick improved : this town also possesses 
 the characteristics of other old German towns, par- 
 ticularly crooked streets, and strange built houses. 
 Brunswick contains no buildings that can be called 
 beautiful, though there are several that are pictu- 
 resque, from the little gilded turrets and balconies 
 that grow out of their corners and sides. The prin- 
 cipal church contains the tombs of the sovereigns, 
 and a statue of Henry the Lion, a rude memorial 
 of the time in which it was executed, the twelfth 
 century ; and it resembles the figures seen on the 
 top of the oldest tombs of some of our monarchs. 
 Brunswick was once a powerful town, independent 
 of its prince ; but is now only famous for good sau- 
 sages, chicoree, coffee, and mumm. In its better 
 days, it carried on more trade than any town in the 
 north of Germany, except Hamburg and Lubeck. 
 It was a member of the Hanseatic league, and a 
 pattern and protection to all the smaller towns of 
 the north. Brunswick has still a considerable por- 
 tion of trade, particularly between Hamburg and 
 southern Germany. Its population amounts to ra- 
 ther more than 20,000. Its manufactures are 
 cloths, papier mache, porcelain, and colours. The 
 inhabitants also excel in the manufacture of furni- 
 ture and turnery-ware. 
 
 The inhabitants, particularly the peasantry, are 
 remarkable, among the Germans, for personal 
 beauty. The Saxons and Prussians, with all the 
 inhabitants of the north, except those of Hanover, 
 are a better-looking race than those of the south. 
 The inhabitants of Brunswick are distinguished 
 even from the natives of these favoured countries. 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 
 
 f 2T5 
 
 The men hold themselves more upright, are cleaner 
 • in their dress, and more active, than the peasants 
 1 of Germany generally are. The laws have given 
 them great security for their property ; and more 
 than half a century ago, writers complained of their 
 luxury. They were accused of wearing glass and 
 silver buttons ; their wives indulged in the use of 
 lace; and their children were ornamented with 
 silken ribbons. Some attempts, then made to re- 
 press these indulgences, are said to have rendered 
 them suspicious, spiteful, and cunning. The laws 
 were found useless ; and the peasantry of Bruns- 
 ' wick have again acquired their good character, and 
 their taste for ornament. The cultivation of the 
 people, as far as regards school learning, has not 
 1 been neglected at Brunswick. The most cele- 
 brated of the present institutions, is the Carolina 
 college. Its apparent design seems to be that of a 
 better school, somewhat approaching to an univer- 
 ' sity; but it is now famous as a military academy. 
 It was founded in 1745, under the patronage of the 
 Duke Charles, and regulated by the celebrated 
 court chaplain, Jerusalem. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 HiUeshehn — Crucifixes — Hanover New Town — Pa- 
 lace of the Duke of Cambridge — Town House — 
 Leibnitz — Mode of extinguishing Fire* — German 
 Salutations — Cdle, or Zell — Tolls — Penitentiary 
 
 — Gardens — Farms; — Stone Benches — Luneburg 
 
 — Harburg— Hamburg — Altona — Sunday Exhi- 
 bitions—Markets — St. Michael 9 ,': Church — Borsen 
 ■ — Ha I le — Ottcnson — The Torture — St a de — Hey- 
 dinger — Otterndorf — Land — Hadelm — Bremen — 
 Olden burg — Rm hden — Friezela nd — Papenbit rg — 
 St. John's Day — Osnubruck — Toleration — D e- 
 
276 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 pholtz — Tree Shooting — Gottingen — The Hartz- 
 berg — The Bracken — School Mania — Garden — 
 Monuments — University of G ottingen — G overn- 
 ment of Hanover — Confirmations — Christmas Gifts 
 JBauer's Houses — G erman W omen — Lutheran 
 Clergy — Education — Casscl — Long Tails — 
 Frankfort. 
 
 The roads all through the territory of Brunswick 
 are good ; but when you proceed by Hildesheim to 
 Hanover, you pass through bogs, ploughed fields, 
 and, here and there, pieces of road. A new road 
 is however making, and the wheel tracts extending 
 nearly a mile on each side, prove what a quantity 
 of land has been injured by the want of a proper 
 road. The country along this tract is well peopled; 
 and numerous hedge-rows, clumps of trees, and 
 villages, give it a resemblance to many parts of 
 Kent. 
 
 Betmeer Pass was the first village in Hanover 
 stopped at by our traveller. It is in the bishopric \ 
 of Hildesheim, but now forms part of the kingdom 
 of Hanover. Under the government of the bishop, 
 the landlord of the inn paid eighteen thalers, about 
 21. 14s. per year, in taxes : under the government 
 of Jerome Bonaparte or* whose kingdom, West- 
 phalia, it formed a part, he paid eighty-three thalers, 
 and now he pays fifty-one. This inn is spacious, 
 but in ruins ; and four beds, with curtains, are 
 crowded into one room, because no other is wea- 
 ther proof. 
 
 The crucifixes on the road side leading to Hil- 
 desheim, plainly announce to the traveller, that the 
 inhabitants are catholic. An alteration also may 
 be observed in the appearance and habits of the 
 people ; they are shorter, fuller faced, and dirtier, 
 than the inhabitants of Brunswick. 
 
 Hildesheim, like the other towns of north Ger- 
 many was almost an independent city. It was the 
 
 .9 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 277 
 
 capital of the bihopric ; and though the sovereignty 
 is transferred to Hanover, the bishop still resides 
 here. Large steeples, and the cathedral, make this 
 town, at a distance, look much handsomer than it 
 is. The situation is good ; but the crooked and 
 narrow streets, with high-roofed houses, no good 
 building, and only one square, gave it, on the 
 whole, a gloomy aspect. 
 
 Just at the entrance of the town of Hanover, the 
 eye is arrested by an ugly pile of bricks : this is 
 the steeple of the Markt-Kirche, or market church ; 
 and the traveller who forms his opinion of the town 
 by this first specimen, will expect, in the rest of the 
 buildings, to meet with every thing that is heavy 
 and old-fashioned. But on entering the Fgidlih 
 new town, he will see straight, well-paved streets ; 
 houses rather light and elegant; handsome walks, 
 branching to the right and left ; and one spacious 
 hou^e, with a large space in front, for a garden. 
 This is, however, the best part of the town ; and 
 the crooked streets, and old buildings, though nei- 
 ther so numerous nor grotesque as in Brunswick 
 and Helmstadt, still give to it all the distinguishing 
 characteristics of the cities of the north. 
 
 On the road to Hanover are many new buildings) 
 something like decent farm-houses, marks of pros- 
 perity very rarely seen in any other part of the con- 
 tinent. The road too was good, and hedge rows, 
 nice gardens, and, above all, the G. R.'s glittering 
 on the road -mender's caps, strongly recalled the 
 idea of England. This was augmented, when, on 
 entering the town, the military music was playing, 
 at the officer's dinner hour, " The Roast Beef of 
 Old England." The soldiers too were dressed like 
 the English. 
 
 Hanover is situated in a flat plain, at the farthest 
 extremity of hills, and fertile country ; and at the 
 commencement of those sandy districts, which ex- 
 tend, without interruption hence, to the Elbe, the 
 
 vol. iv. 13 b 
 
FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 Weser, and the sea. On its north-west side is a 
 hill, called the Lindenberg ; in its neighbourhood 
 the soil is fertile, and the country pleasant ; but on 
 the other side, the soil is generally sandy, and the 
 country flat. A little river, called the Leine, di- 
 vided into two streams, runs through it ; but it is, 
 in general, so completely built over, that it is not 
 seen till you reach the bridge. In the vicinity of 
 the Marstall, or royal stable, and again by the pa- 
 lace however, it is exposed to view, and there adds 
 a beauty to the whole. The town contains about 
 20,000 inhabitants, and is increasing and improv- 
 ing. The old and new towns are separated by the 
 Leine ; and the former has an appendage, the Egi- 
 dian new town ; but, from the want of good streets 
 or houses, the capital of his Britannic majesty's 
 dominions, may be compared to some old-fashion- 
 ed, third rate, provincial towns of Great Britain. 
 
 The palace of the Duke of Cambridge is the only 
 building having the least claim to the character of 
 elegance. This was built by a nobleman, in the 
 year 1752, and afterwards purchased by the go* 
 vernment. This is rather a large house, but plain. 
 The royal palace, which had been large, is now 
 partly in ruins. The chapel, the theatre, and some 
 other of the old parts, still remain, and some new 
 corners are built and building ; the remainder has 
 either been burnt or pulled down, and presents 
 only a mixture of confusion and ruin. The house 
 in which the business of the state is conducted, 
 called Die Regierung ; the parliament house, or 
 das landshaftliche hause, is at present repairing; 
 the library, the fursten hofF, which is the residence 
 of the Duke of Clarence, are the most respectable 
 Tbuiidings ; others, even large houses, are built with 
 a frame of oak, filled in with brick, having a mean 
 and old-fashioned appearance. The town house is 
 one of those old German buildings, with so many 
 different corners and shapes, that no one form in 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 2;9 
 
 particular can be assigned to it. In lightness and 
 ornament, it is far inferior to many of the old 
 houses resembling those of Helmstadt, which 
 abound in Hanover. The fronts of many of these 
 are entirely composed of little towers, extending all 
 the way to the top, and are sometimes smartly 
 painted and ornamented with a variety of figures 
 and weathercocks, altogether looking like gay 
 summer-houses, or small antique castles. Most of 
 the towns of Germany resemble one another in one 
 point. They have all once been fortified ; the for- 
 tifications are no longer of any use ; and they, or 
 at least the walls, are converted into agreeable 
 walks. Hanover has such a walk, extending round 
 the whole town. On one part of this, not far from 
 the library, at the end of an open place, used as a 
 parade for soldiers, stands a little temple, whose 
 cupola rests on twelve columns, and which contains 
 a marble altar, supporting a bust of Leibnitz ; on 
 the bottom of the bust, his name is inscribed ; and 
 the name of the artist, Hewetson, is seen on the 
 back part. On the frieze of the temple, in large 
 letters, stands " Genio Leibnitzii," and no fur- 
 ther inscription is required to tell who he was, and 
 wiry he was thus honoured. Its situation, though 
 naturally good, is spoiled by the objects associated 
 with it. It should have been placed in a garden, 
 devoted to contemplation. Leibnitz has no con- 
 nection with soldier's drilling, nor have the soldiers 
 any thing in common with Leibnitz, except their 
 being of the t same species. The design is chaste 
 and simple, and does credit to the taste of the gen- 
 tlemen who planned it. Among the original pro- 
 posers of this monument, may be named Messrs. 
 Von Reden, Patje, Ramberg, HofFner, and Brandes. 
 The modesty of these artists did not permit them 
 to engrave their own names on the temple which 
 they raised to Leibnitz. 
 
 Many of Leibnitz's manuscripts are still preserved 
 b b 2 
 
2S0 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 in the library of Hanover, where much of his life 
 was passed. These are affably shewn to strangers 
 by the librarian. Leibnitz died November 16, 
 1716V, and was buried in the church of the new 
 town of Hanover. The stone erected there to his 
 memory, is simple. The library, liberally open to 
 the inspection of strangers, is rich in historical 
 works ; the books may be taken home to be read. 
 The society of natural history in Hanover has also 
 a library; and there are several private societies, 
 in which books, journals, and newspapers, may be 
 read. 
 
 Compared to some other German towns, Hano- 
 ver may be said to be poor in museums, and col- 
 lections of works of nature or art. The streets are 
 well paved, and the foot-paths are raised. This 
 latter is a convenience seldom seen out of England; 
 and here it was probably borrowed from us. There 
 is also another English peculiarity in Hanover: an 
 insurance company, begun in the year 1750. Com- 
 bined with this institution, there is a regulation 
 concerning fires, worthy general adoption. In case 
 of fire, all the citizens, according to their trades, 
 have some particular stations and employments 
 assigned them. The origin of this regulation is 
 said to have been the company of merchants engag- 
 ing among themselves to assist in saving each 
 other's property, in case of fire ; and for this pur- 
 pose, they all provided themselves with sacks, to 
 remove whatever was moveable, out of danger. 
 This is still their duty. Masons and carpenters 
 have to pull down neighbouring buildings, if neces- 
 sary; smiths are engine workers ; and every thing 
 that foresight can imagine as necessary to be done 
 on such an emergency, has somebody appointed to 
 do it. Every citizen, not otherwise stationed, has 
 a numbered bucket ; and no sooner is an alarm of 
 fire given, than every one, like the sailors of a well- 
 ordered ship, repairs to his station. From these 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS, 281 
 
 precautions, fires seldom take place in Hanover ; 
 or are soon extinguished. So late as the sixteenth 
 century, some of the houses of Berlin were thatched 
 with straw : wooden chimneys were used in 1708, 
 and remained in Brunswick till 1745. Many houses 
 throughout the country are yet destitute of chim- 
 neys ; yet the march of improvement has been rapid 
 and striking since the fourteenth century, when this 
 was the case all over the country. 
 
 The German mode of salutation appears some- 
 what extraordinary to an Englishman 1 the most 
 delicate and modest woman will not scruple to pub- 
 licly kiss the whole of the company either when she 
 first comes down stairs in a morning, or at parting: 
 and our traveller did not feel his regret at leaving 
 Hanover lessened by the affectionate kiss he re- 
 ceived from all the females of the family with whom 
 he had resided, when he quitted their society. 
 
 Celle, or Zell, was his next stage; the country 
 on the road to which, was chiefly heath or morass, 
 with, here and there, a patch of cultivation, round 
 a miserable village, or a herd of cattle now and 
 then seen feeding. There were almost as many 
 royal tolls as villages, the collectors of which had 
 given the traveller good advice, by inscribing on 
 their boards, " Hutet euch vor strafe, und bezah- 
 let zoll beware of punishment, and pay the tolls. 
 The old ruined castle, once the habitation of the 
 dukes of Luneburg, was last occupied by the un- 
 fortunate Queen Matilda, of Denmark. * She died 
 here in 1775. A monument, now very much de- 
 faced, and indeed almost destroyed, was erected to 
 her memory, in a place called «« the French Gar- 
 den, v a little out of the town. It is surrounded 
 with trees and shrubs, and has a gloomy senti- 
 mental air. in unison with German taste. 
 
 The zucht-house, or penitentiary, is situated in a 
 suburb, called Wester Celle. The chief of the 
 establishment had formerly been a captain in the 
 
 b b 3 
 
292 FLOWERS OP MODERN 
 
 German Legion ; his permission was necessary to 
 view the institution, and it was readily granted. 
 Here, as in some other countries, the lunatic and 
 the criminal are confined together. There were 
 about eighty mad people and idiots : all that are in 
 any way furious, are shut up in cells. The idiots 
 are left at large in the building, under the same 
 guardianship as the felons. The cells are all on 
 the ground-floor, well aired, and well lighted. 
 However, a great want of discrimination in the 
 mode of treatment, was obvious. Neither of the 
 medical men belonging to the establishment, lived 
 in the house, and the keeper of the mad people was 
 also the gaoler. Of the modes of cure, nothing 
 could be learned ; the conductor only knew, that 
 they were fed once a day. 
 
 In the part allotted to the criminals, from fifty to 
 sixty persons were in each apartment. The males 
 and females were kept separate. All the women, 
 and some men, were emplo} r ed spinning either wool 
 or flax. The different buildings form three sides 
 of a square ; and on the fourth side, is a wall, and 
 the gates. The ground enclosed by the building 
 is allowed the prisoners for exercise ; and the inha- 
 bitants of each room take their turns to walk, for 
 a certain time, each day. Every prisoner has a 
 separate bed, but there are from fbrfp to fifty in a 
 room. All the women were patiently and quietly 
 at work ; and the traveller thinks, that fifty English 
 females, under similar circumstances, would, even 
 after the benevolent labours of Mrs. Fry, present 
 a very different spectacle. 
 
 All round Zell, like most other German towns, 
 the little gardens are cultivated mostly by the wo- 
 men, for producing cabbages and potatoes. Con- 
 nected with the council, or town house, is a wine 
 house, called the Raths Keller, which seems to 
 have originated in the number of persons who had 
 business with the magistrates, and the necessity 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 283 
 
 they found themselves under for amusement and 
 refreshment, whilst waiting. Zell is the seat of the 
 chief court of appeal for the whole kingdom, and 
 is inhabited by a number of genteel families ; and 
 it derives many advantages from its situation on 
 the river Aller, which connects Brunswick with 
 Bremen. 
 
 The farms in this country are from twenty to 
 sixty-four acres of land each. Each former keeps 
 a shepherd. The heath, or rather the surface of 
 the soil is cut off with something like a carpenter's 
 adze, and laid by in flakes. At night the cattle 
 are turned out to graze on the stunted heaths; but 
 both shepherds and shepherdesses are rather se- 
 rious than gay, and seem frequently employed in 
 reading religious publications. At Uelzen, a nice 
 little town, most of the houses had two stone 
 benches at the door, on some of which people 
 were sitting smoking, and exchanging salutations 
 with each passing neighbour. The upright stones 
 at the ends of these benches being ornamented 
 like common tomb-stones, might lead some stran- 
 gers to suppose that every family here was buried 
 under its own door way. At Biennenbuttel the 
 traveller found a rude oil and corn mill, and the 
 usual concomitants of fertility, a nobleman's house, 
 or an ancient convent. Farmers who cultivate 
 about forty acres of land are reckoned rich. Here 
 it was necessary for the traveller to procure of the 
 Baumeister, or chief man of the^village, permis- 
 sion tc lodge. 
 
 The town of Luneburg is very ancient. The 
 steeples of the churches are all built of red brick, 
 and make a strange gloomy appearance, and their 
 weight renders them very likely to fall. The trade 
 of this place which used to be very great, from 
 Hamburg has been considerably diminished. At 
 the foot of a remarkable rock near Luneburg, 15 a 
 
264 floweks of modern 
 
 salt well, which would supply more than 400O tons 
 per week, if a consumption for it could be found. 
 
 At a public house in a village called Pattenson, 
 the traveller found every member of the family 
 ragged and dirty ; even the house appeared never 
 to be swept, yet here a person was kept partly to 
 instruct the children in reading, writing, arithme- 
 tic, and geography. He had been a soldier, and was 
 now an occasional assistant in labours of the farm. 
 About ten o'clock when it was expected the people 
 were all going to bed, the traveller was rather sur- 
 prized to see a dozen young men and women, and 
 among them the servants of the house, collected at 
 the door, playing at main ckaude. This amusement 
 lasted with much laughter and some hearty slaps, 
 till midnight. In this game a female sits down, 
 one of the company kneels and lays his head in 
 her lap, so that he can see nothing. Then laying 
 one of his hands behind him, flat on his back, all 
 those who choose to play, give him smart strokes 
 on this hand till he guesses who hit him, when the 
 person who is found out, must take his turn on his 
 knees. However, the pain inflicted by the hard 
 liands of these peasants, must occasionally prove 
 something of a drawback on the sport. 
 
 Part of the town of Harburg was destroyed by 
 the French, with a village about a mile below it ; 
 both have been since rebuilt; but a very excellent 
 bridge, built by Marshal Davoust, which in a man- 
 ner connected both shores of the Elbe, having 
 been demolished for the materials, and for the ad- 
 vantage of the boatmen, the only means of crossing 
 is again confined to a large sailing boat that leaves 
 Harburg every morning at seven o'clock, arid Ham- 
 burg every evening at four. Jn the neighbourhood 
 of the Elbe there are good marshes, and the land 
 on the banks of many of the little streams is toler- 
 ably fertile. 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 
 
 2S5 
 
 The contrast between the quiet town of Hanover, 
 the silent and almost deserted sands of Luneberg, 
 and the noise and bustle of Hamburg is sufficiently 
 striking. The Jungftrn Stieg, or Maiden's Stile, 
 was one of the first objects that excited our travel- 
 lers attention. This public walk is on one side a 
 row of handsome houses, with a broad carriage 
 road, and is planted with four rows of trees, whilst 
 the other side is bounded by the lake formed by 
 the Alster that runs into the Elbe. The coffee 
 houses may almost vie with those of the Palais Royal 
 at Paris, for splendour; but towards evening it 
 would appear as if the whole stream of the popu- 
 lation were bending their course towards this 
 public walk. Many were walking, others sitting 
 about the coffee houses, and others idly gazing on 
 the still waters. The people in the boats seemed 
 silent, and in general more disposed to enjoy than 
 to disturb the serenity of the scene. In other parts 
 of Germany it is observed the people go quietly 
 home to bed about ten o'clock ; but at midnight 
 the walk was yet crowded, and it was much later 
 before all the revellers had retired. " Such is the 
 luxury or profligacy of commercial cities. " Ham- 
 burg on a Sunday afternoon seems deserted. Be- 
 tween this place and Altona, the gay and the 
 wealthy may be seen galloping on horseback, or 
 driving along in a sort of wicker carriages, whilst 
 the more humble classes are hurrying out of the 
 dust towards some of the delightful gardens on the 
 Elbe. The poorest class confine themselves to the 
 beer houses in the neighbourhood, or in amusing 
 themselves in the Sunday exhibitions of old 
 books, old iron, fruit, fiddlers, fortune-tellers, 
 English blacking, punch, wire dancers, horseman- 
 ship, wild beasts, &c. scarcely surpassed by any 
 thing at Naples, or on the Boulevards of Paris. 
 All this in a German town, and on a Sunday, na- 
 turally surprised our traveller, who thinks Ham- 
 
£86 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 burg resembles Paris on Sunday, and London on 
 the week days. The markets of Hamburg are 
 generally supplied by the gardens of the rich marsh 
 lands in the vicinity, some of which belong to Han- 
 over. The larger and better houses than those 
 seen in the interior of Germany, the finely painted 
 milk pails with polished hoops, and the cleanly 
 appearance of these people, who stand in the 
 markets selling flowers or fruits, or watching the 
 piles of vegetables, form a most striking contrast 
 between the unwashed faces, dishevelled hair, ne- 
 glected clothes, and squalid persons of the scattered 
 inhabitants of the sands of Germany. In these 
 fertile districts, the costume of the people is said 
 to bear some resemblance to that of the Swiss. 
 
 As almost every woman, probably servant, in 
 Hamburg, when seen out of doors carries a small 
 long basket under her arm which she covers with 
 a shawl, appropriated to this purpose, curiosity ha3 
 been strongly excited and scandal extremely busy 
 with the reputation of these females. And too 
 many travellers are disposed to treat this as a kind 
 of mystery. Hamburg has by no means improved 
 in proportion to the goodness of its situation, and 
 the opulence of the people. The streets are nar- 
 row, crooked, and ill paved. The houses are 
 huddled together and the public buildings are large 
 but not handsome. Most of the churches are large 
 masses of red brick, with many of the steeples out 
 of the perpendicular, as if ready to fall. St. Mi* 
 chaePs church is the most modern, and possesses 
 the advantage of standing in an open place. The 
 handsomest building is the Borsen Halle or the 
 Exchange : but even this is situated in so narrow a 
 street, that it can scarcely be seen. In this build- 
 ing are reading rooms, ball rooms, a library, a 
 coffee house, a restaurateur, &c. The Borsen 
 Halle newspaper, published here is known more or 
 less in every commercial town in Europe. Stran- 
 
VOYAGES AXD TRAVELS. 287 
 
 gers may be admitted to this Lloyd's Coffee House 
 of Hamburg, if introduced. Among the houses 
 of entertainment in the environs of this city, Ot- 
 tenson, for its elegance and beauty, is deserving 
 of notice. The garden for its neatness may vie 
 with any in the world ; as it occupies the rising 
 bank of the Elbe, and commands a view of that 
 river and the opposite coast. Music is the never 
 failing accompaniment of such places as these in 
 Germany. The general calmness and gentleness 
 of the people admit neither noise or turbulence. 
 This which is called Rainviles garden, is one of the 
 favourite resorts of the best company. Ottenson 
 is also remarkable on account of the grave of 
 Klopstock, in the church yard. The dancing sa- 
 loons so splendid and numerous are another indi- 
 cation of the wealth of the Hamburgers. 'J he 
 young of both sexes visit these, especially on 
 Sundays and holidays. The established schools in 
 Hamburg are numerous and well conducted j be- 
 sides one in each of the rive parishes, there is the 
 general school of industry and labour, for the 
 children of paupers, who are taught reading, 
 writing, arithmetic, and religion, besides private 
 schools. The torture it seems was not abolished in 
 Hanover till the year 1818, when a man suffered 
 under this diabolical invention j and its abolition is 
 attributed to the influence of the newspaper at 
 Bremen which was the first to publish an account 
 of this transaction. To possess the privilege of 
 having a voice in public affairs, it is necessarv, for 
 a citizen to have a house worth about 9001. sterling ; 
 also to prove that he is not noble, nor a cerf, and 
 that he professes one of the three Christian con- 
 fessions of faith, and that he has no right of citizen- 
 ship in any other city. 
 
 Having recrossed the Elbe our traveller visited 
 Stade, the seat of the provincial government, and 
 the courts of justice. The Schwinge, a little river 
 
288 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 runs through this town into the Elbe, and is navi- 
 gable for large boats. Stade is the only fortified 
 place in the kingdom of Hanover, but its com- 
 merce has dreadfullly decreased ; though a toll is 
 levied here upon most of the vessels passing up the 
 Elbe. 
 
 The fertile marsh land of Heydinger, which we 
 enter on quitting Stade, is regularly divided. 
 Here the gardens, &c. are enclosed ; the farmers 
 dressed like gentlemen were seen sitting at their 
 own doors, and smoking their evening pipes, gigs 
 were rattling on the roads, or standing in the yards. 
 Here the houses, the inhabitants of which are 
 proprietors, are not collected in villages, but each 
 is built in the neighbourhood of its owner's ground. 
 
 But as pedestrians are generally thought poor, 
 when our traveller asked at a respectable inn at 
 Drochtersen for a bed, he was rudely refused, and 
 remonstrating on the cause, had the door shut in 
 his face, and he learnt from this a lesson, that of 
 German landlords civility and attention must be 
 purchased by complaisance and politeness. As 
 people walk on the dyke or raised bank above this 
 part of the Elbe, when the tide is up, the island* 
 and houses in the river present a curious appear- 
 ance ; the former, only used for grazing are fre- 
 quently under water. The houses, about one on 
 each island are raised upon artificial mounds, con- 
 siderably above the level of the highest tides ; so 
 that when the tide is up nothing being to be seen 
 but the mound and the house, strangers might 
 wonder what could have induced people to build 
 houses in the water. 
 
 At Otterndorf, the next town, our traveller 
 taught by experience, was cautious in what man- 
 ner he asked for a bed. Here, as there are more 
 workers in gold and silver than booksellers, it was 
 inferred that the inhabitants employed more time 
 in ornamenting their bodies than their minds. Tue 
 
VOVAGES AND TRAVELS. 2S9 
 
 only bookseller's shop was kept by a widow, whose 
 principal business was the sale of psalm and prayer 
 books, matches, and birch brooms. It was seven 
 in the evening, and in every hou-e die tables were 
 ready for supper, or the people were collected 
 round them, enjoying in their own family the even- 
 ing repast. 
 
 The part of the country cahed Land Hadeln. is 
 cultivated by the proprietors, in farms from $00 
 to fifty acres, wiio having a cheap conveyance by 
 water to Hamburg, for all their produce, are ex- 
 cited to industry and improvement. Compared 
 with many of the peasants of Germany their man- 
 ners are licentious. They wear tine English cloth, 
 and eat meat three or four times a day. Their 
 sons often become officers in the army and their 
 daughters study the fashions. Abroad they drink 
 wine, take their coffee, play at billiards, or read 
 the news, and at home, they drink their wine out 
 of handsome glasses, and their tea out of china. 
 Their houses are surrounded by lofty trees and 
 have gardens handsomely laid out ; their floors are 
 carpeted and their windows are of plate glass. 
 The barns and places for the cattle are all covered 
 with one immense roof, and the proprietors who 
 live without much work, in their hearty manners 
 resemble EngHsh farmers. In Hadeln these pro- 
 prietors are the principal people, while an English 
 farmer is often of little importance compared with 
 the wealthy merchant, or titled landholder. The 
 farm servants at Hadeln are generallj- well fed and 
 clothed, live mostly in the house of their master, 
 and besides board, receive about eight-pence per 
 day. When they board out, their wages are about 
 fourteen-pence, rye selling for 5s. 6d. per bushel, 
 and they have mostly ground enough for potatoes, 
 and a garden. They also take such care of their 
 clothes, that each one is provided with a little 
 straw mat, which they place on the dung, or in 
 VOL. IV. C c 
 
290 FLOWERS OF MODERN' 
 
 the waggon, that they may sit clean, whilst in 
 France and England the labourers may be seen la- 
 zily throwing themselves on the putrid heap. Our 
 traveller expresses his opinion that Hadeln is one 
 of the happiest looking little spots he ever saw, 
 and he thinks that while every lover of British free- 
 dom must admire these last remains of the freedom 
 of his German ancestors, he must also lament over 
 the number of similar little districts which in the 
 course of years have fallen under the dominion of 
 one or other of the great nobles of Germany. 
 
 Bremerlehe is a little town on the Weser, re- 
 markable for having no guilds but that of the fell- 
 niongers, though all other trades may be freely ex- 
 ercised there. Villages are frequently burnt in 
 Germany, and in rebuilding one of these, workmen 
 were so plentiful that many offered to work only 
 for food. Most of these houses were insured. 
 
 Bremen is built on both sides of the Weser, and 
 the two parts are connected by a wooden bridge. 
 Trees have been planted along the whole length of 
 the ancient wall, and the outer part sloped away 
 and ornamented with jessamines, honey suckles, 
 and roses. Bowers, thickets, and tufts of sweet 
 smelling shrubs now appear on the bastions ; the 
 parapet has become a shady grove, and the ditch 
 is converted into a pretty little lake, the abode of 
 stately swans. Here are walks on the top, en the 
 sides, and at the bottom of the old works, and at 
 the lower end of the town, one of them terminates 
 in a high mound which is planted with trees. In 
 the flat country, just out of town, are many of 
 those houses of entertainments, and skittle-grounds, 
 of which the Germans are extremely fond. 
 
 What is called the Raths Keller, in Bremen, is 
 celebrated for the vast quantity of the best Rhenish 
 wines it contains. The strangers prefer these, but 
 the inhabitants prefer French wines. The town 
 house is a magnificent old building ; and the ca- 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 29 L 
 
 thedral is tolerable ; but Bremen, upon the whole, 
 is better built than Hamburg; as the streets are 
 wider, the houses more uniform, and the town 
 cleaner. 
 
 Though the shipping cannot come higher up the 
 Weser than Braake, thirty miles distant, Bremen 
 still engrosses all the commerce of that river. A 
 steam boat now passes daily to Oldenburg and 
 Braake. The people of Bremen use a great deal of 
 reserve ; are careful and economical; the men wear 
 old fashioned clothes, and the women preserve the 
 antiquated custom of going with their husbands to 
 public places. Dreading expence, they have made 
 regular contracts with the owners of all the public 
 gardens and skittle grounds about town. Here 
 they are consequently supplied with hot water, at 
 so much per head, and they find their own tea and 
 cakes. Our traveller observed but one decent book- 
 seller at Bremen, and the inhabitants he found so 
 deeply merged in commercial concerns, that where 
 twenty or thirty people dined together every day, 
 there was no sort of conversation but of their owi 
 trade or their amusements. At the theatre, two or 
 three persons of \\ horn Mr. Hodgskin enquired, 
 were totally ignorant of the name of the author of a 
 little musical piece then represented. 
 
 Oldenburg is a neat little town, with a good pub- 
 lic walk. The palace ia a spacious building, but 
 here is no theatre. It contains about 5000 inhabit- 
 ants. There is one bookseller in the town, and he 
 had nothing to sell relative to the country, except- 
 ing a kind of Court Calendar. 
 
 by a dreary road our traveller proceeded into 
 East Friesland : here, and in Oldenburg, the ma- 
 gistrates have the power to order out the owners of 
 land, for twenty days in the year, to mend the 
 roads. Some of the opulent farmers send a maid- 
 servant; but the poorest of course can have no 
 •ubstitute. All that the people can do here is to 
 
 cc2 
 
292 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 clean out the ditches, and throw the loose sand into 
 the middle of the road, to be washed back by the 
 first shower of rain. Upon entering Friezland, our 
 traveller found it evident that the people there had 
 something more than the mere necessaries of life, 
 while those of Oldenburg appeared confined to the 
 gratification of its most simple wants. 
 
 Some of the finest marshes in the world are to be 
 found upon the bands of the Ems, and on the sea 
 shore belonging to Friezland. People who live in 
 the fertile part exchange manure for peat, mostly 
 dug upon the High Moor, from whence canals have 
 been dug to the Ems, to facilitate the passage. A 
 market thus opened for the peat, has given a value 
 to what was before a desert. At Aurich, our tra- 
 veller saw a small spot of ground newly enclosed, 
 with a house about half built ; the man and his 
 wife were sawing trees into timbers, for the roof. 
 The palace of the former Counts of East Friezland 
 is now a barrack, though Aurich is still the seat of 
 government. Here an establishment for the poor 
 consisted of a house and a piece of ground, suffi- 
 cient to feed three cows. Money was provided for 
 buying bread ; but the youngest of the people, and 
 those that were able to work, attended the rest, 
 milking the cows, and dressing the victuals. The 
 whole number of men, women, and children, were 
 forty-two; but, though in a manner huddled toge- 
 ther, the place was clean. 
 
 The town-house at Embden is a fine old building. 
 The females wear short white or coloured jackets, 
 with black petticoats, and black silk aprons, a white 
 clean cap, pinned close to the head, and ruffs about 
 the neck. The hats worn by the elderly women 
 were as large as umbrellas ; the bettermost people, 
 in point of dress, follow the fashions of the French 
 and English. The Friezlanders, in their manners 
 and language, are more Dutch than German ; and 
 on the walls of Embden are numerous mills for 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 
 
 295 
 
 tawing, making oil, and spinning ; the greatest part 
 of Friezland is also protected by dikes. The Friez- 
 landers are stouter, and better looking men than 
 the Germans ; and being better clothed and fed. are 
 sensible of their superiority. Friezland, like Ha- 
 nover, is now divided into farms, from 400 to 50 
 acres, generally possessed in full property by those 
 who cultivate them, The farmers are subject to no 
 feudal services, and have no labourers but those 
 they hire. Friezland is now added to the dominion 
 of Hanover, and, next to Haueln, is the most pros- 
 perous part of Germany. A part, called the Prus- 
 sian Polder, lies on the other side of the Eras from 
 Petkum ; this is celebrated for its uncommon fer- 
 tility. The public roads here running along the 
 tops of the dikes, frequently exposes the traveller 
 to all the fury of the storm. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Pavpenberg — Meppen — Osnabruck — Diepholtz — 
 S : ieuburg — Free Shooting — A Phenomenon — Got- 
 tingen and Grubenhagen — Clausthal — The Brock- 
 en — The Hartz —Education in Hanover — Tole- 
 ration of the Government — The Duke of Cam- 
 bridge — Catholics admitted to Places of Trust — 
 The Protestants — The Constitution — The Army 
 — Sunday Amusements — Mode of Confirming 
 Children — Christmas Gifts — Industry of the Wo- 
 men — Cassel — Frankfort, fyc. 
 
 All round Pappenburg the country is a complete 
 bog, and the peat in some places several inches 
 thick. Pappenburg, however, ha.s been one of the 
 most prosperous little towns in Europe. The Pap- 
 penburgers having been the carriers of Europe, 
 comfort and prosperity occupied the whole circuit 
 
 c c 3 
 
^94 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 of their little territory. This now forms a part of 
 the kingdom of Hanover, though it was formerly 
 attached to the dominions of the Bishop of Mun- 
 ster. 
 
 The soil between Pappenburg and Meppen is de- 
 scribed as being almost as sandy as a desert, and 
 most disagreeably subject to the wind. This waste 
 ground is said to increase, and sometimes to be 
 carried over cultivated regions, reducing the farmer 
 from affluence to poverty. But notwithstanding the 
 barrenness of Meppen, the number of inhabitants 
 has increased one-third within thirty years, during 
 which time many villages have been built, and vast 
 tracts of the moorish ground brought into cultiva- 
 tion. When Meppen belonged to the Bishop of 
 Munster, he allowed any person to fix their habi- 
 tation on these moors, and to cultivate any part, 
 on condition of paying a small rent at the end of 
 ten years ; a part of which was then to be devoted 
 to the making of roads, drains, and other works of 
 public benefit. 
 
 Upon St. John's day, as the people at Meppen 
 are all Catholics, they go to church ; the women, 
 clothed in coarse red woollen cloth, with large 
 gipsey straw hats. As it rained, most of them had 
 formed a kind of umbrella of their upper petticoat, 
 by throwing it over their heads and shoulders. 
 These women, within doors, were observed to be 
 extremely ragged and slovenly ; and their houses, 
 having holes instead of windows, resembled their 
 persons. However, on gala days, many of these 
 females wear gold ear-rings, and silver clasps, that 
 go over the head, and keep the hair together ; va- 
 nity thus taking the preference of cleanliness. 
 
 A great part of Westphalia is sand or moor ; the 
 habitations are thinly scattered, and the inhabit- 
 ants, mostly Catholics, are among the least culti- 
 vated of the Germans. Next to their black bread, 
 one large loaf of which will last some weeks, are 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 
 
 295 
 
 pancakes, made of the grits of buck wheat. Pork, 
 and sausages of all kinds, dried in the smoke that 
 fills the houses, are the principal meats. Tea, or 
 weak coffee, is often used, twice a day ; and the 
 customs of Holland are daily gaining ground. When 
 the poor Westphalians are confined to their homes 
 in winter, they employ themselves in knitting, or 
 weaving ; these people are extremely civil to 
 strangers. This was one of the last civilized parts 
 of Germany, and still retains many of those pecu- 
 liar privileges and usages that were common to the 
 Saxons, and some Druidical remains are yet to be 
 seen upon the summit of a hill, close to the town of 
 Osnabruck, called the Piesberg. 
 
 Osnabruck, situated on a small river, called the 
 Hase, contains a population of 9000. Though not 
 the largest, it is the handsomest town in his Ma- 
 jesty's German dominions. The cathedral, the 
 town-house, and the court of justice, are good 
 buildings, and a great many of the private houses 
 are respectable. Instead of the linen formerly made 
 here, called Osnabruck, many cheap articles are 
 now manufactured from cotton. The linen made 
 here is measured, stamped, and sold at a hall. If 
 the peasants do not like the price fixed, they have 
 the power of taking the linen away. The present 
 manufactory of linen, it is acknowledged, barely 
 pays the labour. Still, all round the walls of Osna- 
 bruck, the happiest images of quietness, amiability, 
 and content, are to be seen. Most of the inhabit- 
 ants pass a part of every afternoon in their numer- 
 ous little gardens, with arbours, cultivating their 
 flowers and fruits, or in sewing, reading, or smok- 
 ing. Their love of gardens and flowers, and of 
 domestic bliss, is their natural character. 
 
 Catholics and Protestants here live in such har- 
 mony, that it would be necessary to make inquiries 
 to find out the difference. Even the Catholic Bishop 
 
2g6 FLOWERS OF MODERN" 
 
 has united himself with a Bible Society, composed 
 chiefly of Protestants. 
 
 The county of Diepholtz confers the title which 
 the Duke of Cambridge generally uses when tra- 
 velling. The long straggling town of this name has 
 been famous for a manufactory of coarse cloth. 
 
 Nieuburg is a decent town, in the county of 
 Hoya, the soil of which is generally flat and sandy, 
 covered for the greatest part with heather. What 
 is called the Dummer See, or Dull Lake, is sur- 
 rounded with swamps ; but on the Weser and the 
 Aller there is good marsh land and meadows ; the 
 houses are badly built, and the clothing and appear- 
 ance of the people indicate poverty and wretched- 
 ness. 
 
 AtLoccum there are the remains of a monastery ; 
 and some emoluments are still derived from its re- 
 venues, as the Abbot of Loccum is the highest and 
 only dignitary of the Hanoverian Church. 
 
 Rehburg is one of the most famous and fashion- 
 able watering places in Hanover ; and the springs 
 are supposed to possess the most sovereign remedy 
 against the gout. 
 
 The little principality of Schauenburg Lippe, in- 
 tervenes here between one part of the Hanoverian 
 dominions and another, and within the limits of 120 
 square miles, contains 30,000 inhabitants. States, 
 or a parliament, have always been in use here. 
 What is called free shooting, takes place about 
 June or July. The people collect in bodies, and 
 march in a kind of military array, to some spot dis- 
 tant from a town or village, where, for a florin, any 
 person may be permitted to shoot at a mark, lay- 
 ing his rifle on a rest fixed for that purpose. The 
 mark is sometimes a target, and is often made to 
 move quickly past a small opening. The rifle is 
 loaded for the marksman, who is placed at a con- 
 venient distance, whence he fires upon a signal be- 
 ing given. Sometimes the mark is a stag chaced 
 
VOYAGE^ AND TRAVELS 
 
 *97 
 
 by dogs, when he who misses it has a small fine 
 laid upon him. Any one who may be so fortunate 
 as to tire through the centre of the wooden object, 
 has it given him as the reward of his skill; this he 
 afterwards nails up over his door, or places in some 
 particular part of his dwelling. Upon the front of 
 some old nouses there are several testimonials of 
 this kind of excellence. 
 
 One of these shooting matches, which took place 
 in the summer, near the new town of Hanover, was 
 very gay. In the morning the citizens, in their 
 new costume, marched in procession, with music 
 and flags, from the town to Herrenhausen, about 
 a mile and a half distant, where the orangery being 
 cleared out, booths were erected, and one end 
 was fitted up as a ball-room, and the other as a 
 royal tavern ; the fountains of the royal gardens 
 were also allowed to play. But whilst the splendid 
 ball room in the orangery was set apart for the 
 dancers of condition, other places were fitted up for 
 the poorer citizens and peasants. Refreshments 
 were plentiful, and drinking was indulged to a pro- 
 fusion. Here a judge was seen smoking his segar, 
 and swallowing the wing of a fowl ; the master of 
 the horse drinking punch, whilst noblemen, gen- 
 tlemen, tradesmen and muscians, were all huddled 
 together, and no distinction was any longer recog- 
 nized. During the three days this diversion con- 
 tinued, not the least dispute or disturbance took 
 place. 
 
 In the province of Hildesheim, as there is a no- 
 bleman's seat, this is considered as a kind of phe- 
 nomenon ; country seats, palaces excepted, being 
 very rare. 
 
 Eimbeck, a small dirty town, was once the Bur- 
 ton of Germany, and its beer, like London porter, 
 was sent all over the empire; a barrel of this beer, 
 in the fifteenth century, was considered as a pre- 
 tent for a prince. Some of this, it is said, was sent 
 
398 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 to Luther, by the people of Eimbeck^ who thus 
 wished to express their approbation of his doc- 
 trines. 
 
 The provinces of Gottingen and Grubenhagen, 
 including all that part of the mountain of the Hartz 
 and the Eichsfeld, which belong to Hanover, form 
 the most southern part of the kingdom. They are rich 
 in minerals and forests. Gottingen contains 10,000 
 inhabitants ; two-thirds of the houses are modern, 
 and the streets are well paved, and it is described 
 altogether as a neat looking town. The observatory, 
 at a small distance, is very well adapted for its pur- 
 pose, being a chaste specimen of architecture. The 
 river Leine flows through Gottingen, and the 
 neighbourhood is not only fruitful, but offers seve- 
 ral delightful eminences and picturesque views, 
 diversified by the remains of old castles, and a va- 
 riety of pleasant walks, which are exceedingly con- 
 venient for the students of the university. 
 
 The Hartzberg, the highest mountain of the 
 north of Germany, appears isolated from its highest 
 point, being much more elevated than the sur- 
 rounding hills. The Brocken is formed of granite; 
 a large part of this mouutain, containing its richest 
 minerals, is within the territories of Hanover ; the 
 remainder belongs to Brunswick, &c. No one point 
 of the north of Germany is more visited in the sum- 
 mer than the Brocken. It is the holiday excursion 
 for many a professor and student, and the summer 
 jaunt for many a family. 
 
 Clausthal is the principal town of the Hartz ; 
 here the silver dug from its mines is made into 
 money, which comes into immediate circulation by 
 the payment of the workmen, and for other neces- 
 sary expences. Our traveller saw more beggars 
 about Clausthal than in any parts of Hanover, whose 
 familiarity is such, that upon every one from whom 
 they solicit alms, they bestow the kindred name of 
 Cousin. 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 299 
 
 Goslar, once a powerful free city, is now a small 
 town belonging to Hanover, with a population of 
 less than 6000 souls. Here is something, supposed 
 to have been a metallic altar of the Saxon god 
 Krodo, or a piece of the household furniture of the 
 Christian emperors. In the Markt Church, at Gos- 
 lar, is a great collection of old books, comprising 
 the tirst editions of most of the works of Luther. 
 
 The llsenthal is one of the most beautiful of all 
 the vallies of the Hartz. From the llsenstein, or 
 Rock, there is a good view of the village and the 
 iron works in the valley. Upon its summit the Count 
 of Stolberg Wernigerode has erected a cross, made 
 of cast iron, to the memory of some of his fellow- 
 soldiers who fell in 1S13, fighting for the freedom 
 of Germany. From the summit of the Brocken, 
 our traveller observes a circle of the earth is seen, 
 having a diamer of 14-0 geographical miles, inhabit- 
 ed by 5,000,000 of people, in upwards of 300 towns 
 and villages. It may be doubted if there be such a 
 another view in Europe, or indeed in the world. 
 The single public-hoHse, on the top of the Brocken, 
 is, during winter, cut off from all communication 
 with the rest of the world. 
 
 Twenty-three thousand persons who reside in the 
 vicinity of the Hartz belong to the kingdom of Ha- 
 nover, the greater part of whom are employed 
 either in the mines, in burning charcoal, or melt- 
 ing and working in metals. The people in general, 
 about this mountain, form an exception to the rest 
 of the Germans : their imaginations are more lively, 
 and they have probably been improved by employ- 
 ments that bring them together, and expose them 
 to danger. They are not like the peasants, the 
 slaves of a feudal lord, having, as Bergmanner, al- 
 ways enjoyed a species of superiority, similar to 
 that which distinguishes the mechanic from the 
 mere labourer. 
 
 The placing a memorial to departed friends, ii 
 
300 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 the gardens where the living take their daily exer- 
 cise, is mentioned as a common German custom. 
 One of these, which a person had erected to the 
 memory of his wife, is noticed, not as deserving 
 praise for its beauty, though it was sculptured, and 
 recorded the names and virtues of her to whom it 
 was erected, but as being an amiable and laudable 
 mode of paying a tribute to the memory of those 
 we love or esteem. 
 
 Every village of any consequence in Hanover has 
 a school, and some have more schools than churches. 
 The inhabitants are compelled to support the 
 schoolmaster, and, when no dwelling house is pro- 
 vided for him, he lives and boards with the inhabit- 
 ants by turns. The small payments made by the 
 parents for the instruction of their children, with a 
 house and garden, are generally the only support 
 of the schoolmaster : in fact, parents who neglect 
 sending their children to school are punishable by 
 law. In Zell and Hanover there are medical 
 schools, where regular professors give instructions 
 in medicine, surgery, and anatomy, and here dis- 
 section is performed. There are other schools for 
 the instruction of veterinary surgeons ; and no per- 
 son is allowed to practise who has not studied at 
 these places six months at least. 
 
 When children are to be baptized, they are car- 
 ried to church by the midvvives, who always receive 
 very handsome presents, to encourage those to 
 
 f ractise who have regularly studied the business, 
 n Hanover none but the sworn midwives are al- 
 lowed to carry a child to be christened. 
 
 Jt may be said that there is a mania for schools 
 in this kingdom ; and there are many, where the 
 expence does not amount to more than five shil- 
 lings a year, where the children are taught reading, 
 writing, grammar, arithmetic, outlines of geogra- 
 phy, and natural history, besides the religious in- 
 struction which they receive. There is also a Sun- 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 
 
 SOI 
 
 day school, where young men are taught the ele- 
 ments of mathematics, and of design, with reading, 
 writing, Sec. At the military school all the officers, 
 even the non-commissioned, are obliged to attend; 
 and it is open to any of the privates that choose to 
 come. The teachers here, the language masters 
 excepted, are all officers, who have some few emo- 
 luments, besides their pay. The custom of making 
 presents, and going with music and torches to sa- 
 lute the masters, is common to most German 
 schools, and undoubtedly deserves the praise of a 
 very useful custom. The inspector of a girl's 
 school told the traveller, that the aim was to make 
 the children good mothers and good housewives; 
 they were therefore taught nothing beyond their 
 sphere ; but as a constant use of words alone was 
 not thought good for the young mind, plants and 
 flowers were introduced into the school room, 
 whose names and qualities being explained, it ren- 
 dered them familiar with nature, and they were 
 thus made acquainted with objects of cultivation. 
 In the female schools for the poorer classes, the 
 children are tr.ught household work. 
 
 The education of other parts of Germany resem- 
 bles that of Hanover : each town has its Latin 
 school, and others, at which all the poorer children 
 are taught, at little or no expence ; and so adequate 
 are these supposed to be for the purposes intended, 
 that the States of Bavaria have declared, that there 
 was no occasion to di-turb the existing establish- 
 ments, to introduce the methods of Bell or Lan- 
 caster. 
 
 Speaking of the university of Gottingen, our 
 traveller observes, its whole expence for books, the 
 salaries of professors, buildings, Sec. is not more 
 than 11,000/. sterling per year; a sum possibly 
 equalled by the incomes of four of the heads of 
 houses in one of our celebrated seminaries. The 
 only buildings belonging to the university of Got- 
 
 vol. iv. D d 
 
302 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 tingen, are the library, a museum and observatory^ 
 and a council house. A lying in hospital, a bota- 
 nical and agricultural garden, and a large hall for 
 lectures, also belong to the university ; but the pro- 
 fessors and students live scattered about the town, 
 and receive much of their tuition in the private 
 houses of the former. In Gottingen almost every 
 house lets lodgings; the students mostly board 
 where they lodge, or have their meals from eating- 
 houses and taverns ; but they are never collected 
 at one table. 
 
 The toleration of the government is such, that 
 even Catholics are admitted to be members of the 
 highest court of appeal in Hanover, and Catholics 
 may be generals, or ministers of state. Here is no 
 law of exclusion. No question is used as to a man's 
 faith. Both Catholic and Protestant professors 
 teach at the same university, and in the schools ; 
 children of every description of parents listen to 
 the same moral lessons. Men are not likely to per- 
 secute their schoolfellows and playmates, nor look 
 with bitterness and anger on those with whom they 
 have grown up to manhood, merely because they 
 differ on some speculative point. In 1817, the 
 Catholics lent the Protestants the ornaments of their 
 churches, in order that they might celebrate the 
 centenary of the Reformation with greater splen- 
 dour. In fact, toleration, in its most lovely form, 
 seems to exist both in public and private life. 
 
 The present government consists of his Royal 
 Highness the Duke of Cambridge, President of the 
 Cabinet Ministry, and Governor General ; the ca- 
 binet ministers have the title of ' Excellency,' and 
 have the different departments entrusted to them, 
 with subordinate officers and secretaries. But there 
 is a branch of power to which we have no parallel ; 
 it is called the kammer, chamber, and its duty is 
 to manage the whole of the domains and property 
 belonging to the crown; including regalia, certain 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 305 
 
 rights to forests, to salt, to metals, to levy tolls, 
 and other privileges, together with rather more 
 than one-sixth of the whole land of the ancient 
 dominions, without including what did belong to 
 religious bodies, but now under the controul of the 
 monarch. The Duke of Cambridge presides over 
 the kammer, assisted by one of the ministers, a 
 vice-president, and six counsellors, with a great 
 many camaralen, secretaries, writers, Sec. It is of 
 course a court of much influence throughout the 
 country. That portion of land which is the pro- 
 perty of the crown, is divided into what are called 
 amts, each of which in general comprises several 
 parishes. Over the amt, an amtman, who is a ju- 
 risconsult, is placed as magistrate. Land not un- 
 der the government of some amtman, or of some 
 towns, belongs to the nobles, and they exercise 
 the powers of government over it. The amtmen are 
 appointed by the chamber, and when they are no- 
 blemen, as they sometimes are, they take the title 
 of Landdrost. When the latter are not themselves 
 learned in the law, they have a jurisconsult, who is 
 then called amt's assessor, placed under them. 
 These persons have the power of enforcing the or- 
 ders of government in their respective districts. 
 They correspond strictly to no magistrates of our 
 country, but resemble justices of the peace more 
 than any other. The police of their districts is 
 under their controul. They have certain servants, 
 or vogts, who may be considered as the instruments 
 of this police. They communicate frequently with 
 the governments, both of the provinces and the 
 general government, which are consequently well 
 informed of every occurrence. 
 
 Each village, again, has what is called a vorste- 
 her, or baumeister, who is the organ to expound 
 the will of the superiors to his fellow-parishioners, 
 and to forward the reclamations or complaints of 
 the whole parish to these superiors. He is gene- 
 
 d d 2 
 
304 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 rally chosen by the inhabitants yearly ; he is a 
 farmer or some other inhabitant of the parish j he 
 has something to do with the administration of the 
 church, and of the poor, and, on the whole, exer- 
 cises functions somewhat similar to our church- 
 wardens and overseers combined. The provincial 
 governments extend their authority to every thing, 
 even to regulate the killing of sparrows, the keep- 
 ing of pigeons, the duties of midwives, the extirpa- 
 tion of weeds. In short, there is hardly an action 
 of human beings capable of being prescribed, re- 
 specting which one or other of these governments 
 has not issued directions. The practice of medicine 
 is subject to police regulation. The power of the 
 crown is very considerable over the magistracy of 
 the towns ; the clergy generally over all classes of 
 the population eligible to office or employment. 
 
 The Protestant church in Hanover is administered 
 by pastors (parish priests), with from 6ol. to 4001. 
 per annum. Each has a cantor (clerk), and a 
 kuster (sacristan.) The general superintendance 
 lies with a consistorium, resembling the synods and 
 general assembly in Scotland. The consistoriums 
 regulate all matters relative to the discipline of the 
 church. They are the trustees of all the funds 
 which yet belong to it. They superintend the busi- 
 ness of education ; they very often appoint school- 
 masters; they have the examination of all candidates 
 for clerical offices ; and they lend their aid to the 
 well government of the people. There are also ec- 
 clesiastical courts, which decide in cases of divorce* 
 Those of Celle and Hanover pronounced the divorce 
 bet ween George I. and his wife some few years be- 
 fore he was called to the throne of Great Britain. 
 They are also the judges in all complaints made 
 against the morals of the clergy. Tythes are the 
 property of the crown, of particular nobles, or of 
 some corporate body. 
 
 An eighth part of the people, principally in 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 305 
 
 Hildesheim and Osnabruck, are however Roman 
 catholics. They have a bishop in each of these two 
 provinces, besides the prince bishop, ourduke of York, 
 who, whether ecclesiastic or layman, is the temooral 
 governor. A concordat for these is now negocia- 
 ting at Rome : but the catholic church is endowed 
 with little wealth, as the church possessions have 
 been secularized, and the priests are allowed only 
 small salaries and establishments. The head of this 
 church is the abbot of Loccum, the independence 
 Of whose abbey was secured by the treaty of \\ est- 
 phalia; he alone remains in the similitude of pris- 
 tine power. He is elected alternately by the crown 
 and chapter, and has a revenue equal to one of our 
 poorest bishoprics. There arc twenty-five secu- 
 larized religious corporations for both sexes in 
 Hanover j but their funds are extremely limited, 
 their priors, &c. mere sinecurists, and their general 
 executive, Kloster Cammer, appointed by the 
 crown. 
 
 The new institution of this kingdom is modelled 
 upon that of Britain. Its representative system 
 consists of 101 persons, forty- eight of whom repre- 
 sent the nobility, ten the clergy, 37 the towns, and 
 six the holders of free property, which has not the 
 privileges of nobility attached to it. Four of the 
 six represent the free proprietors of Friezland, one 
 of those of Hoya, and one is sent by the inhabitants 
 of the marsh lands on the Elbe. Those classed as 
 representatives of the clergy are elected by the 
 chapters of the secularized convents, above-men- 
 tioned; and the representatives of the towns are 
 elected by the magistrates. The parliament is called 
 the Assenting Society. The deputies who live out 
 of the town of Hanover receive each 13s. 4d. per 
 day ; those who live in that town only 6s. 8d. The 
 officers of the assembly have higher allowances. 
 Members may resign if they please; otherwise the 
 elections are for life. 
 
 0 d 3 
 
500 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 The army of Hanover consists of about 13,000 
 regulars, including 4500 cavalry : the landwehr is 
 estimated at 18,000 men. The former are recruited 
 by voluntary enlistment; the latter by ballot, as in 
 our militia, but vvjth needful modifications. They 
 are exercised a month in every year, and only sub- 
 ject to military discipline during that time. A force 
 of at least 30,000 men is thus always available. 
 Punishments are severe, and running the gauntlet 
 still a common infliction. The officers receive their 
 first commission from the bounty of the sovereign, 
 and rise afterwards according to seniority. Every 
 one must study three years at a military school. 
 
 The revenues of Hanover consist of about half a 
 million sterling of Domanial income, and of the 
 produce of seven taxes (viz. on land, on things 
 consumed in towns, on brewing and distilling, on 
 salt, on stamps, on imported articles, and on in- 
 come and persons), estimated at a total of half a 
 million more. The national debt is above three 
 millions, and the whole expenditure, including the 
 interest, is not calculated at so much as one half of 
 the revenue. 
 
 The administration of justice is committed to pa- 
 trimonial courts, justice chanceries, and a court of 
 appeal. The first mentioned have jurisdiction in 
 civil suits only, or in both civil and criminal. The 
 members are appointed by the proprietors and ma- 
 gistracy in their respective towns. There are seven 
 superior tribunals called justice chanceries, each 
 with a jurisdiction over several provinces. The chief 
 court of appeal is at Celle in Luneburg, and was 
 established in 1713. It consists of a president, two 
 vice-presidents, and eighteen judges. The three 
 presidents, and six of the judges, are appointed by 
 the crown ; the other twelve by the states, so that 
 every province has a judge in the court, acquainted 
 with its local laws. The salaries are from 250/. 
 to 300/. a- year, exclusive of fees. This court is 
 
TO Y AGES AND TRAVEL* SOT 
 
 famous for impartiality, There are subordinate 
 courts of appeal in every county, but this is the last 
 resort. 
 
 The land of Hanover is divided amongst persons 
 who may be conveniently classed thus : the sove- 
 reign, the nobles, town and religious corporations, 
 persons not noble. One sixth at least, a= we have 
 mentioned, belongs to the sovereign, and possibly 
 more than three-sixths may belong to the nobles, 
 one-sixth to the corpoiations, and less than one- 
 sixth to the persons not noble. That which belongs 
 to the sovereign is again divided in general into 
 large portions, which have once been noble or eccle- 
 siastical properties, and are now let by the cro»vn 
 in their entire state. They may contain from :00 
 to 3000 acres, or in the unfruitful provinces even 
 more, with rights of pasturage over large districts, 
 and in some cases, with a right to the ser\ ices of the 
 peasants. The tithes also are sometimes united to 
 them. They are let to the amtmen, to individuals, 
 or to noblemen rilling the office of amtmen : but it 
 is always considered as a favour to have them, and 
 they are let only to those persons whom the govern- 
 ment wishes to gratify or reward. 
 
 There are 644 noble properties in the kingdom, 
 several of which are united in the hands of one per- 
 son; but there is no one nobleman whose income 
 amounts to more than 30,000 Thalers, or bQOOl. 
 per year. Counts Hardenberg and Platen are 
 amongst the most opulent of the nobilitv. 
 
 Rents are from 7s. to 12s. per acre, and the occupiers 
 of small portions of land are in some parts divided 
 into meyers (again subdivided into half mevers, or 
 quarter meyers, according to the size of their 
 farms), and leibeigeners, which strictly speaking 
 means a person who owns his own bodv, and no- 
 thing more. The meyer pays the landlord a yearlv 
 sum, or quantity of produce; and also a certain 
 sum when from death or transfer the proprietary u 
 
308 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 changed. The landlord cannot alter these condi- 
 tions, except the heir is an idiot, or the rent for 
 the renewal of the lease has not been paid. The 
 conditions by which the leibeigener holds his land 
 are also fixed, they are hot at the arbitrary will of his 
 lord, and it descends with these to his children ; but 
 they are conditions of service so onerous, that they 
 reduce him almost to slavery. He is obliged to 
 cultivate the land of his lord a certain number of 
 days in the year, to neglect his own harvest while 
 he is carrying in that of his lord, to employ his 
 horses to bring home his lord's wood, to supply his 
 lord with coach-horses when he demands them ; in 
 short, to do him all sorts of feudal services. 
 
 The first corn of every harvest which enters any 
 town is usually conducted in triumph. The wag- 
 gon which carries it is decorated with flowers : the 
 people go out to meet it, and accompany it into the 
 town with every mark of joy and satisfaction. 
 
 There is no legal provision in Hanover for the 
 poor. The Vorstehers of the villages, and some of 
 the citizens of the towns, call on the inhabitants, 
 generally of a Sunday, for some little contribution 
 for the relief of the distressed, which, from the pub- 
 licity of the thing, they are under a sort of necessity 
 to give, and if they do not, the collector is ordered 
 to notify it to the clergyman. The collectors bring 
 with them a book, in which the sum given by each 
 person is inscribed, and they, in some cases, receive 
 a small recompence for their labour. The funds so 
 obtained are distributed by the collectors, by the 
 clergymen, and by the magistrates of the towns, 
 according to the wants of each person soliciting re- 
 lief. When this money is collected, the inhabitants 
 are warned by the collectors not to give alms, and 
 they seem to expect, that, for what they give on this 
 occasion, they ought never to be tormented by 
 beggars. 
 
 The manufactures are not in so prosperous a 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 
 
 309 
 
 state. There is nut a steam engine in the kingdom ; 
 and few modern improvements in machinery have 
 yet found their way to Hanover. The arts, we may 
 also notice, are also in their infancy: there is not 
 one sculptor of any eminence, nor a single gallery 
 of good pictures or statues in the kingdom. Sun- 
 day here is more a day of reel cation than of devo- 
 tion ; the dancing houses are more crow d-d towards 
 evening than the churches at mid-day. The inhabi- 
 tants of towns seldom communicate, but the coun- 
 try people flock in crowds to pai take of this ordinance. 
 
 The mode of confirming children is very impres- 
 sive : previous to this they are instructed by the 
 clergyman during several weeks. The ceremony is 
 then preceded by a public examination, and the 
 children are placed in the body of the church. It 
 seems they are mostly dressed in black ; the girls 
 have white shawls and flowers in their bosoms. 
 Great part of the two hours which this ceremony 
 occupies is past in trembling and crying. But after 
 confirmation, as neither sex go any more to school, 
 they seem changed at once into men and women, 
 and this is an event generally remembered all the 
 rest of their lives. 
 
 The reciprocal presents made at Chiistmas and 
 on birth-days are mentioned by our traveller as 
 proofs of the gentleness and amiability of the Ger- 
 man character. The Christmas-boxes of England 
 have degenerated into mere fees of office, and the 
 les etrennes of the French are the results of vanity 
 and gallantry; but das weihnacts geschenk of the 
 Germans is the offspring of friendship or love, and 
 is made by all descriptions. Towards Christmas 
 fairs are held in the towns, when all persons may 
 provide themselves with what they mean to give. 
 Scarcely a poor wife in the whole country omits 
 laying by her pence to purchase a present for her 
 husband, nor a husband who does not make a simi- 
 lar exertion to enable him to give something to his 
 
310 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 wife. Few of the young men or maidens are so un- 
 lucky, as not to have some friends with whom gifts 
 are exchanged at this time of the year. The rich 
 buy luxuries and ornaments 5 the poor, necessaries. 
 Boys receive skaits, or guns, or new clothes ; girls, 
 albums, work-baskets, and necessaries. The wife 
 buys her husband a coat, and receives a gown or 
 some furniture ; and the nature of the present is 
 carefully concealed from those who are to receive 
 it, till the moment it is given, though it is gene- 
 rally something for which the person receiving it 
 has probably expressed some inclination. 
 
 In Linden a village close to Hanover, containing 
 between 8 and 900 inhabitants, who were chiefly 
 working people, there were no more than fifty who 
 received relief, and that only occasionally. In ano- 
 ther parish, or rather a place, where the poor of 
 several villages were brought together, there were 
 only four persons who received relief, and one of 
 these was a blind woman ! As a law still exists in 
 Hanover against Jews holding land, or even to take 
 it on mortgage, it effectually prevents these people, 
 some of the largest capitalists in Germany, from 
 vesting their wealth in agriculture ; and the effects 
 of these anti-social and anti-christian restrictions 
 are too evident. 
 
 The bauers or agriculturists in this quarter, with 
 the exception of some parts of Westphalia and 
 Oldenburg, invariably live in villages. Their 
 houses are nearly alike. In one corner perhaps a 
 crib bed is placed for the man who looks after the 
 horses ; but where blankets or sheets form the least 
 part of the concern. The furniture consists of little 
 more than a stove, a stool, a table, and the cooking 
 utensils. Chimneys are still very rare : the smoke 
 finds its way out under the roof or through any 
 aperture it meets with, or it is deposited as tar and 
 soot on the beams and rafters. The houses mostly 
 consist of an oak frame, filled in with closely- 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 31 1 
 
 rammed clay or bricks. As the thatched roofs 
 are very large and high, when fires occur, it is 
 almost impossible to stop them. It is a remark 
 made by our judicious traveller, " that as the 
 Germans have now been collected into towns, for 
 at least ten centuries, and still longer into villages, 
 one is almost tempted to believe, that in the latter 
 the same form of building is preserved which the 
 first rude settlers adopted." After all a German 
 bauer is somewhat superior to an English agricul- 
 tural labourer, whilst in comfort, and in the scale 
 ' of civilization, he is far beyond an Irish peasant. 
 
 Village roads are as ordinary as the houses, and 
 1 unless they lead to some principal mansion they 
 are often wretched. Dunghills, also, are suffered 
 to remain before the doors of the houses. The 
 wives and daughters of these bauers, dig, sow, 
 reap, and thrash, just as men do in England, 
 whilst the men are said to retain to themselves the 
 lazy honour of going with the horses. At home, 
 besides looking after the house, the spinning- 
 wheel is always standing near the women, ready 
 to be used. Men may often be seen idling away 
 their time; but it is almost impossible to find ft 
 German peasant woman unemployed. The women 
 of Germany, collected in towns, arc found pretty 
 and well made; but the female peasantry of the 
 north are only ill-favoured in consequence of the 
 labour they perform, like some of the women in 
 the manufacturing towns in the north of England. 
 Quietness, patier.ee, and submission, are eminent 
 characteristics of these German females. In the 
 markets, where they assemble in considerable 
 numbers, a quarrel is never witnessed, nor even a 
 loud or angry word. There is, to be sure, the buz 
 of a multitude, but no voice rises above it. 
 
 Of the Lutheran church it is observed, there is 
 one point in which it is almost every where the 
 same. The clergy have little or no wealth, and no 
 
3l2 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 political power. Riesbeck says, the Lutherans 
 possess part of the humour of their founder, and 
 to a high degree of frugality unite a great love of 
 pleasure and jollity. Still there is so little of open 
 licentiousness, that there is hardly any part of 
 Germany in which public women, except those of 
 the very lowest description, can be distinguished 
 from other females, till darkness permits a more 
 open display of the signs of their calling. It 
 seems equally true, that among the middling and 
 higher classes a want of reputation does not ex- 
 clude women from society. From the good edu- 
 cation, common to all classes, females, even in the 
 middle ranks of life, may be found, who have read 
 most of the celebrated authors of France and 
 England, in the original languages in which they 
 were written. Walter Scott, Miss Edge worth, 
 and Lord Byron, are known to them without the 
 help of translations. Many of these being good 
 housewives, are the managers of the kitchen, and 
 the sempstresses of the family. The education 
 of the higher classes is equally attended to, though 
 they necessarily follow the fashion, by seeking in 
 amusement and dissipation, that forgetfulness of 
 care, which other people find in their necessary 
 employments. 
 
 Some years ago, excessive drinking, Mr. Hodg- 
 skins observes, was very common in the north 
 of Germany; but, he adds, " I hardty ever saw 
 a drunken man, and never one drunken woman." 
 The rude and barbarous diversions of the people 
 of Vienna, in use before the French Revolution, 
 have been changed for round-abouts, swings, feats 
 of horsemanship, and conjuring: and brutality 
 does not now extend beyond a bull-bait. 
 
 Cassel is only a few hours walk from Munden. 
 The river Fulda, with several tributary rivulets, 
 flows at its foot, and the dark wood-covered hills, 
 in the back ground, make the houses appear 
 
\r,YAGJES AND TRAVELS. 315 
 
 whiter than they are. The palace situated on a 
 hill, within three miles of the town, is called the 
 M Wilhelm's Hoe." On Mondays, Wednesdays, 
 and Fridays, the public are indulged with a sight 
 of the grand cascades playing. Uhe eminence on 
 which it stands, and which is covered with woods, 
 was made a fine spot by nature ; but the sovereign 
 and his architects, are supposed to have converted 
 : this noble bill into a larger museum of monstrosi- 
 ; ties, whilst the people who go to admire, are 
 , turned from the admiration of nature to the petty 
 . wonders of mimic and useless art. Some places 
 are levelled into gardens, others are hollowed into 
 ! ponds ; cascades tumble from artificial rocks, and 
 ; fountains spout up in a wilderness. Here, too, 
 are lively representations of all the fates and fu- 
 ries, with Orpheus and Eurydice, and all the 
 gods, goddesses, thieves, and jades, of the ancient 
 I mythology. Giants buried under rocks, seem to 
 | spout scorn and defiance against the heavens ; 
 
 water is made to turn organs, blow flutes, and 
 , sound trumpets. Here is the grotto of Neptune, 
 i Virgil's tomb, a Chinese village, and a Swiss 
 cow-house. In short, there is nothing either of 
 fancy or of reality, either of ancient or modern 
 art, of which some imitation or counterpart does 
 not deform this beautiful hill. And all these ex- 
 travagancies, it seems, the people are convinced, 
 was paid for by the blood of those Hessians which 
 was sold to put down freedom in America. The 
 new town of Cassel is well built, and the streets 
 are wide and handsomely paved. The orangery, 
 the park, and the walks, are all very fine, but 
 Frederic's Square and Bellevue, are the hand- 
 somest parts of the town. The superb palace, 
 built by the father of the present elector, stands 
 on one side of this square ; he reigned from the 
 year V7GQ to 1785- This palace, new called 
 Frederic's museum, contains a library, a gallery 
 vol. iv. E e 
 
314 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 of pictures, statues, urns, and antiques, with coU 
 lections of curious workmanship in ivory ; of 
 minerals and insects, old arms and armour. 
 
 The works of Tischbein are to be seen in va- 
 rious houses in the city of Cassel ; hence, on ac* 
 count of its curiosities, connossieurs rank Cassel 
 as fourth in the list of those that ought to be 
 visited. The general character of the Hessian 
 people, among the Germans, is, that they are ra- 
 ther stupid and heavy, but very loyal and faithful. 
 Since the present elector returned to his do- 
 minions, in 1813, he has been involved in dis- 
 putes which have rendered him unpopular. The 
 soldier's pig- tails have been, under him, restored 
 to the same length they were worn in 1798. Even 
 the military were offended at being exposed to the 
 laughter of their fellow- citizens, and of Germany. 
 The students of Gottingen, who make frequent 
 visits to Cassel, have contributed to bring the 
 whole into contempt. To do honour, as they said, 
 to the elector, every one of a large body of them 
 wore a tail that reached the ground : the soldiers 
 were offended, and the elector himself sent a mes- 
 sage to Gottingen, requesting the young men 
 might be kept in better order. 
 
 Between Cassel and Frankfort, about three days* 
 journey, the roads are by no means good ; the inn3 
 are large, but dirty and ill-provided, and more of 
 poverty than prosperity is to be seen. The number 
 of boys begging at Fritzlar, a Catholic town, was 
 quite intrusive. A few pious nuns remain in the 
 dissolved nunnery of the Ursulines, who employ 
 themselves in teaching girls fine needle-work. 
 
 The towns of Marburg and Giessen possess uni- 
 versities ; the latter is in the territories of Hesse 
 Darmstadt, and on the high road. Wetzlar, not 
 far from Giessen, is celebrated as the place where 
 Goethe composed the 44 Sorrows of Werter." 
 This circumstance, with the fountain of Charlotte^ 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 
 
 31.5 
 
 and the tomb of Werter, both of which exist as 
 they are described by the poet, it is thought may 
 induce some travellers to visit it ; but the famous 
 chamber, once one of the highest tribunals in 
 Germany, exists no longer, as it was abolished with 
 the ancient constitution of the empire. 
 
 Frankfort differs from Hesse Cassel, as Cassel 
 does from Hanover in splendour. In Frankfort 
 this is not confined, but spreads over a great part 
 of the city, embellishing the gardens and houses of 
 the numerous wealthy merchants. The environs 
 abound with fine walks ; and the taste for flowers 
 and gardens, which distinguishes the other parts of 
 Germany, is very conspicuous here. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Gottenburg — Towns of Sweden — Trolhatta — Uddc- 
 valla — Rostock — Potsdam — Sans Souci — The 
 Palais Neuf— Ystadt — Carlscrona — Linkoping — 
 The East Gotha Canal — Cottages and Furniture — 
 Stockholm — Pleasures of the Winter Season — The 
 Amaranth and other Orders — Drottningholm — 
 Food of the Bark of Frees — Excessive Cold — 
 Mine of Dancemora — A singular Spectacle — 
 Island of Aland — Abo — Finnish Language — A 
 Fire announced — A Vessel moved upon Skaits — 
 Helsingfors — Wijborg — Comparison between Rus- 
 sia and Sweden — Petersburg — Public Buildings 
 — The Casan Church — Cel brat ion of Easter — A 
 Russian Mob — The Seasons — A Procession — 
 Winter Gardens. 
 
 In the summer of 1813 Mr. James left England, 
 and landed in the port of Gottenburgh. He 
 praises much the roads, and the mode of travelling, 
 and the smallness of the expence. He set out on 
 
 e e 2 
 
316 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 an excursion to Trolhatta and the neighbourhood, 
 and proceeded at the rate of from seven to ten 
 English miles per hour. The charge for each 
 horse not exceeding 9d. per mile, and a few pence 
 for drink to the postillion and ostler, were re- 
 ceived as a liberal gratuity. A day-book, which 
 is kept for the purpose of travellers entering their 
 names and complaints, if they should have any, 
 forms an excellent check on the conduct of the 
 post-master. The cataracts of Gotha were the 
 objects which had drawn our traveller to this spot, 
 and the din of its waters were heard long before 
 they became visible* Mr. James describes it as a 
 sight of stupendous horror, of which travellers 
 have not spoken too highly. The river is majes- 
 tic, and its whole body is hurried over four tre- 
 mendous precipices in quick succession, producing 
 an effect not easily described. But if the works 
 of nature excited admiration, the efforts of human 
 skill and perseverance here equally call forth the 
 astonishment of the traveller. In order to avoid 
 these falls, which for many ages had interrupted 
 the internal communication of the country, a na- 
 vigable canal has been excavated through the solid 
 rock of granite. In one part it is an 150 feet 
 deep, and is continued for the distance of nearly 
 two English miles. This effort of skill, in the art 
 of engineering, occupied the labour of six years, 
 and was completed in the year 1800. It was the 
 speculation of a company, unaided by government, 
 and already yields an interest of twelve per cent, 
 upon the capital expended ; a sufficient proof of 
 its utility and success. As this canal forms the 
 chief link in the line of connection between the 
 eastern and western coasts of Sweden, it is of the 
 highest importance, and indeed is a great national 
 benefit. 
 
 The towns of Sweden are nearly all composed 
 of woodea buildings, this subjects them to frequent 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 
 
 317 
 
 fires ; even the churches are frequently wood, 
 daubed, like the houses, with yellow or red ochre. 
 Uddevalla, through which Mr. James passed, soon 
 after leaving Trolhatta, was only in part rebuilt 
 after a dreadful conflagration, which four years 
 before had reduced the whole to ashes. Several 
 regulations are now adopted to prevent the recur- 
 rence of a like calamity. Wooden houses are 
 prohibited from being built more than one story 
 high, nor can a pipe be smoked in the streets 
 without incurring a heavy penalty. In the old 
 towns of Sweden the hour is announced by the 
 sound of a trumpet from the steeple of the church, 
 and the person appointed to this office s'ngs a 
 song, the purport of which is to assure the inha- 
 bitants, that there is no appearance of fire to be de- 
 scryed. The watchman, as he goes his rounds, 
 chaunts the following stanza on the same subject. 
 
 " The clock baa struck ten, 
 
 Now may God's mighty hand and name 
 Preserve our town from fire and flame," 
 
 Mr. James now returned to Gottenburgh, and 
 after remaining there some time, set out on 
 his journey towards the south. He proceeded 
 through several towns of little interest, inspecting 
 the university of Lund in his way, and at Ystadt 
 embarked with his party for Germany, after much 
 delay, through the dilatory behaviour of the Swe- 
 dish packet- master. An adverse wind occasioned 
 them to be two days before they arrived at Ros- 
 tock. The first appearance of this place is de- 
 scribed as resembling the towns of Sweden, but it 
 far outshines them in splendour. The streets and 
 market-place afford, like them, striking specimens 
 of the ancient German style of architecture ; 
 countless spires, lofty roofs, and towering gable- 
 ends, crowned with huge decorations of every 
 />rder, which though they must ever suffer in com- 
 
 e e 3 
 
318 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 parison with chaster ornaments of modern erec- ! 
 tions, in some points produce an effect of consider- 
 able grandeur, and are not, perhaps, unaptly suited 
 to the unbending solidity of the German character. 
 The town, as early as the twelfth century, was 
 surrounded by a brick wall, part of which is now 
 remaining, and the whole is encircled by singular 
 earthen works, nearly as gigantic in their construc- 
 tion as the ditch surrounding Vienna; the extent 
 in length, depth, and height, seems to be the only 
 property by which strength was considered to be 
 conferred. And, indeed, Rostock may even now 
 be a place capable of being defended for a con. 
 siderable time. 
 
 The next place, described with peculiar interest 
 by our traveller, was Berlin. In the first streets 
 of this city he was struck with some chaste and 
 most elegant specimens of architecture, formed 
 with peculiar taste, on the Italian models. But 
 when the Linden Strasse burst upon the- view, it 
 eclipsed all he had hitherto seen, and he describes 
 it as presenting one of the finest architectural 
 vistas in the world. The right exhibited a splendid 
 street, shaded with a double avenue of lime-trees, 
 reaching to the majestic portals of Brandenburg. 
 While this displays a line of lofty facades, orna- 
 mented with porticoes, statues, and every variety 
 of sculptural decoration, terminated by the royal 
 palace. In the centre of the place is the old 
 town, surrounded by branches of the river Spree, 
 which, in a former period, served as the fosse of 
 its fortifications. One of the most admired archi- 
 tectural ornaments of this city is the Branden- 
 burgherThor,or gate, a colossal structure, built after 
 the model of the propylisea at Athens, and is con- 
 sidered as ranking among the grandest specimens 
 of modern architecture. It was from the summit 
 of this that Bonaparte removed the car of victory, 
 which he afterwards conveyed to Paris ; but when, 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 3 1 £ 
 
 m 1814, the chance of war again brought it into 
 the hands of its original possessors, it was restored 
 to its former situation, but was kept concealed 
 from public view by a veil, which was not removed 
 till the king entered the town in procession, after 
 the termination of the war, when on his arrival at 
 the spot it was uncovered, amidst peals of ordnance, 
 martial music, and the loud acclamations of the 
 croud. The roads from Berlin to Potsdam, in 
 common with the generality of roads in this coun- 
 trv, are lined on each side by poplars. 
 
 Potsdam, itself, is a little town of palaces ; its 
 situation is romantic, being seated on the banks 
 of a small lake, formed by the river Hassel. The 
 attachment of Frederic II. to this place, is well 
 known, and to him every building possessing any 
 degree of ornament is ascribed. In his erections 
 he endeavoured to gratify the taste of every appli- 
 cant. For one a building was raised resembling 
 a convent, another was gratified by the formation 
 of a Grecian palace, and a third, a Dutchman, so- 
 liciting a house, resembling those of his own 
 country, was answered by the complying monarch, 
 that he should have a dozen, and accordingly the 
 Rue Hollandaise astonishes the traveller, by pre- 
 senting itself to his view, after traversing the most 
 elegant modern street. No funds, however, being 
 provided for supporting these splendid mansions, 
 and the town enjoying no other trade than the 
 demand occasioned by the residence of the court, 
 it is now miserably reduced, and its elegant man- 
 sions are fast falling to ruin. 
 
 Sans Souci, the charming retreat of the mo- 
 narch, consists of three separate pavilions, the first 
 containing rooms of state, the second private apart- 
 ments, and the third is devoted to the picture-gal- 
 lery. The apartments occupied by Voltaire, dur- 
 ing his visit to Prussia, are still shewn. In the 
 environs, besides three royal seats of minor im- 
 
320 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 portance, notice must be taken of the Palais 
 Koyal and Palais Neuf. These rival each other in 
 external magnitude and internal splendour : all is 
 marble, silver, or gold; and the extent of the 
 apartments is such, that the glare of these orna- 
 ments is quite lost, nothing remaining on the 
 mind but a general impression of magnificence. 
 The front of the area, before the Palais Neuf, is oc- 
 cupied by an open semicircular colonnade of the 
 Corinthian order, having wings surmounted by 
 lofty cupolas, affording an example of unparalleled 
 boldness of outline, and elegance of design. This 
 truly royal structure was built by Frederic II. 
 at the termination of the seven years war, as a 
 memorial of his triumph. After visiting some 
 other towns of Germany, Mr. James embarked at 
 Bornhoft, and returned to Ystadt. He had for a 
 fellow-passenger a French deserter, whose lank- 
 worn looks bore testimony to his veracity, when 
 he related the long course of sufferings he had 
 endured ; still his innate cheerfulness and levity 
 would feebly break through his misfortunes. Ori- 
 ginally a conscript of the department of the Loire, 
 he was sent on the disastrous expedition to Rus- 
 sia, and was one of the few who survived the ca- 
 lamities of that fatal retreat. With no lodging 
 but the snow, he witnessed a thousand horrors ; 
 even being driven to support life by the very last 
 resort of the most wretched cannibalism. He ar- 
 rived at length at Strettin ; and here, amidst a half- 
 starved garrison, he partook for several months 
 of all the privations attending the brave defence 
 of that place. He had, however, become so fa- 
 miliar with misery, as to describe his abode here 
 as a season of comparative comfort and repose, 
 and his stomach with that facility of adaptation 
 to circumstances, so remarkable in the human 
 frame, had become so habituated to fasting, that 
 although when received on board the packet, he 
 
YOYAGM AND TRAVELS. 321 
 
 . ant, he had not taken any food for near forty 
 mars, yet he felt no extraordinary pain or uneasi- 
 ies» ; and when food was presented to him, he ate 
 .vithout betraying any symptoms of a ravenous 
 ippetite. 
 
 The proclamation of the crown prince, offering 
 100 francs, and a settlement in Sweden, to any 
 French soldier who should desert, induced him, 
 tfith infinite risque and difficulty, to qut the ser- 
 vice. How his expectations were realised, our 
 traveller had no opportunity of ascertaining, as he 
 left him in the custody of the jailor at Ystadt. 
 * Our traveller proceeded to Carlscrona, a cluster 
 of small islands, lying on the sea-coast; three of 
 these connected together, by long wooden bridges, 
 form the town, the remainder are occupied by 
 works of defence, for protecting the harbour. 
 Square castles of stone are built, and are well 
 furnished with ordnance. These contain, in the 
 centre, lofty towers, with two tiers of embrasures : 
 but though they make a formidable appearance, 
 they are, perhaps, incapable of coping with that 
 fire, which a ship of the line would open against 
 them. The principal object for which this place, 
 once a grand naval depot, is now celebrated, is its 
 covered docks. The original work con-ists of a 
 large bason, excavated from the solid rock, and 
 secured at the top by a roof, resting on twelve 
 square massive pillars. It is surrounded in the 
 interior with steps, rising one above the other, like 
 the gradini of an amphitheatre, and its dimensions 
 are sufficient to admit a second-rate ship of the 
 line. Its appearance is far beyond those in the 
 arsenal at Venice, of which so much boast has 
 been made, but which when compared with this 
 have only the appearance of large wooden barns, 
 or granaries. At a little distance, a spot was 
 allotted for the erection of some new docks of a 
 similar construction. Ten of these buildings were 
 
FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 to have been raised round a large reservoir. They 
 were to have been built of granite ; five only were 
 in any state of forwardness, and but two were 
 covered in. However the present government 
 are very unlikely to complete these works, and 
 the only ship they contain has remained rotting 
 on the stocks many years. The advantages of an 
 ebb and flow of tide not being experienced, this 
 is provided for by an artificial rise and fall. The 
 reservoir, with which the docks communicate, is 
 filled by sluices, opening to the port, and emptied 
 again at pleasure, the water being drawn off by a 
 pump, that acts by windmill-sails. 
 
 Proceeding to Linkoping, they passed the lake 
 Wettern, a smooth expanse of water, with a long 
 range of hills, rising majestically over its borders. 
 Pursuing their way along the banks of the lake, 
 they were shewn the palace of Gustavus Vasa, 
 who frequently made Vadstena the residence of his 
 court. The palace now lays in a mouldering and 
 neglected condition, obscure and detached parts 
 only being inhabited by poor people, occupied in 
 weaving damask linen, the principal article of trade 
 here. Though the first appearance of this edifice 
 is extremely picturesque, yet when closely ex- 
 amined, all the incongruous deformities of the Go- 
 thic, combined with the inelegance of mispro- 
 portioned Grecian architecture, are perceived, 
 bearing the strongest resemblance to the mixed 
 fashion of building, so prevalent in England during 
 the sixteenth and seventeeth centuries. They 
 now passed the East Gotha canal, carrying on 
 under the superintendance of Mr. Felford, an 
 Englishman. When finished, this work will com- 
 plete the chain of communication between the 
 eastern and western shores of Sweden, by passing 
 through the lakes Wenner and Welstern, to the 
 Trolhatta canal. 
 
 Having arrived at Linkoping, they oserved the 
 ftp 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 323 
 
 cathedral, perhaps, the finest ecclesiastical struc- 
 ture in the kingdom, which, having been destroyed 
 , by fire about four centuries ago, it has been re- 
 built in the pointed style of architecture. A post 
 is established here on the most singular footing. 
 The horses are collected in turn from the cotta- 
 gers of the neighbourhood, who generally become 
 . their drivers for the occasion ; one moiety alone 
 of the charge is paid by the passenger, the rest is 
 defrayed by a rate upon the landed proprietors of 
 the district. Thus travelling is not confined to 
 the rich, but the cheap rate of posting, places it 
 within the reach of all classes of the community. 
 Thus the opulent baron and the poor peasant be- 
 come fellow-travellers. The comforts of the poor 
 are by no means overlooked, for while provision 
 is made for the education of their children, at the 
 expense of government, a poor-house is provided 
 in every parish, the regulations of which appear 
 judicious. In this country the cottages, as well 
 as many larger houses, are built of logs of wood, 
 squared and neatly mortised at the corners ; an 
 ornament is superadded, common in many parts 
 of Germany, it has a singular appearance, being 
 a horse's head, cut in wood, and placed over 
 the gable end. The red or yellow ochre, with 
 which these dwellings are coloured, is procured 
 from the metal founderies. The roofs of the 
 poorer sort are planked with fir, but those of the 
 better kind are covered with thin plates of iron 
 painted black. Their principal article of furniture 
 is an iron or brick stove, and fuel is procured from 
 the forest at little expense. This mode of warm- 
 ing the apartments, however, is frequently fatal, 
 costing many lives annually, owing to the people's 
 ignorance, or, at least, carelessness of the noxious 
 quality of the effluvia arising from burning wood ; 
 and when, for the sake of warmth, the dampex 
 that closes the chimney- flue is stopped, the strife- 
 
3S4 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 cation of all who are confined in the room inevit- \ 
 ably ensues. The best conditioned, and the most 
 wealthy and intelligent race of peasantry, are 
 found in the provinces lying to the north of Stock- i 
 holm. There in many districts a single large j 
 landholder is not to be found ; each individual 
 being at once the proprietor and cultivator of his 
 small plot of ground. A singular state of society 
 introduced by the division and subdivision of the 
 patrimonial inheritance, and prevailing principally 
 in those countries devoted to pasturage. 
 
 Norkoping, the next town visited by our tra- 
 veller, besides its extensive woollen manufactories, 
 contains an establishment worthy of notice. This 
 is a secular convent, for the education of the 
 daughters of the nobility ; girls are thus, under any 
 change of circumstances, secure of a provision for 
 life, on the stipulated small sum being paid at the 
 time of their birth. The inmates are permitted 
 to mix with society at pleasure, and are only dis- 
 tinguished by a neat dress of an azure colour, and 
 from its simple form extremely becoming. This 
 is a Lutheran nunnery, and no forced rules com- 
 pel the residents to a life of celibacy. They may 
 marry at any time, it being only necessary that 
 their choice should be approved by the superior, 
 or priorinna, as she is called. From this place 
 Mr. James proceeded to Stockholm, which, how- 
 ever, he was not permitted to enter till after some 
 considerable delay, occasioned by the tedious and 
 formal inspection of passports, and the visits of 
 custom-house officers ; but he justly observes, that 
 since a resident citizen himself cannot drive out 
 for an airing, without being subjected to the same 
 inconvenience, a stranger cannot fairly expect to 
 escape unnoticed. 
 
 Much as Stockholm has been praised by former 
 travellers, Mr. James found H to exceed his ex- 
 pectations, This city owes no small share of its 
 
 2 
 
VOYAGKS AXD TRAVELS. 2T2a 
 
 : interest, to the wild scenery surrounding it, con- 
 tracted with the busy scenes of active life within 
 its immediate precincts : rocks which ring with the 
 woodman's axe, echo the clamour of the bustling 
 populace, displaying, at one view, the various 
 beauties of the boasted cliffs of Edinburgh, the 
 broad lake of Geneva, and the streets and ship- 
 ping of Venice. The architecture of the town, 
 i excepting the mansions of the royal family, ill 
 , accord with the beauty of the surrounding scenery. 
 The private houses are ordinary, and the public 
 buildings are by no means of the Hrst order, nor 
 remarkable for good taste. All that this capital 
 : can boast of architectural beauty, may be seen at 
 i one point of view. A long bridge of granite con- 
 , nects the centre of the city with the northern 
 quarters of the town. At one extremity vve behold 
 i the royal palace, a large square edifice, with ex- 
 tensive wings, the whole exhibiting the most sim- 
 ple and elegant contour: the other extremity is 
 terminated by an equestrian statue of Gustavus 
 Adolphus, forming the chief object of a square, 
 bounded on the sides by handsome edifices, of the 
 Corinthian order, forming the palace of the Prin- 
 cess Sophia, and the Italian opera-house. 
 
 Of the badness of the general architectural taste 
 of the Swedes, abundant specimens may be seen ; 
 whatever the date of the buildings may be, they 
 &re almost universally in a hungry and meagre style, 
 the windows are small, and all the decorations, of 
 puny and niggardly proportions, bare and naked; 
 they rather resemble the outlines of the drawing 
 of an elevation before the shade is thrown in, than 
 a finished work. 
 
 It was at the commencement of the winter that 
 Mr. James visited Stockholm, and the severity of 
 the cold began to be felt. Still there are certain 
 pleasures attending the winter season, when it is not 
 so severe. r lhe atmosphere, once disburdened of 
 
 VOL. IV. F f 
 
§M- FLOWERS OF MOPERN 
 
 its load of snow, immediately clears up, giving place 
 to settled weather. Sledges are brought out, horses 
 harnessed, and every thing seems in motion. In- 
 numerable figures are seen gliding over the white 
 surface of the snow, so quickly, and yet so silent, 
 that to a stranger it might appear an act of enchant- 
 ment. The peasants' cart, and the nobles' car- 
 riage, dart along like lightning, and nothing but 
 the safety, or warning bell, is heard ; but even the 
 sight of this is sometimes lost before the sound ha* 
 been well heard. Upon the whole, a picture of 
 Stockholm, in the month of November, is gene- 
 rally one of the liveliest prospects in nature. This, 
 in fact, is the gay season ; as the more opulent fa- 
 milies now repair to the metropolis, to pass the*' 
 winter months. Early hours are observed here, and 
 the dinner at two, with a plentiful supper at ten 
 o'clock, are the usual time for the display of Swedish 
 hospitality: however, private parties are by no 
 means frequent, neither is there any superabund- 
 ance of public amusements. Of the latter, an Ita- 
 lian opera, and a small Swedish theatre, were the 
 only existing specimens during the stay of Mr. 
 James. Besides these, however, there are several 
 clubs and institutions! of which the Amaranth is 
 the most genteel and numerous, and includes se- 
 veral associated establishments in the larger towns. 
 Inauguration into this institution is conducted with 
 considerable chivalric ceremony. A newly elected 
 member must be introduced by a lady, accompa- 
 nied by a procession, moving to the soft strains of 
 solemn music, at the end of which his conductress 
 invests him with the ribbon and insignia of the Ama- 
 ranth. The sword of the president, who is usually 
 Mie of the first officers of the state, is then placed 
 his shoulder, and concludes the ceremony* 
 jand cordons, grand crosses and collars, are dis- 
 ributed very liberally, but the real orders of 
 knighthood of Sweden are but four. The 5er&« 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 827 
 
 phims, the polar star, the sword, and the G. Vasa; 
 and of the order of the sword alone, are inrolled 
 more than HXK) chevaliers. Ceremonious decora- 
 tions, so universally esteemed on the continent, 
 seem peculiarly fascinating to the ostentatious mind 
 of a Swede. At any assembly, the full dress is 
 commonly worn by every one who is entitled to it f 
 and persons of every rank and profession have their 
 distinctive and appropriate costume. Even the ci- 
 tizens have their regular gala habits ; viz. a Spanish 
 cloke, with hose of black; which being the same in 
 colour, and of a somewhat similar shape, does not 
 at first sight appear to differ much from the com- 
 mon dress of the court. 
 
 On the first approach of winter, the poorer class 
 of people lay up their stock of provisions, in order 
 to supply the frozen market; provisions being pre- 
 served in this state during the whole season. Wood 
 is piled in stacks for firing ; the stoves are lighted 
 in the wooden cabins, and are never suffered to cool 
 during the winter. 
 
 A sight at this time extremely gratifying, is the 
 return of the seamen, discharged for the season, 
 repairing to their bostellars, or appointments of 
 land. Divisions of these may be seen marching, 
 with their families and little store, in Swedish wag- 
 gons, which convey them from the port to their 
 homes. Each has a hut and plot of ground; they 
 are disposed in separate ranges, according to their 
 rank ; the commander of each ship's company be- 
 ing stationed in the centre. This kind of perma- 
 nent encampment is a mode peculiar to Sweden ; 
 certain land in a former reign being set apart by 
 the crown for this purpose. The militia are sup- 
 ported in the same manner ; and these, with the 
 artillery and a few regiments of guards, form the 
 whole standing force of the country. 
 
 The only things worthy of remark contained in 
 Ff2 
 
32S FLOWERS 03? MODERN' 
 
 the royal palace, are some good paintings, and * 
 gallery of statues, collected by Gustavus III. 
 
 Drottningholm is the largest of the royal palaces 
 in the neighbourhood ; its situation is highly pic- 
 turesque, standing on the banks of the Mselar, 
 though its style of architecture is not the most 
 magnificent. The room where the late Gustavus 
 Adolphus was confined, when removed from Stock- 
 holm by the conspirators, is shewn to strangers ; he 
 w r as taken hence to Gripsholm, a royal seat on the 
 Mselar, about twenty miles from the capital, here 
 lie remained three months. This castle has not been 
 improperly called the Prison of the Kings of Swe- 
 den. Eric the Fourteenth, and John the Third, 
 were both shut up in some wretched cells, that are 
 now shown to the curious. The brick floor of the 
 ceil of John was considerably worn, by the con- 
 stant tread of the royal prisoner ; but his crimes 
 deserved more than this, even from the hand of his 
 brother. The small pavilion of Haga, the favour- 
 ite retreat of Gusravus III. a mile from Stockholm, 
 is surrounded with gardens, laid out in the English 
 style. The arsenal here is the depot of the trophies 
 of the Swedish wars ; the house of peers contains 
 the escutcheons of all the first families of the coun- 
 try. The lliddarholmen church is the royal ce- 
 metry. 
 
 The food of the Swedish peasantry, during a 
 hard season, is a cake made of the bark of trees, 
 but mostly of the birch ; that of the pine is esteemed 
 the highest luxury. Those who can procure it, 
 add a little rye flour; the taste of these cakes is 
 rather bitter, but upon the whole not much infe- 
 rior to the rye bread eaten all over the country. 
 
 The modes of punishing offenders in Sweden dif- 
 fer from those of England. For a misdemeanour, 
 the culprit is mounted astride a wooden horse, and 
 exposed to the view of the populace. At the 
 
V- Y AGES AND TRAVELS. l c 29 
 
 treska, or place of punishment, others are whipped 
 with rods. Highway robberies and house-breaking 
 are punished with hanging, and murderers are al- 
 ways beheaded. The torture was practised here till 
 it was abolished by Gustavus III. 
 
 To recount the horrors of one of the coldest 
 seasons would be impossible. The peasants that 
 came to the markets had their faces, arms, and 
 legs frost bitten ; the soldiers on guard, though 
 relieved every quarter of an hour, were in the same 
 condition ; and though the hospitals were full, many 
 persons died who were out of the way of common 
 assistance. What appears most extraordinary is, 
 that the symptoms of this excessive cold are not 
 perceived immediately as people enter into the air. 
 On the contrary, it is so gradual, that for several 
 minutes after leaving a warm room, no remarkable 
 change is experienced : but no one can possibly 
 endure this cold a quarter of an hour, unlet wrapped 
 up in fur or wadded clothing. No exercise alone 
 can possibly keep up the vital warmth, even the 
 linen becomes moist, and changes into a covering 
 of ice. In the winter it is frequent to see the gen- 
 try, who are dressed in furs, with the upper parts 
 of their faces and ears covered with masks, &c. 
 Others oil their visages when travelling. Saluta- 
 tions in the street, at this time of the year, are of 
 course very short, seldom exceeding a word or two. 
 During this season, the smoke from the chimneys 
 seems to rise in a thick cloud, and the atmosphere 
 is always more or less heavy at sun rise and sun set. 
 The cellars of the houses also, when the thermome- 
 ter has fallen four degrees below the zero of Fah- 
 renheit, emit a strong vapour into the streets, whilst 
 all the waters which have current enough to prevent 
 freezing, retain a powerful steam upon their sur- 
 face night and day. At the time when Mr. James 
 was at >tock!v>lm, the wolves, driven by hunger, 
 prov.ied openiv upon the roads, following the track 
 
 Ff 3 
 
330 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 of the carriages to a great distance, and even en- 
 tered some of the villages. At this severe time the 
 packet boat from England came in sight, but was 
 inaccessible from the regions of broken ice upon the 
 coast. No person, even for the reward of 100 gui- 
 neas, would venture the perilous task of fetching 
 the mails ashore, so that after waiting more than a 
 fortnight, the packet returned to Harwich. 
 
 This gentleman and his party left Stockholm on 
 the 13th of February, in their Finnish sledges, 
 which are narrow four-sided wooden troughs, matted 
 over the top, each drawn by a single horse, and 
 containing one person. A proper provision for a 
 voyage of this kind, consists of boots, gloves, and 
 double pelisses of thick fur, with a proper stock of 
 brandy, frozen meat, and bread. On the left of 
 the travellers now lay Siggtuna, the city of Odin, 
 and capital of the kingdom of the Goths— before 
 them was Upsala, the old metropolis of the Swedes. 
 The university of this place has long been cele- 
 brated. 
 
 The famous mine of Dannemora is within a short 
 drive of Osterby. It presents the spectacle of a 
 yawning chasm, upwards of ninety fathoms in depth, 
 the successive labour of five hundred vears. Upon 
 the brink of this stupendous work various pieces or- 
 machinery appear, and long wooden-chain pumps, 
 extending upwards of an English mile in length* 
 The sides were fancifully hung with clusters of ici- 
 cles, and diversified by the figures of men and 
 women in their ascent and descent. The travellers, 
 induced to follow their example, were let down in 
 a bucket, to the spot were the workmen were em- 
 ployed. This was indeed a comparatively warm 
 region, for the water, at a few yards distance from 
 the mouth of the level, was not congealed. 
 
 At Grisleham, a small town on the Swedish 
 coast, Mr. James was indebted to the extreme se- 
 vtrity of the season for the singular spectacle whicft 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS, $34 
 
 awaited him on his arrival there. It was, says he ? 
 an extraordinary sight ; for, though the straits 
 lying between the islands and the coast of Finland 
 are frozen every year, and made passable to tra- 
 vellers, yet this grand channel of the Haf, that 
 divides the Aland group from Sweden on the west, 
 is very seldom completely covered. This is more 
 than forty miles English in breadth, and of a great 
 depth, and it is not probable that such a circum- 
 stance should often occur, except by chance, from 
 the accumulation of masses of ice floating down 
 from the north : but this year, 1813-14, in conse- 
 quence of the severity of a single night, the whole 
 surface at once became congealed : a phenomenon 
 that had hardly ever happened before in the me- 
 mory of the oldest man living. Being spread over 
 by the falling weather that succeeded, it became, 
 to all appearance, a smooth immeasurable desert ot 
 snow, gradually changing its hues from the spark- 
 ling white beneath the feet, till it faded on the ho- 
 rizon with tints of azure, exquisitely delicate. One 
 spot only appeared on this spacious waste ; it was 
 a caravan of peasants, about thirty in number, 
 bound with their cargoes of wood for Stockholm. 
 A still quiet day, without a breath of wind, and a 
 bright sun, raised the thermometer some few de- 
 grees above the point of congelation. The line of 
 the road, from the tracks of former travellers, re- 
 mained visible all day, so that there was no occa- 
 sion for them to have recourse to the compass for 
 the sake of ascertaing their bearing. 
 
 Landing upon one of the islands of Aland, the 
 travellers now passed the frontier of the Russian 
 empire, and at Eckero they were examined by a 
 Russian custom-house officer, to see that nothing 
 contraband was brought in. The island scenery is 
 described as beautiful, the dark hue of the fir form- 
 ing a strong contrast with the silvery fleeces of 
 snow that roofed the forest. The path thrqugh tht 
 
332 FLOWERS or MODERN 
 
 white waste was marked on shore by long poles 
 headed with straw, and over the ice by boughs of 
 trees stationed at intervals ; some of which formed 
 a long line, that reached the very edge of the horu 
 zon. The cottages of these islanders are formed 
 of rough hewn logs ; and each rustic householder 
 was provided with the tools and implements of a 
 dozen necessary arts or professions ; each being 
 his own carpenter, tailor, shoemaker, fisherman, 
 baker, miller, &c. Ochre paint, for the cabins of 
 these people, or coats of woollen cloth, for their 
 own wear, are considered as luxuries. Their fur 
 caps were very ordinary, and those who wanted 
 shoes wore an unsightly bag of dried seal skin. The 
 harness for their horses was nothing beyond a plain 
 collar attached to the shafts of the cart, or sledge, 
 so that the moment the horse's head was in it, he 
 was ready to proceed. As little is produced in this 
 country, the travellers were compelled to carry 
 provisions with them. With a cleaver, or hatchet, 
 they cut off their meat as they required it, and 
 which being dressed at Stockholm before they set 
 out, beef steaks, &c. were unfrozen by dipping 
 them in cold water, which after being placed for a 
 few minutes in the stove oven, were served up at 
 table, as if coming fresh from the hands of the 
 cook. The wine and brandy underwent the same 
 partial decomposition, as the watery particles had 
 been converted into a core of ice. 
 
 Abo is the «rreat university of Finland. The col- 
 lege here is a plain edifice, constructed with the 
 red granite of the country ; it contains several lec- 
 ture rooms, a library, a consistory, and a hall for 
 state occasions. The latter is adorned with beau- 
 tiful columns of polished granite, and with the bust 
 of the present Emperor of Russia, its greatest be- 
 nefactor. The cathedral is a plain edifice, and the 
 castle is only memorable for the capture here of 
 John III. by Eric XIV. 
 
 9 
 
VOYAGES AND TKAVELS. 333 
 
 At the Lutheran church, in this place, on Sun- 
 day, the minister, previous to his concluding 
 prayer, read a list of the births, marriages, and 
 deaths of the preceding week, and afterwards a 
 catalogue of the sale of houses, and then added 
 the directions of the unclaimed letters lying at the 
 post-office. 
 
 The solemnizing of marriages takes place but 
 once a year, and that in autnmn. The Finnish 
 language has the peculiarity of being without pre- 
 positions, in consequence of which the cases of the 
 nouns are varied to the number of sixteen : nor is it 
 by any means so harmonious as the Swedish. 
 
 At Helsingfois, the attention of the travellers, 
 one winter evening, when the church bell tolled, 
 was arrested by the beating of a muffled drum, to 
 announce one of the greatest subjects of alarm in 
 this country, namely, a fire at Sweaborg, to which 
 place the steps of the croud, assembling from all 
 points, seemed directed. Here a large house, hav- 
 ing a windmill upon it, as is customary in these 
 parts, the latter took fire, and proved the destruc- 
 tion of both. A party of militia was employed in 
 putting this fire out, but they seemed not to have 
 the least notion of standing in a line, and handing 
 the buckets from one to another ; but were evi- 
 dently pleased at having it pointed out to them. At 
 Sweaborg, Mr. James and his friends, being intro- 
 duced to the commanding officer, who spoke very 
 good English, partook, for the first time, of the 
 merry go round, &c. and, what was still more di- 
 verting, made a trip over the sea in a vessel mov- 
 ing with skaits. This was a frame of wood, laid 
 down like the deck of a ship; two skaits were 
 placed under the bows, and a third, being move- 
 able on a pivot, supplied the place of a rudder. To 
 keep upright, it seemed necessary for the people on 
 board to shift sides pretty often ; and, as the snow 
 })ad been cleared ou$ for her track, her motion 
 
334 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 was tremendously rapid. But all these diversions 
 suddenly ceased, on account of the Lent fast, which 
 the Russians of the Greek church keep with great i 
 rigour. The English party, however, finished their ! 
 evening at the little theatre of Helsingfors, which 
 had been fitted up for the Swedes, and at a late hour 
 the former resumed their journey. 
 
 The next hundred versts are described as dreary 
 and lonely ; all the diversity of night and day con- 
 sisted of the tinkling of the sledge- bell of some 
 chance traveller or courier, or the voice of a pea- 
 sant at work with his snow-plough to clear the 
 road. A mere look of enquiry was all that was ex- 
 changed by the parties meeting each other, when 
 after nestling again into their cloaks of fur, they 
 were frequently lulled to sleep by the droning 
 sound of the sledge. Exclusive of these, every 
 surrounding object with regard to scenery, bore the 
 aspect of uninterrupted solitude, and the same in- 
 terchange of rocky hills, frozen lakes, and forests of 
 fir, whitened with snow, seemed to rise in endless 
 succession. 
 
 Mr. Jones having arrived at Wyberg, and 
 awakening after a sound sleep in his sledge, was 
 surprised by the glare of white houses, with their 
 green roofs and oriental cupolas ; the mansions of 
 the opulent, and the church, so different from what 
 they had been used to see, may perhaps be con- 
 ceived better than expressed. But the costume of 
 the by-standers was still more strange. These ap- 
 peared dressed in long blue caftans, with bare necks 
 and flowing beards ; nor were their sashes, caps or 
 red boots the less singular and striking. The mo- 
 dest homely Fin was no longer to be seen; but men 
 of a strong masculine habit, with a stubborn and 
 negligent mein, which, combined with their goodly 
 stature, left them by no means devoid of dignity. 
 This gross magnificence seemed to accord with the 
 shewy buildings, atnd conspired in making every 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 335 
 
 >bjeet bear tome resemblance to an Asiatic origin. 
 
 n quitting this place all this splendour vanished : 
 
 he counti y bore no comparison with the town, 
 instead of the neat built red-ochred cottage, the 
 
 •oad side was disfigured with large dismal huts, 
 iiaving walls made of the trunks of trees scarcely 
 
 itripped of their bark, and bearing more resem- 
 
 )lance to a load of timber casually thrown down, 
 
 ;han to the dwelling of men. 
 
 The comparison between Russia and Sweden 
 now began to rise in favour of the latter. The in- 
 terstices of these frame-houses were caulked with 
 moss and clay, and instead of glazed windows, their 
 place was generally supplied by square openings. 
 The roads towards the capital, were in some places 
 worn bare to the balk that formed their bottom ; in 
 others, where the snow had drifted, they had deep 
 ridges and hollows giving the sledge a most uneasy 
 motion. With no small joy the party soon de- 
 scended from the last of the Finnish hills to the 
 woody plains of Ingria, being gratified with the 
 white line of the frozen sea crowned with the 
 steeples and domes of Petersburgh. 
 
 Having traversed an uncultivated tract for about 
 twelve versts, they suddenly found themselves in 
 the suburbs of that city that possesses grandeur in 
 the highest degree. It was a scene at once gay, 
 lively, and sublime, " uniting all the symmetry of 
 Grecian and Roman art, with the gorgeous pride of 
 the east." On either side of the quays of granite, 
 the marble palace, the imperial winter residence, 
 the admiralty, the Isaac church, the academy, the 
 fortress, and many other sumptuous edifices, lined 
 the long perspective, till it was almost lost in the 
 horizon. All these gilded by a serene and tranquil 
 sun-set, the last departing ray of which glanced 
 through the avenue of a lofty colonnade, were suffi- 
 cient to extinguish every idea of a gloomy winter 
 evening. The quarter of the Vassillilostrof is in the 
 
336 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 centre of Petersburgh, built on an island formed 
 by the Neva, and connected with the city by 
 bridges of boats. The old town is on the right 
 bank with the cottage of Peter the Great still stand- 
 ing. The new town is on the left, divided by three 
 canals running through the several quarters of the 
 place, and with their handsome bridges and quays 
 furnishing additional embellishments to the general 
 appearance of the city. Three long, straight and 
 level streets branch out from the centre of the ad- 
 miralty, where the dome and the lofty gilt spire 
 form in each line a vista. These streets are again 
 intersected by others to the north and south, varied 
 here and there with handsome esplanades. 
 
 The houses here, like those of most places on the 
 continent, are built of brick and stuccoed. The 
 gay dwellings are coloured white or yellow, and 
 finished with a roof of thin iron plates, painted 
 black, or red, or with the more favourite green. 
 The chief apartments for the reception of company 
 are on the first or second floor, most commonly the 
 latter, whilst the ground floor, the cellars, and per- 
 haps the garret, are tenanted by the lower class of 
 people. Even some of the court-yards contain 
 various inmates. There are a few wooden houses 
 in some quarters of the town, but as these accord- 
 ing to a law cannot be built above one story high* 
 they are generally pretty large, and make a good 
 appearance. The fashionable promenade of the 
 boulevards here consists of three avenues of trees 
 carried round three sides of the admiralty. The 
 front of this building is more than an English quar- 
 ter of a mile in extent, and is adorned at intervals 
 with no less than six several porticoes, and sur- 
 mounted with a thin taper dome and spire. The 
 back of the admiralty is open to the river, and oc- 
 cupied by the dock-yard and slips for ship builds 
 i«g. Just below the boulevards is the Isaac palace, 
 having before it the equestrian statue of Peter L 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 337 
 
 This is thought to derive its principal celebrity 
 from the gigantic mass of granite that forms the 
 pedestal; though a large block on one side weakens 
 the effect of the surprize intended to be excited in 
 the mind of the spectator. 
 
 Besides a public hospital, where the bedsteads 
 are all of iron, and the apartments well kept and 
 ventilated, Petersburgh possesses a foundling hos- 
 pital. The number of children on the lists here is 
 6000, 600 of whom are kept in the house, and 
 the others placed out to nurse, but not till they 
 have been vaccinated. At a certain period they 
 are placed out to manufacturers, or instructed in 
 the arts or polite literature. 
 
 The academy of sciences at Petersburgh contains 
 an interesting collection of the costumes of the na- 
 tions inhabiting Siberia, viz. the Samoeids, Ostiaks, 
 Kouriaks, the Troglodite, Kamskatdales, Sec. with 
 some specimens of the dress of the prophetic pagan 
 priestesses called Chamans. This consists of a cap 
 and horn of iron, a mantle strung with rings, and a 
 large deep-toned drum, with which, when she has 
 worked herself up into a pitch of ecstacy, the most 
 horrible combination of inharmonious noises is pro- 
 duced, and her audience proportionably convulsed 
 and alarmed. Other dresses belonged to the semi- 
 brutal inhabitants of the Aleutian Islands, together 
 with some Japanese habits, and armour made of 
 varnished leather, brought from the Kurile Islands. 
 Among the fossil skeletons of the mammoth brought 
 from the banks of the Obi ; the largest is about 
 twelve feet; the only difference between this and 
 the Asiatic elephant, is that the tusks diverge from 
 each other instead of projecting in a parallel di- 
 rection. 
 
 The new Kasan church at Petersburgh is the 
 cathedral of the holy Virgin, and one of the most 
 splendid structures of modern art. It was fifteen 
 years building and the Russian architect Wo- 
 
 vol. iv. G g 
 
338 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 ronitchki just lived long enough to see it opened in 
 1814. This edifice is in the form of a cross, with a 
 cupola in the centre ; each arm of the cross termi- 
 nates with a Corinthian portico, and that in the 
 front is received into a grand semi-circular colon- 
 nade four columns in depth : the area of the 
 crescent was intended to have been ornamented 
 with the statues of St. Peter and St. Paul raised on 
 blocks of solid granite ten or twelve feet high; but 
 as one of them sunk in crossing the Neva, the de- 
 sign was abandoned. The approach to this church 
 is still noble, as the eye is met in every direction 
 by a forest of lofty columns forming combinations 
 of the most classical variety. So far does the inte- 
 rior correspond, that the columns of the aisles are 
 of purple granite highly polished; with capitals of 
 brass and gold ; rich paintings line the walls, and 
 " a dim religious light" pervades the whole. 
 
 A Russian lent lasts seven weeks; during this 
 time, and from the first week after the Pentecost to 
 St. John the Baptist, then again fourteen days be- 
 fore the Assumption, and during forty days before 
 Christmas, animal food and even conjugal enjoy- 
 ments are rigourously forbidden. The ceremony 
 that takes place at Easter is one of the most 
 striking and imposing ever invented for a religious 
 purpose. During the whole of the eve the sacred 
 tomb is exposed to the people in the churches, and 
 at night the resurrection is made the subject of 
 formal annunciation. The naves, the aisles, in 
 short, every part of the Kasan church was observed, 
 crowded to a degree of suffocation. Each of the 
 thousands of persons present bearing lighted tapers, 
 spread an illumination as bright as noon. As the 
 hour of twelve approached, all eyes were directed 
 towards the sanctuary, when, the door opening, a 
 long train of banners, crosses, &c. issued, with 
 archimandrites, proto-popes and priests of all 
 ranks, in costly robes of embroidered silk covered 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 539 
 
 with gold, silver, and jewels. Moving slowly 
 through the crowd, they went out of the church 
 doors as if to search for the body of Christ ; but 
 returning in a few minutes, the archbishop having 
 regained the altar, he pronounced \\ ith a loud voice, 
 u Christ is risen." Singing immediately com- 
 menced, and a peal of ordnance from the fortress 
 re-echoed the joyful tidings through the city. The 
 world of mongiks now saluted and congratulated 
 each other in turn; and fasting being at an end, 
 the church was presently covered with tables of 
 provisions, and one species of excess seemed as if 
 it would be followed by another. 
 
 This exhibition is succeeded by a week of holi- 
 days, during which the Isaac platz or square is 
 filled with people drinking quass and kislitchi, pup- 
 pet-shows, rope dancers, and round-abouts; or in 
 following each other in succession down the slope 
 of the summer hills ; the apparatus is a scaffold be- 
 tween thirty and forty feet high, with an inclined 
 plane in front, made in imitation of the ice hills. 
 This is tastefully adorned with flowers and boughs 
 of trees, amidst which any lover of the sport is 
 hurried in a small narrow cart on four wheels, de- 
 scending the steep; thus they traverse by means 
 of tiie impetus received, a level stage some hundred 
 teet in length. 
 
 A Russian mob is said to exhibit an infinite va- 
 riety of gay Golour and costume, but the appear- 
 ance to a stranger of stout men, placid countenances, 
 and long beards, sliding down these hills in go-carts, 
 or following each other in round-abouts, is certainly 
 grotesque. No quarrels, it is remarked, ever in- 
 terrupt this sport, but merriment and good-humour 
 is every where accompanied with the same placidity. 
 The termination of the fast preceding these amuse- 
 ments, is always announced by the mutual presen- 
 tation of an egg, the usual compliment of the season 
 with people of all ranks, high or low; the hand- 
 
 6g2 
 
310 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 somest of these are made of porcelain, and these 
 are generally made to the fair sex. In consequence 
 of this present, the donor is permitted to kiss her 
 hand, which on a gentleman's rising according to 
 the mode in Russia, is returned on his cheek. Ac- 
 cording to an established custom, no lady of any 
 rank whatever, if an egg is offered her, can refuse 
 a salute to the meanest person in the streets. 
 
 Whilst Mr. James was at Petersburgh, he learned 
 that the rigour of the preceding winter, felt so se- 
 verely in Sweden, having extended to that place, 
 many precautions were adopted by the police. The 
 public stoves in various parts of the city were kept 
 constantly lighted, and the theatres shut up accord- 
 ing to the standing rule, when the cold reaches 20°. 
 Guards were also posted on the Cronstadt side of 
 the town, to prevent any of the poor classes from 
 attempting a passage over the ice ; still the hospitals 
 were crowded with miserable frost-bitten objects, 
 and several lives were lost. Yet as the weather had 
 not been interrupted by a single day's thaw, the 
 people kept their provisions for the frozen market 
 untainted during the whole winter. From the nice 
 observance of cold and the study of the means of 
 defence against its attacks, it is not uncommon in 
 Russia to hear people of the lowest orders, even the 
 peasants, talking with the utmost familiarity of the 
 degrees of the thermometer, and making such re- 
 marks, that in any other country none but well-in- 
 formed persons could possibly understand. 
 
 Spring and autumn are seasons that might very 
 well be spared from the Russian calendar, as there 
 is no more than a step between the two principal 
 seasons. Here, within a week or two after the 
 breaking up of the ice on the Neve, the trees that 
 scarcely shewed their buds are in full leaf, and the 
 rays of the sun are too warm to be agreeable. 
 Even this change is made the subject of a religious 
 ^eremony; places of worship, as well as private 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 31-1 
 
 houses, are decorated with consecrated boughs, 
 borne by the devotees ; and the event is further 
 celebrated by a procession to Catherinoff, when 
 coaches, droshkas, landaus, caleches, and every 
 carriage that can be produced, is pressed into the 
 service. This procession exhibits all the singula- 
 rities in the decorations of Russian knighthood, viz. 
 that of St. Andrew, M. Catherine, St. Alexander 
 Newsky, St. George, St. Vladomir, St. Anne and 
 the Cross of Malta. And here are chevaliers of 
 many orders, and even of all the orders in the em- 
 pire, as the great cross of St. Andrew gives a right 
 to wear the insignia of all the rest, that of St. 
 George excepted. Other decorations are granted 
 with such profusion as to command but little dis- 
 tinction for i he wearer. The winter gardens of the 
 Taurida Palace at Petersburgh, and the banging 
 gardens of the Palais d'liiver are curiosities, as are 
 those of Prince Gazarin, being true specimens of 
 Russian luxury. The first of these is a shrubbery 
 planted with evergreens, within a saloon of prodi- 
 gious dimensions ; the latter are parterres warmed 
 with heated flues. They are raised on terraces to 
 the level of the first or second story of the house, 
 whither having mounted, the stranger to his great 
 surprise, finds himself introduced into shady walks, 
 trees, and groves. The Mikhael Palace, built by 
 Paul, is only remarkable for its whimsical taste. 
 Those at Orainienbaum, Peterhoff, Sec. are now only 
 looked upon as spacious country seats, with gar- 
 dens in the English style. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Bond made by Peter the Great — Wildness of the 
 Peasantry — Superstition and Civility — Sovoro^od 
 — Canal of Peter /.■ — Fxtcnt of the Ru ifcji $tt* 
 g g i f 
 
8±2 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 tlements — Fur Company — Kamschatha — Russian 
 Leather — Twer — Appearance qf Moscow after the 
 Fire in 1813— Russian System qf Fraud — Slaves 
 in Russia — Mglin Gypsies — Tartars — Long Fasts 
 < — Promiscuous Bathing — Caravan — Pilgrimages 
 — French Prisoners — Kiev — Catacombs — Miracles 
 — Polish Fortifications — St. Vladomir — Jewish 
 Mon op o lizers — Ostrog — A ustrian Pola n d — The 
 Lubomirsky — Family Improvements — Mines qf 
 Wieliska — Cracow. 
 
 The road made by Peter the Great to his new- 
 built city, is described as of singular construction ! 
 it is, in fact, an elevated causeway carried on in 
 one long level unvarying straight line for several 
 leagues, over marsh and bog, and through forests 
 of fir and birch. An esplanade on each side is 
 cleared for about a hundred yards, for the con- 
 veniency of cattle coming up from the country ; 
 and the same means being used upon all the great 
 provincial roads, a journey of two months from the 
 Ukraine to Petersburgh is made at little cost to the 
 graziers and less inconvenience to the cattle. This 
 road is properly a wooden causeway ; " three poles 
 or sleepers are laid lengthways on the ground ; over 
 these is a flooring of small trees closely pinned 
 down at the edges, with a piece of timber, in the 
 manner of a kirb. In very marshy situations two 
 such floorings are generally used ; and in villages 
 the trees are neatjy joined, though in other parts 
 where the round trunks only present themselves, 
 the incessant jolting of the carriage is extremely 
 unpleasant to the weary traveller." To obviate 
 this, Russian travellers generally fill their carriages 
 with soft pillows taken From their beds. 
 
 At the distance of thirty or forty versts from 
 Petersburgh, Mr. James thought the peasantry as 
 wild as savages just caught from the woods. They 
 sleep out of doors night and day, during the sum- 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS* 3 k> 
 
 mer, upon their sheep skins, and most commonly 
 by the road sides, and meet all occurrences in the 
 general routine of life with a sort of stupid good 
 humour. With an appearance uncommonly rude, 
 it is curious to contrast the strict regularity with 
 which these peasants perform some acts of their re- 
 ligion ; they never omit crossing themselves at 
 every church or oratory on the road. The lowest 
 of them meeting another takes off his cap, walks 
 hand in hand with him, kisses his cheek when part- 
 ing, and always calls him brother. Of the emperor 
 they always speak with a degree of filial respect, 
 and couple with his name, the title of father. 
 
 Having no accommodation at post-houses, the 
 travellers had no occasion to stop ; the cool night 
 air in summer time was found extremely refresh- 
 ing, and as the twilight lasted twenty- four hours, 
 very little of the prospects were lost ; though the 
 pleasing interchange of morning and evening, and 
 the want of the darkness necessary for sound sleep, 
 were comforts that could not but be missed. 
 
 Novorogod is now mostly in ruins, presenting 
 little except mouldering walls, decayed churches, 
 and a few scattered dwellings. Part of thekremlin 
 here contains within its precinct, the church of St. 
 Sophia, and the tombs of Vladomir and Feodor, 
 with the brass gates, said to have been brought 
 from Cherson in the Crimea. Some curious speci- 
 mens of the architecture and painting of the twelfth 
 century are also to be seen. By the side of the 
 river Mata are a number of barrows, varying conti- 
 nually in figure and form, from the conical to the 
 circumvallated, truncated, &c. Here the Tartars, 
 known by the name of the Golden Horde, were de- 
 feated, and probably buried by the army of Novo- 
 gorod. The cottages in these parts are built of 
 round logs of timber, with high gable roofs pro- 
 jecting sixteen feet or more beyond the front, pro- 
 fusely carved, and adorned with ^mall pendants at 
 
344 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 the extremities. A communication with the upper 
 stories is also carried on by a gallery outside of 
 the wall. 
 
 Waldac, a modern Polish colony, is a kind of 
 Oasis in the desert, and is situated on the banks of 
 a small lake, in the centre of which is a woody 
 island, containing a Greek monastery : " and the 
 whole scene around glows with that luxuriant in- 
 terchange of white and red, and green and gold, 
 that enters so largely into the composition of a 
 Russian view." The Waldac mountains form the 
 highest point of elevation between the gulf of Fin- 
 land and the Euxine sea: accordingly the canal, 
 opened by Peter I. has become the great channel 
 of communication from the remotest points. On 
 one side a passage is opened through the Twertza 
 and Volga, to Astracan and the Caspian Sea ; on 
 the other, through the lake llmen, the Volkof, the 
 Ladoga, and the Neva, to Petersburgh ; while the 
 produce of the Siberian mines, and the merchandize 
 of China, are conveyed through this point from the 
 east. The ascent and descent of the Twertza, how- 
 ever, was not without their difficulties, and this 
 rendered the undertaking more worthy the genius 
 of Peter. Ordinary locks not being sufficient, an 
 immense reservoir was constructed, which, collect- 
 ing the water from the small lakes, supplied a 
 stream to carry the boats down these steeps, but 
 which, flowing oft rapidly, is husbanded with care; 
 vessels, fifteen or twenty at a time onlv, being suf- 
 fered to pass once in eight or ten days. These 
 vessels being assembled by beat of drum, the sluices 
 are opened, and they follow each other with the 
 flush of water, down the Borovitsky falls. To en- 
 sure their safety, large buoys are moored in the 
 most difficult turnings of the river, which they 
 throw round the head of the boat, if their sweeps 
 have failed them. In case of accident, Cossacks 
 are placed at different stations, and the sluices are 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 
 
 54J 
 
 closed, and the current suspended. With a view 
 t to safety, each boat is built slight and supple, and 
 the freight separated by an open space in the mid- 
 dle, so as to leave room for the timbers to play : 
 however, they are sometimes so much pressed, that 
 the two sides of the cargo are brought into contact. 
 The route of the merchandize, brought from China 
 to Petersburgh, however, is not all by water; for 
 after sailing from Kiachta to the Jeneissei rivers 
 without interruption, sixty versts must be travelled 
 overland to the Kett; whence, by means of the 
 Obi, the Irtish, and the Tobolsk, it is carried into 
 the Isset, where it again quits the boats, and is car- 
 ried sixty versts over the Oural mountains ; till at 
 length, by the Kama, the Wolga, and the Twertza, 
 it is brought to Petersburgh. Notwithstanding 
 this long line of navigation, land carriage is so ex- 
 tremely brisk, that seldom less than six or four ca- 
 ravans were met every day, consisting of a line of 
 twenty or thirty single horse carts, in motion at 
 all times, and in all parts; and appearing, upon an 
 open plain, like ants upon the surface, laden with 
 the produce of the neighbourhood, or that of the 
 southern districts, all bound for Petersburgh, from 
 whence they return with colonial produce, sugar, 
 coffee, logwood, and other articles for dyeing; and 
 a few of them were found freighted with small car- 
 goes of English lead. 
 
 Here it may be remarked, that the Ttussian set- 
 tlements extend from Kamtschatka to the north- 
 west coast of America, where the Russians possess, 
 in Norfolk Sound, a fortress, with 100 pieces of 
 heavy artillery. Since 1 S 1 3, they have extended 
 themselves 500 miles beyond the river Columbia, 
 along the coast, and settled in Bodega, distant only 
 thirty miles from the farthest Spanish settlement 
 in California. The soil at Bodega is good, and 
 there are all the advantages desirable for trade. 
 Thus, during the three last reigns, the Russian em- 
 
346 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 pire has extended itself from the north of Asia, be- 
 yond Behring's Straits, and obtained a firm footing 
 in North America. A good road has been made 
 from St. Petersburgh to Kamtschatka. Vessels, 
 loaded with furs, sail annually from the north-west 
 coast of America, round the Cape of Good Hope, 
 and unload their rich cargoes in the Gulph of Fin- 
 land. 
 
 M. Baronoff, the Russian governor of the fort at 
 Norfolk Sound, allows the share-holders of the 
 fur company fifteen per cent. ; whilst the Russian 
 settlers and the natives are employed in the chace 
 of sea otters and sturgeons. The whole population 
 are trained to bear arms. Most of the women of 
 the colony are Kodiaks, there being no Russian 
 women, and but a few copper-coloured European 
 American Mestizes. The Russian governor also 
 lets out boats on hire to American captains, which 
 are rowed by Kodiak islanders ; these are sent to 
 California : they are narrow and long, made of 
 skins, and hoops of casks, and will contain three 
 men each. The taking of the otters always com- 
 mences at night ; when arrived at the place for 
 catching them, if the air is calm, the boats are let 
 into the sea, to surprize the otters, which always 
 sleep with their heads above water. They are also 
 attacked with advantage at the time when they are 
 collecting in crowds to pursue their food. Besides 
 the implements for the hunting, the Indians carry 
 two knives. Notwithstanding the numbers of these 
 people employed, they never commit the least dis- 
 order, or attempt to make themselves masters of 
 any of the vessels. The captain chiefly owes this 
 security to the custom of taking a female Indian of 
 rank on board, whose presence keeps them all in 
 awe, and whose commands they obey with the most 
 unlimited respect. 
 
 These people, while on board, are fed with train 
 oil, and the berries that are carried in casks from 
 
VOYAGES AN'D TRAVELS. 3*7 
 
 Norfolk Sound. When the chace is about to begin, 
 hey separate into three divisions, each consisting 
 i)f fifteen boats is accompanied by a sixteenth, 
 carrying two Indians, and a Russian officer. The 
 atter keeps within the half circle. Every Indian 
 carries with him his bow, quiver, and lance. As 
 joon as they have approached the others near 
 ?nough, every one discharges his arrow, but each 
 ias a partic ular mark, by which it may be known 
 again. It is taken for granted, that every otter is 
 killed by the arrow- that has struck nearest to the 
 ^animal's organs of hearing. Upon their return, the 
 governor endeavours to animate these Indians to 
 still greater exertions. He distributes implements 
 for hunting, tobacco, rum, coarse woollen cloths, 
 and other things for use and ornament. Half of 
 the produce always falls to the governor, for lend- 
 ing the boats. 
 
 The most important settlement of the United 
 States in this quarter, is on the banks of the Co- 
 lumbia, ten degrees more southward. Some few 
 years since, two captains from Boston purchased 
 of the natives a long extent of coast, which is still 
 in the hands of several merchants in Boston. The 
 agents of the American north-^est company, that 
 afterwards settled there, began a very good trade 
 with the English north-west company in Canada, 
 which had for a long time carried on a trade in furs. 
 The United States have since tried to form new r 
 settlements in these parts ; but the English look 
 with a jealous eye upon their activity, as well as 
 upon that of the Russians, whose intentions seem, 
 as much as possible, to make themselves masters of 
 the fur trade of the north-west of America, by en- 
 gaging, in their behalf, all the fishermen and hun- 
 ters of these parts. The Russians have now regu- 
 lar communication over Asia, between America and 
 Europe. 
 
 From Edgecombe, in Norfolk, souil ships sail 
 
348 FLOWERS OP MODERN 
 
 to Ochotsk ; from thence the road goes to Jakutsk, 
 up the Lena to Kirausk, or Katschensk, and thence 
 over land from Irkutsk, Toomst, Tobolsk, Casan, 
 Mosco* to Petersburgh, a distance of 65*20 English 
 miles. It has been lately understood, that Russia 
 has resigned to the United States all its claims on 
 the countries on the north-west coast of America^ 
 lying to the south of fifty- six degrees of north lati- 
 tude, and that England had also signed this treaty ; 
 so that the United States of America will possess, 
 in future, an extent of fifteen degrees of latitude 
 upon the ocean. 
 
 The Russian leather, a great article of transport, 
 is manufactured at Torjok, where the mode of doing 
 it is kept a secret. At this place, the dress of the 
 women was remarkable, from the double-horned coif, 
 and the long white shawls, reaching from head to 
 foot : a habit under this fitted the body like a gown, 
 ornamented in the extreme, being coloured blue 
 and red, and bordered with broad stripes of varie- 
 gated lace ; the sleeves open, with a profusion of 
 foil and beads. The common dress of the men is 
 red shirts, worn over trowsers of blue or white, 
 but with their legs bound round with thick rings of 
 woollen, with a girdle, in which they carry a hatchet. 
 Their shoes are matted with the bark of the lime 
 tree. 
 
 Travelling here is performed with four, and even 
 with six horses abreast, if the badness of the road 
 required it. The Russians place an arched bow of 
 wood, about two feet above the horses' shoulders, 
 and a ring at the top, through which the bearing 
 rein is passed ; this affords much greater security 
 to the horse against falling, than when this rein is 
 hooked on the horses' back; so that a broken- 
 kneed horse is seldom seen in Russia. This mode 
 is adopted in the most elegant harness of the sledge 
 or droshka, and, when well managed, is thought a 
 considerable ornament to the equipage. 
 
 6 
 
I 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 
 
 349 
 
 At Twer, the travellers found themselves again in 
 the midst of splendid public buildings, walled con- 
 vents, and churches covered with cupolas. Twer 
 is a kind of depot, and owes its general wealth to 
 its trade. Mr. James's description of the appear- 
 ance of Moscow after the fire, is written with the 
 pen of a poet. It was from the road that passed 
 under the Petrowsky palace, that he and his com- 
 panions flr.-t beheld the myriads of domes and stee- 
 ples that yet glittered among the relics of Moscow; 
 and a short hour's journey brought them to the 
 barriers. The Slabode, or suburb, where the 
 houses had been built of wood, exhibited destruc- 
 tion it its fullest extent ; it was only here and there 
 that a house was seen standing in a blank space ; 
 whilst a few brick stoves marked the spot where a 
 dwelling had once been. Moving onwards, they 
 crossed the avenues of the boulevards ; where the 
 trees, in full leaf and beauty, seemed to vary the 
 prospect, only to heighten its melancholy. The 
 central parts of the town, constructed with more 
 durable materials, exhibited, occasionally, a rich- 
 ness and elegance of exterior, that must have 
 equalled, if not surpassed, the architectural magni- 
 ficence of the moat beautiful towns in Europe. 
 But all was in the same forlorn condition ; street 
 after street greeted the eye with perpetual ruin, 
 disjointed columns, mutilated porticoes, broken cu- 
 polas, walls of rugged stucco, black and discoloured 
 with the stains of the lire; and being open on every 
 side to the sky, the whole formed a hideous con- 
 trast with the glowing picture, which travellers had 
 used to indulge, of the grand and sumptuous pa- 
 laces of Moscow. r l he kremlin still remained the 
 principal specimen of the ancient magnificence of 
 the place. It stood, uninjured, amidst the confla- 
 gration that took place before the French entered 
 the city ; but the barbarous fury of Bonaparte at- 
 tacked whatever Russian piety had spared ; and 
 
 vol. iv. H h 
 
350 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 even at two o'clock on the last night of his stay, 
 the mines were prepared, and this unnecessary 
 work of destruction was carried into effect. By 
 the two first explosions, part of the walls, and one 
 of the towers toward the river, were destroyed ; by 
 the third, the church of St. Nicholas, and the four 
 great bells of Moscow, were blown up with tre- 
 mendous violence ; at the same moment, the lofty 
 tower of Ivan Velike, the first of the czars, was rent 
 from the top to its base, and the cross of the cupola 
 buried in the ruins below. The fourth shock, the 
 most dreadful, shook the whole city to its base. 
 From those parts of the kremlin that remained un- 
 touched, a most imposing spectacle was still pre- 
 sented. A high terrace overhung the walls towards 
 the river; and at their extremity, is the Trinity 
 church, with the portals of the holy gate, through 
 which every passenger walks bare headed. The 
 steeple of Ivan Veliki, towering above all the rest, 
 still reflected the beams of the sun, from a globe of 
 gold. But to attempt an adequate description of 
 the melange that yet remained on every side, of 
 pear-shaped domes, Tartar battlements, Gothic 
 tracery, Grecian columns, the star, the crescent, 
 and the cross, would nearly require a volume. 
 
 As no small trophies, among all these ruins, the 
 space before the arsenal contained the 1 1 00 piece3 
 of artillery which the French lost during their cam- 
 paign in Russia. These were made up of spoils 
 from various nations, Dutch, Prussian, Austrian, 
 Spanish, &c. Other pieces, purely French, bore 
 the names not only of the ancient kings of France, 
 but of the heroes and princes of the Revolution, 
 and of the fields of their glory ; such as Essling and 
 Marengo, Le Tage, and Le Danube, with the words 
 la vertu, la liberie, la egalite ; high sounding words, 
 that served only to swell the pride of the Russian 
 triumph. Some of the large houses in Moscow 
 contain a retinue of five or six hundred slaves. 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 351 
 
 They live huddled together in a slovenly state, and 
 are even without beds. 
 
 A summer evening's promenade at Moscow, is 
 described as exhibiting an uncommon degree of va- 
 riety. The Russian tradesman appears in his blua 
 caftan, with his wife, in her head-dress of pearli, 
 and plaited tippet of crimson velvet and gold; the 
 Greek, in his gown of silk, blue or red; the Persian, 
 in his peaked cap, his vest of flowered cotton, and 
 flowing robe ; the Boukharian merchant, and the 
 Kasan Tartar, the Mongoul ; each with their ap- 
 propriate ornaments; whilst the stately, unbending 
 Turk was seen pacing the walk with a grave and 
 dignified air. But a Sunday butterfly, dressed in 
 the last arrived fashion, from England, patent white 
 boot-tops, long breeches below his calf, and waist 
 below his middle, bore the bell, and carried away 
 all the admiration of the company. 
 
 Of the disposition of the Russians to fraud, it is 
 remarked by Mr. James, that the system of deceit 
 is carried to a higher degree than may be imagined 
 in trading towns, where shop-keepers are in the 
 constant habit of demanding from a foreigner three 
 or four times the amount for his articles more than 
 he will take : and from the instances seen in the 
 country, this gentleman ventures to assert, that not 
 even the Chinese, or any orientals, are greater 
 adepts than the Russians in the school of fraud and 
 artifice. 
 
 Asa matter of no small surprize, the neatness 
 and cleanliness, which the travellers witnessed at 
 one place, together with the civility they experi- 
 enced, is mentioned with several particulars ; such 
 as being readily furnished with milk, eggs, quass, 
 &c. A comfortable corner in the wooden cabin, 
 entirely free from dirt, was also pointed out to 
 them. Behind the house was a little garden, full of 
 every sort of vegetables, with a neat farm-yard, 
 well stocked with cattle, and kept in admirable 
 
 K h a 
 
352 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 order. But on further conversation with the owner, 
 the mystery of this uncommon neatness was quite 
 unravelled, as it appeared he was a freed man, hav- 
 ing purchased his liberty; and from this he had 
 improved as much in his moral condition, as in his 
 wealth. 
 
 Slaves in Russia are divided into four classes ; the 
 peasants of the crown ; those of the economy; those 
 that are given out of the emperor's levies, to the 
 proprietors of mines, for their use ; and those that 
 are the property of individuals. The condition of 
 the two first classes is the best, as many of them 
 are employed in the post, and other public labours : 
 the third also are under certain terms, by which the 
 severity of their burden is relaxed; but the fourth, 
 or the general body of peasantry, are under a heavy 
 yoke. Slaves are beaten and pillaged ; but in- 
 stances of wanton cruelty inflicted on them, are 
 rare. The general statutes relative to all the four 
 classes, are the same : they have no existence in 
 the eye of the law ; and as their property, even 
 their wives, belongs to their lords, they are so far 
 protected by their insignificance, that no one will 
 sue a slave for any debt exceeding five roubles; 
 though if the slave has his master's passport, or a 
 permission to trade, the case is reversed. With- 
 out his consent, they can neither marry, nor leave 
 their village. By his order, they may be impri- 
 soned, or suffer corporal punishment ; though lately 
 a law has been passed for punishing a master, in 
 case the slave should die within twenty-four hours 
 after receiving chastisement. Some provincial 
 courts are also instituted, where slaves may appeal 
 against their owners. The villagers have certain 
 allotments of ground ; and for permission to culti- 
 vate it, they pay an obrock, or rent, amounting, in 
 general, to ten or twelve roubles per annum. This, 
 on the crown lands, is seldom more than eight ; 
 and the slave is certain, that they will not be raised 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 
 
 353 
 
 above this sum, however opulent he may become. 
 The lord, on his part, is obliged, by law, to support 
 the slave under any illness or misfortune ; and this 
 consideration is their chief protection against his 
 avarice and rapacity. 
 
 From what is called the village chest, the charges 
 for maintaining and mending the roads, and of fur- 
 nishing clothes and accoutrements for military re- 
 cruits, are paid. This fund is made up by a sub- 
 scription from each individual, and amounts to little 
 more than three and a half roubles per head. Be- 
 sides this, the peasants pay a small capitation tax 
 to the crown, according to a census that is revised 
 once in ten years. Their chief food is coarse rye 
 bread and broth j though in some of the provinces, 
 they are able to procure meat three or four times 
 a week; but some instances of immoral conduct 
 that accompany these degrading conditions of hu- 
 manity, respecting marriage, are disgusting and 
 unnatural. 
 
 But if any of these rustics wish to go into a new 
 line, a passport is granted him, to emigrate from his 
 master's estate; when, if he becomes a servant, an 
 artificer, a pedlar, a labourer, a shop-keeper, &c. 
 hisobrock or tax is always proportionably increased 
 by his lord, perhaps to the amount of thirty rou- 
 bles per annum ; and there are instances of some, 
 who pay an annual sum of a thousand roubles or 
 more. Even the architect of the Kasan church at 
 Fctersburgh, was a slave. Emancipation indeed 
 does sometimes take place in cases regularly pro- 
 vided for by law, but these are not numerous. All 
 clerks in the public offices become free, as do sol- 
 diers and sailors, but not till they have served 
 twenty-five years. Wives and children born after 
 their service begin, have also the same privilege. 
 The latter are educated in the regimental schools, 
 and generally obtain the situation of subalterns, &c. 
 in the army. 
 
 h h 3 
 
354- FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 Entering the government of Novogorod, and 
 passing near Mglin, this was found to be a wretched 
 wooden town, with few regular streets ; nothing of 
 decent appearance, or even of Russian finely. 
 Here Jewish settlers were first observed ; and the 
 travellers were less afraid of being cheated by them 
 than by the natives, whom these people, consider- 
 ing as their inferiors, domineered over with no 
 small appearance of authority. Unlike the native 
 rustics, the Jews here own no masters. The gyp- 
 sies, or Bohemians, in this part of the country, 
 seemed, as well as the Jews, to have some resem- 
 blance to their brethren in England. 
 
 The quarters of Staradoub, another town, seemed 
 mostly built of wood : the houses only of one story 
 had neither paint nor ornaments of any kind. The 
 peasantry of these remote spots seemed to live under 
 a detestable degree of petty tyranny; the lowest 
 halberdier scarcely ever spoke to a rustic without a 
 blow. Than the passage to- the Ypoote, nothing 
 could be more strikingly wild. This river is crossed 
 by a raft of trees, which was hauled over by a rope 
 made of the barks. Each side of this stream is 
 lined by a vast forest, where the white shirts, and 
 black fur caps of the Tartars, might be seen as they 
 were riding their horses at full speed. One of their 
 caravans having just arrived, was ranged on the 
 river side, their oxen was seen every now and thea 
 plunging into the stream, and swimming to the op- 
 posite shore. Boats of one piece, rudely hollowed 
 from the trunk of a tree, are common both on the 
 Soz, and on the upper part of the Desna ; but whilst 
 the carts, and the gable ends of the houses, were 
 ornamented with very elaborate carving ; the in- 
 sides of these dwellings were uncommonly rude, 
 and not even lined with planks. Though a whole 
 family slept in the same room, on mats, straw, or 
 sheep-skins, the men generally in their clothes; 
 the favourite station on a cold night, was on the 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 355 
 
 ledge of the stove, having a few bricks, &c. for a 
 pillovv. The infant children, something in the 
 North American Indian manner, were packed in a 
 few clothes, on a square canvas frame, and hung 
 up by strings to a nail in the wall, or a hook in the 
 ceiling A horn, filled with milk, is placed near 
 the child, and from this it is taught to suck at 
 pleasure. 
 
 The diet of the peasants is formed of rye cakes, 
 or sour black bread, with a little salt, to give it a 
 flavour; to this is added their schtchi, or cabbage 
 broth, thickened with oatmeal, and sometimes a 
 little meat. All is procured at an easy rate, espe- 
 cially during the long fasts prescribed by the rites 
 of the Gret'k church, which diminish the cxpences 
 of the poor man's household. Nothing like deli- 
 cacy is observed here, as men, women, and chil- 
 dren were seen bathing promiscuously on the road 
 side, and by no means abashed at the approach of 
 strangers. Even the hamlets are not unprovided 
 with vapour-bath^ ; and the universal practice cf 
 bathing in steam, is remarkable. Towards the end 
 of the week, the meanest of these people, if they 
 can raise a few copecks, never neglect going to a 
 bath. In winter time, it is a common custom with 
 them to roll themselves in snow, immediately on 
 leaving the bath ; a sudden change in them is not 
 known to produce illness or inconvenience. 
 
 Musquitoes are very troublesome in these parts, 
 especially in the night ; and for want of accommo- 
 dation on the roads, our travellers were compelled 
 to sleep in their clothes, or in the carriage, eight 
 nights. " The houses were so filthy, that they 
 were afraid to enter them, and beds were not to be 
 had at any rate. The spots that contain a great 
 number of tumuli, so common in this quarter, are 
 generally chosen by the natives as places of inter- 
 ment; hence they are often planted round with 
 trees and thickly studded with wooden crosses, 
 
356 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 oratories, &c. ; and the whole is preserved with a 
 kind of pious care; whilst their sequestered situa- 
 tion, apart from the towns, excites no small degree 
 of profound veneration in the people. " 
 
 Numerous caravans frequently enliven the roads, 
 mostly proceeding towards Petersburgh, drawn by 
 mouse-coloured oxen of the Ukraine, equally des- 
 tined for the market, as the goods they carried. 
 During the day, these might be seen passing in long 
 lines across the plain, and at night ranged in a 
 circle around their fires. The wild looks of the 
 many that were Tartars, and their employment dur- 
 ing their evening rest, in divesting their bodies of 
 vermin, cannot be said to add to the agreeablenes? 
 of the picture. 
 
 As pilgrimages are still made to Kiev, or Kiow, 
 it was observed the pilgrims were mostly persons 
 in the lower classes of life, with very few excep- 
 tions. At TchernigofF, several bodies of prisoners 
 were met on their way to France ; and it was cu- 
 rious to observe the different manner in which they 
 received the news of the success of the allies ; 
 though all spoke in terms of the highest admiration 
 for Bonaparte, and devotion to his cause. " The 
 common men could not be persuaded that he had 
 ceased to reign; they supposed, they said, the al- 
 lies had been forced to sue for peace, and, on hav- 
 ing obtained it, claimed a victor}'. Some few of 
 the officers, in the true style of gasconade, talked, 
 with infinite assurance, of a second visit to the Rus- 
 sian dominions." 
 
 TchernigofF is a handsome, neat built town, on 
 the banks of the Desna. Having arrived at Kiev, 
 the first visit of the travellers was to the catacombs 
 of the Sacred City, as it is called. Proper applica- 
 tion being made at the fortress, called Perchask, 
 within which these are situated, the party found the 
 entrance ornamented with pictures, expressive of 
 What was to be seen within. A miserable looking 
 
VOYAGES AMD TRAVELS. S5T 
 
 ! jcrowd that stood about, were the venders of crosses, 
 relics, and other emblems of superstition. Upon 
 the walls of the court within, they found several 
 huge religious paintings, and numerous groupes of 
 pilgrims, of both sexes, reading, admiring, bowing, 
 and praying. The whole of these paintings were 
 taken from some of the most ridiculous legends, 
 and have scarcely any thing in their history that 
 could interest an unprejudiced reader for a moment. 
 The English party being informed the priest was 
 waiting to conduct them to the relics, they de- 
 scended a long staircase, to the mouth of the sa- 
 cred catacomb ; and as the whole party was formed 
 into a procession, each carried a lighted taper. In 
 this manner they were conducted through a laby- 
 rinth, hewn out of the solid rock, consisting of 
 walks, chambers, branches, &C. ascending and de- 
 scending for the distance of several hundred yards. 
 The passage is about six feet wide, and covered at 
 the top ; the sides are neatly plastered, and stained 
 with a black wash, having a flooring of iron plates, 
 about a foot square. The principal objects of ve- 
 neration, are the remains of seventy-three saints, 
 or primitive Christians, among the Russians : and 
 these are deposited in the niches in the passages, 
 wrapped round and bandaged in silk, bearing the 
 resemblance of mummies, though no part, not even 
 the face, was left visible. The coffins that are al- 
 ways open, were of an oblong square, decreasing in 
 breadth from the head downwards ; having in the 
 interior, flowers of gold, painted on a red ground. 
 The oratory of St. Anthony was next shewn, and 
 the cell in which, it is said, he dwelt forty years. 
 The shrines of St. Precop, St. Polycarp, St. Iheo? 
 dore, and St. Luke, the Russian, and St. Nicholas, 
 were next visited. Another Russian, St. Mark, [q 
 said to have outrione all the others in pure absti- 
 nence, never drinking more than a gill of pure 
 water in a day. A certain St. John was also point- 
 
358 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 cd out, who, by way of penace, buried himself in 
 the earth up to his shoulders for forty days, and 
 then expired. The party halting here, the priest 
 placing the saint's cap on each person's head, ac- 
 cording to the custom of the place, gave them a 
 short blessing. This subterraneous retreat, for so 
 it was used at first, was excavated by twelve men 
 from Constantinople, about 800 years ago. Their 
 bodies are shewn, collected together in one cham- 
 ber, and are the last in this exhibition. 
 
 As soon as the visitors had ascended again into 
 the realms of day, they repaired to the church of 
 the monastery, the area of which they found com- 
 pletely filled by a herd of pilgrims, habited in all 
 the various costumes of the southern provinces of 
 the empire. Some had made a journey of many 
 hundred miles, which was sufficiently evinced by 
 their haggard looks, and tattered drapery. Whilst 
 detained at Kiow, most of them are compelled to 
 be out all night, for want of money to pay their 
 lodging ; and by day they have little food, except- 
 ing what the monastery affords, at the expence of 
 the emperor. The church of St. Sophie, in this 
 city, is said to be the oldest in the Russian domi- 
 nions ; and though not formed exactly in the man- 
 ner of that of St. Sophia at Constantinople, was 
 evidently the work ©f artists who came from thence, 
 having many traces of Byzantine architecture in 
 its interior. The miraculous church of St. Avare, 
 in old Kiev, being visited, generally concludes the 
 Ordinary course of pilgrimage. 
 
 The square market place is constructed with 
 double arcades, one above another after the man. 
 ner of an eastern bazaar. Trade is extremely dull 
 and consists chiefly in the exportation of corn and 
 wood to the south ; yet a very considerable busi- 
 ness of transit has been carried on, and the fair 
 that used to be held at Dubno, has been trans- 
 ferred here by the Emperor's command. The Pq- 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. $5g 
 
 jish nobles, and indeed all the people of the country 
 round meet here for the sake of transacting busi- 
 ness ; sucli as making leases, and transfers of land ; 
 here also provisions for sale are purchased for the 
 baronial households in the wholesale way, and the 
 concourse of people is sometimes immense, though 
 the constant inhabitants are not estimated at more 
 than 20,000. 
 
 Kiev, properly speaking consists of three distinct 
 towns ; the Perchask fortress with its adjacent 
 streets stands upon the summit of a hill on the east, 
 Old Kiev, with its Polish fortifications is westward; 
 the Podolsk quarter is now in a state of dilapida- 
 tion, having suffered under a dreadful fire a few 
 years ago. A few remains of old Greek convents, 
 &c. are all that are visible. On the road from 
 hence, near the spring where St. Vladomir baptized 
 the first Russian converts, a column bearing a cross 
 is erected in remembrance of that event. Crossing 
 the frontier of Poland in this direction, every house 
 was observed to be in the hands of the Jews, who 
 are here engaged in every branch both of trade and 
 manufactures. At Zytomer, our travellers re- 
 marked that it being the Sabbath day these people 
 were dressed in their best, for the purpose of at- 
 tending the synagogues. Here the married distin- 
 guish themselves from the single, the men wearing 
 a white muslin shawl, thrown over their long black 
 mantle, which added to a bushy beard, and a 
 furred cap, conferred no small degree of stateliness 
 on their persons. Married women are known by a 
 thin scarlet stripe of cloth hanging in a horse-shoe 
 shape over the front of their head dresses. Many 
 pearls are worn by the Jewish females, and no small 
 portion of gold and silver. Caps of the value of 
 3000 or 40(>0 ducats, are here handed down in 
 hereditary succession from one generation to ano- 
 ther. The Jewish women are also remarkably fair 
 and handsome, and the men tall and straight, but 
 
BG& FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 rather of a spare habit. A party of Polish pea- 
 sants were so busy in performing the favourite 
 dance of the Maziirco, that they did not observe 
 the intrusion of the strangers. The females here 
 were dressed in white chemises and blue petticoats, 
 edged with red borders; their hair was adorned 
 with large wreaths of flowers and a profusion of 
 ribbons hanging down their backs. The men were 
 not so gaily dressed but being shaved, the differ- 
 ence between their appearance and that of the 
 Russians was most agreeably striking. The chime 
 Of bells once more being heard, with the tones of 
 a pealing organ echoing the chaunt of vesper^ 
 from a venerable abbey, afforded Mr. James con- 
 siderable gratification. The difference between 
 any thing like music, and absolute nois£ must be 
 very great. Instead of chiming, in Russia, they 
 tie the clappers of six or eight bells to one rope, 
 and ring them all together; and in their churches, 
 organs are not allowed. 
 
 Our traveller thinks there are few persons hat' 
 do not congratulate themselves on passing the Rus- 
 sian frontiers. Ostrog is now a Jewish town, and 
 the accommodation afforded at the inns, is ac- 
 knowledged to be excellent. Lemberg is also re- 
 markable as a colony of Jews; but though these 
 people afford horses at a cheaper rate than at the 
 regular post house, the traveller who engages them 
 will find that he will be carried from one Jew's 
 house to another, without any chance of escaping 
 out of their hands j and even when on the road 
 with their horses, should the tinkling bell and 
 bugle horn of the imperial post be heard, he will 
 be obliged to quit the road to avoid being seen. 
 In Lemberg, generally speaking, a mixture of 
 German fashions and customs, with signs of im- 
 provement, must be acknowledged, which has been 
 introduced by the new government or the influx of 
 Austrian settlers. 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 35h 
 
 Being «till within those tracts which formerly 
 bore the name of Russia, the travellers observed 
 at the beautiful little village of Moscyko, the Greek 
 church ornamented with the crescent and the cross. 
 A bridge over the Sana, npar Premzyl, was pointed 
 out as the boundary of this district of Red Russia. 
 The bridges in this part are generally of one arch 
 and built of timber, having wooden posts in front 
 to defend them from the ice, which descends in 
 large shoals in the winter. .Several detachments of 
 Austrian troops seen on the road, were fine men, 
 with light coloured clothes, green leaves in their 
 caps, and ropes of hay attached to the saddle bow 
 of their horses. 
 
 As a proof of Ihe abject condition of the poor in 
 this part of Austrian Poland, the roads were con- 
 stantly beset with beggars, mostly old men, who 
 had been lamed or were past labour. Having beads 
 or a crucifix in their hands, they supplicated cha- 
 rity in a tone of the most abject distress They 
 mostly occupied seats under the image of the Vir- 
 gin, or some patron saint, which are to be seen in 
 almost everv part of the Austrian provinces ; the 
 most common of which is that of the Virgin Mary, 
 transfixed with a sword through her breast. 
 
 Near Landshut is the spacious and pleasant 
 palace of the Lubomirsky family, the most com- 
 plete specimen the travellers had seen of the old 
 baronial style of magnificence, being fortified with 
 regular bastions, a rampart, ditch, &c. *■ That 
 cumbrous magnificence and ostentatious hospitality 
 which fco strikingly pervades the spacious though 
 uncomfortable dwellings of the grandees of Mos- 
 cow, is displayed in a greater degree, if possible, 
 by those Polish noblemen whose extensive posses- 
 sions still allow them to keep up that profuse st\le 
 of living and entertainment for which their ances- 
 tors were so peculiarly distinguished. However, 
 these opulent representatives of the aristocracy 
 
 vol. iv. I i 
 
562 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 gradually disappear as estates become subdivided 
 on the death of the great landed proprietors." 
 
 Among the improvements introduced since the 
 last peace, a stage coach runs between Lemberg 
 and Vienna. The inns afford clean beds and ex- 
 cellent accommodations ; and a table d'hote is al- 
 ways prepared about the middle of the day. 
 
 From Tamor to Bochnia and Wielisca, little no- 
 velty was to be seen, but the mines at the latter 
 place form one of the largest labyrinths of excava- 
 tion in Europe, and being peopled with upwards of 
 2000 souls, give a complete idea of a subterranean 
 world. According to report, the whole town is 
 undermined to the extent of nearly 6000 feet east 
 and west ; and to about a third of that distance in 
 breadth. The total depth is about 140 fathoms. 
 People who descend are lowered by a wheel down 
 one of the shafts seated in slings. Having arrived 
 at the first gallery, there are stairs cut in the rock 
 to descend to the bottom. The chambers, or vaults 
 contained in the whole are upwards of 300 in num- 
 ber, many of them very large. The area of the 
 principal, called the Psikos, when Mr. James visited 
 it, was filled with water. In 1810, this dark lake 
 highly illuminated, was occupied by a musical 
 band playing patriotic airs in honour of the King 
 of Saxony, then created Duke of Warsaw by Bo- 
 naparte. At the same time a ball was given in the 
 great hall in the first gallery; this is a regular 
 shaped room about fifty or sixty feet in length, 
 when it must be admitted the sparkling surface of 
 the rock salt reflecting the blaze of the chandeliers, 
 and the various coloured dresses of the numerous 
 assemblage, displayed an appearance uncommonly 
 brilliant. The chapel of Cunegunda here, is al- 
 most coeval with the opening of the mine, 600 years 
 back ; here " the columns with their highly wrought 
 capitals, the arches with their ornamental groins, 
 niches with the images of saints, and all the deco- 
 
 2 
 
VOYAGES ASD TRAVELS. 
 
 363 
 
 rations of the altar, are carved in the transparent 
 rock salt, as well as two priests who are represented 
 at prayers before the patron saint." The salt here 
 is so pure by nature, that it wants no other pre- 
 paration for use t:,an merely to be reduced to 
 powder; and being cut in large cubical blocks, is 
 carried away without any further process. 
 
 The country beyond Gallicia is void of any agree- 
 able features, excepting the stream of the Vistula, 
 and the spires of Cracow that rise in its valley. 
 Near this river side is a large earthen tumulus, 
 being the grave of Cracus the founder of the city ; 
 but the streets of this ancient place are all strongly 
 marked with that aspect of gloom that arises from 
 a decay of trade, such as houses deserted or shut 
 up, many of which were positively falling into 
 ruin. In fact, when 20,000 inhabitants are all 
 that remain out of 80,000, the lonesome and im- 
 poverished condition of Cracow may easily be ima- 
 gined. As a consequence of the circumstances 
 that had introduced this singular change, very few 
 of the Polish dresses are now seen in the streets. 
 This is a short cassock of blue or brown, with a 
 red sash round the middle ; a white square topped 
 cap, &c. Among the old peasantry, loose hose 
 and boots are worn, and a white cloth gown thrown 
 over their shoulders, whilst their heads are shaved 
 in such a manner as only to leave a circle of hair 
 on the top ; but these samples were reduced to a 
 very small number. 
 
 The citadel and the cathedral of Cracow are 
 still objects of some consideration ; and the latter 
 is said to deserve the notice of strangers on account 
 of other things besides its great bell, and its chapel 
 covered with golden tiles. The church of Notre 
 Dame, the monastery of St. Stephen, the Botanical 
 garden, and the old university of Cracow, are 
 likewise worthy of attention. What is called the 
 Casimir town here, is still inhabited by Jews for 
 
364- FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 whom it was originally designed ; these people 
 being introduced into Gallicia in l c 264, though they 
 owed the period of their prosperity to Esther, the 
 beautiful concubine of Casimer the Great. By their 
 present governors however the Jews seem to be con- 
 sidered generally as profitable objects of taxation, 
 which extends to their peculiar habits and customs. 
 
 The power of the Polish nobility under the go- 
 vernment of Prussia and Austria, has been con- 
 siderably reduced. A lord has now no right to 
 inflict corporal punishment ; nor are slaves as for- 
 merly, attached to the glebe; added to this the 
 manners of the nobles themselves are much im- 
 proved by that intercourse with their neighbours, 
 to which their ancient habits were unfriendly. At 
 Belitz Mr. James and his friends took their leave of 
 Poland, and passing through Austrian Silesia and 
 Moravia, in the course of the month arrived at 
 Vienna. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Agriculture and the Swedish peasantry — Commerce 
 at Hamburg — Luxuries — Lubech and Kiel-** 
 Swedish Hospitality — Gottenburg — Salmagundi — 
 Safe Travelling — Falls at Trolhatta — Cataracts 
 —■Saw Mills — Swedish Forges — Gefle — Ants 
 Nests — Log Houses — Biscuits — Tar — Darkness 
 a benevolent Gift — Feelings differently expressed — 
 A Burning Forest— Tornea — A loud Preacher — 
 The Norwegian Language— Droniheim — A Ca- 
 taract or Waterfall — Mode of passing the Rapids 
 — Colonel Shioldebrand — Tomto — The Hein 
 Deer Moss. 
 
 In the account of Dr. Clarke's tour in Sweden 
 Lapland, and Norway, his comments on the state 
 *>f Agriculture, the progress of liberal and useful 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 
 
 365 
 
 arts, and the peculiarities of the national manners 
 in these regions, afford much valuable and curious 
 information. In describing the Swedish peasantry 
 he seems faithfully to have sketched the habits of a 
 nation to whom the disadvantages of a sterile soil, 
 and a frozen climate are amply compensated by the 
 substantial endowments of health, competency, 
 simplicity, courage, probity, hospitality and inge- 
 nuity. In short, the Doctor represents the northern 
 parts of Sweden as an actual Paradise, and the 
 country itself during the brief but enchanting sea- 
 son of summer, as affording a succession of land- 
 scapes so happily diversified in their scenery, as 
 not to be excelled even by Switzerland itself. 
 
 Quitting England by way of Yarmouth, Dr. Clarke 
 proceeded first to the celebrated island of Heligo- 
 land, and thence to Hamburg and Altona. Of the 
 extensive commerce carried on at the former place 
 some idea may be formed from the counting houses 
 of the merchants, whose establishments have more 
 the appearance of a national bank, than the private 
 counters of individuals. The worst part of Ham- 
 burg is its narrow ill-paved streets ; an obstruction 
 which, however, is little regarded, the use of car- 
 riages being almost universal. One article com- 
 municated by Dr. Clarke, will probably not be lost 
 upon those travelling epicures who wander about 
 the continent to gratify their appetites. The lux- 
 uries of eating and drinking are no where more 
 studiously cultivated, nor is there any place in 
 Europe where larger sums of money are lavished to 
 maintain them. And at the same time dinners are 
 stated to be provided in taverns much neater and 
 better than in those of London, and at one tenth of 
 the price. 
 
 The manner in which the poor are supported at 
 Hamburg reflects the highest honour upon the 
 people and the government. The subsistence of the 
 former is derived from voluntary contributions, and 
 
 i i 3 
 
366 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 by taxes on public amusements. These collections 
 are deposited in the Town Hall, in five chests re. 
 spectively inscribed with the names of the five 
 parishes, and distributed under the inspection of 
 the Burghers. 
 
 From Hamburg, which has been so frequently 
 described our travellers proceeded through the 
 Duchy of Sleswick to Lubeck and Kiel, within 
 two miles of which they obtained a prospect of the 
 Baltic Sea. About a mile on this side Kiel, they 
 quitted their waggons for a shorter way to the town 
 through the meadows. Kiel, situated upon an 
 inlet to the Baltic, consists chiefly of one long 
 street, terminated by a small square. The houses 
 are neat and elegant, and the inn they went to was 
 a very good one. From the time the travellers left 
 Lubeck, they had perceived a very visible altera- 
 tion in the features of the inhabitants, and it now 
 became evident that they differed remarkably from 
 the Germans, in having lighter hair, fairer com- 
 plexions, and a milder cast of countenance, which 
 is said to have distinguished the Angli from the 
 Almanni in the former ages. The party also 
 imagined that they saw so much of the English air 
 and manner, that till the peoples ignorance of the 
 English language convinced them to the contrary, 
 they really believed those they mtt with were from 
 their own country. 
 
 Having left Kiel, they arrived on the same even- 
 ing at Flensburg, situated upon another inlet of the 
 Baltic. Here they were again entertained by the 
 number of English faces, and by the similarity 
 of the method of dividing the land with quickset 
 hedges, and intertwisted boughs, reminding them 
 of Kent, Surry, and Sussex. 
 
 Having crossed the Lake of Wener, and readied 
 the Swedish shore, after a narrow escape from 
 being lost, by having two boys only as pilots and 
 sailors, they found the Swedish servant; hired 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 367 
 
 their interpreter, who had gone before to order 
 horses, &c. They were much surprized by his de- 
 livery of a message from the wife of a Swedish 
 officer whose husband was absent from home, re- 
 questing they would pass the night in her house, 
 as they were not within the reach of any inn, and 
 at some distance from the public road. Accepting 
 this hospitable invitation, they found it a particular 
 trait in the character of the Swedish gentry. Hav- 
 ing arrived at the lady's mansion they were intro- 
 duced to an efegaftl saloon, found lights burning 
 before a large mirror, but saw nobody. Before a 
 large sofa, a table was covered with delicacies, 
 many of them calculated for English palates. The 
 whole scene reminded them of a tale often related 
 to servants, of a Prince served at a banquet by in- 
 visible hands ; as excepting their own servants, they 
 saw nor heard no one till supper was over, when 
 an elderly woman made her appearance and ottered 
 to conduct them to their rooms. Their reqilttt 
 to see and thank the lady who had entertained 
 them could not be complied with, on account of 
 the absence of her husband, but the next morning 
 he met them as they were leaving their rooms ; 
 gave them a hearty welcome, and conducted them 
 to the breakfast table, introducing them to his wife 
 who invited them to take their seats, whilst her 
 husband presented a dram to each guest. After 
 taking tea, a collation followed, consisting of cold 
 pigeons, salted salmon, pancakes, flrc. Leing fur- 
 nished with horses, they left this pleasing spot ac- 
 companied by their generous host to the utmost 
 boundaries of his estate. The real Swedish gen- 
 tleman, Dr. Clarke observes, is an honour to his 
 country and to mankind. 
 
 They were, however, not always equally fortu- 
 nate, as the Doctor having once trusted himself 
 to the appearance of extraordinary cleaulines, was 
 driven from his bed at midnight, by an attack of 
 
368 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 monstrous bugs, &c. Proceeding to Gothenburg, 
 which has been frequently described, the route of 
 the travellers lay through Trolhatta and several in- 
 termediate towns to Stockholm. 
 
 Gottenburg, the principal town of West Gotha 
 situated at the mouth of the Gotha, contains a 
 population of 15,000 souls. In a small square near 
 the best hotel, stands the Exchange. The mer, 
 chants usually dine at two o'clock, at which hour 
 the business at the Exchange is ended. A universal 
 custom prevails in the north, of eating a small piece 
 of bread, or bread and butter, and then drinking 
 a dram of brandy, immediately before sitting down 
 to dinner as a whet to the appetite. This habit is 
 so general that the offer of brandy before dinner 
 is as characteristic of a Scandinavian or Russian, 
 as the ceremonious gifts of tobacco and coffee 
 among the Turks and Arabs. When seated at 
 table the precursor to the other dishes makes its 
 appearance. This is called salmagundi, without 
 which a merchant here would think his table defi- 
 cient in the most material article. Salmagundi is 
 as much the favourite food here as macaroni is at 
 Naples, and it generally disappears with equal ra- 
 pidity. It consists of a minced mixture of salted 
 herrings, hard eggs, and other ingredients seasoned 
 with pepper, and dosed with oil and vinegar by 
 way of sauce. At these dinners of the merchants, 
 the stranger is welcomed with great hospitality, 
 and finds the inhabitants very communicative. Li- 
 terature is not of course to be expected in the 
 midst of a herring mart, nor do the merchants in- 
 terest themselves in politics farther than their own 
 commercial speculations are concerned. 
 
 In the route from Orebro towards Stockholm 
 Dr. Clarke observed boxes supported by upright 
 posts, over which there was generally a small shed 
 and sometimes the picture of a mendicant supplicat- 
 ing alms. The object of these boxes it waa not 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 
 
 easy to misunderstand ; these little depots, however, 
 our traveller could not but consider as so many 
 monuments of the honesty of the people, knowing 
 that if alms were thus collected in England, the 
 boxes containing them would not be safe in the 
 highways during a single night. As highway rob- 
 beries are never heard of in Sweden, no one thinks 
 of guarding against any such evih Travelling is 
 equally safe at all hours, either by day or night, 
 and if a carriage is left in a public street or road t 
 nothing would be pilfered in Sweden ; whereas, ia 
 Russia, every bit of the harness and tackle would 
 be carried off, every moveable thing purloined, nor 
 would bolts or bars be found sufficient protectors. 
 In the course of a long journey from Stockholm to 
 the head of the gulf only one dissevered malefactor 
 was seen exposed on three wheels ; it \\ as the body 
 of a murderer and the people seemed to wish to 
 forget his odious history. 
 
 The falls of Trolhatta and the canal made to 
 avoid them constitute a very interesting view, and 
 the cleanliness of the inn at this place, if not the 
 elegance of the accommodations, would sufficiently 
 shew the great resort of strangers, if there was no 
 book here that is brought to all comers for the 
 purpose of inscribing their names. These consist 
 of persons of many nations, and partake of a 
 great variety of languages. Here our travellers 
 beg an to observe the custom of strewing the floors 
 of the apartments with sprigs of juniper, but unfor- 
 tunately this is frequently overlaid with sand, and 
 though it may hide many disagreeable spots the 
 refuse of vegetables, &c. in clo-e rooms, cannot 
 but produce an unwholesome effluvia. The same 
 houses are at the same time mo-t frequently covered 
 with a quantity of fresh turf, which producing grass, 
 gives to the tops of them in summer time, the ap- 
 pearance of a meadow. In the interior the coN 
 tages of the Swedes are not allowed to be equal 
 
370 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 to the comfort or cleanliness of those of the Danes, 
 though the children seen sprawling on a dirty floor 
 is by no means the worst of symptoms. On ac- 
 count of being thus taught the free use of their 
 limbs early, it is not wonderful that the Swedish 
 peasants afterwards attain to a healthy maturity, 
 and appear characterized by a sturdy form and an 
 athletic stature. There is a cast of countenance, 
 according to Dr. Clarke, which may be called a 
 family likeness. " The men have a long and pale 
 face rather bony, with a high forehead, a long 
 chin, and an expression very opposite to ferocity 
 in their eyes ; and stout muscular limbs. The 
 women, though not generally handsome, afford 
 many exceptions, and upon the whole compose a 
 hardy active people, undebilitated by refinement 
 or luxury. Two important articles in the diet of 
 the common people, bread and brandy, are ren- 
 dered very unpalatable to strangers, by the quan- 
 tity of anniseed used to give a flavour to the 
 former. 
 
 Numerous are the cataracts which agreeably 
 surprize the traveller in Sweden and Norway ; and 
 the remarkable situation of the sawing mills near 
 these cataracts, are among the most extraordinary 
 sights he meets with. Dr. Clarke thus describes a 
 sawing mill which he saw at the cataracts of the 
 Dal, a few miles distant from Upsal. 
 
 " The mill here was a rude object, built with 
 the unplaned trunks of large fir trees, as if brought 
 down and heaped together by the force of the river. 
 The saws are fixed in sets parallel to each other, 
 the spaces between them in each set being adapted 1 
 to the intended thickness of the planks. A whole 
 tree is divided by a simultaneous operation^ in the 
 same time a single plank would be cut by the 
 saws." Ten planks, each ten feet long were sawed 
 in five minutes. A ladder, sloping from the mill 1 
 being placed in the midst of the cataract, and rest- 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 
 
 371 
 
 ing on a rock, the travellers took a station upon it 
 in the midst of the roaring waters. On all sides, 
 close to the fall, above and below it, and in the 
 midst of the turbulent flood, the tall pines waved 
 their shadowy arms. From each of the artificial 
 piers projecting from the sides of the river, nets 
 were spread for salmon. Upon the different crags 
 over the cataract, children with their naked legs 
 and red caps were seen angling. The bridge below, 
 entirely of timber, was well constructed for sus- 
 taining the concussion to which it was exposed, 
 being formed by the juxta position of the trunks of 
 trees sloping towards the torrent, so as to meet 
 it : thus one of these treble wedges was opposed 
 in front of every pier. The upper tier of the pro- 
 jecting wedge was hollow, but filled with large 
 stones. 
 
 In his progress our author had an opportunity of 
 seeing several Swedish forges at work ; the excel- 
 lence of the Swedish iron, he observes, is in no re- 
 spect owing to any improvement in the process of 
 forging the metal ; for in the simple machinery ne- 
 cessary for that purpose the Swedes are rather be- 
 hind than before other nations ; but it is the quality 
 of the ore which gives such a decided preference to 
 their bar-iron. It sometimes contains from eighty 
 to ninety per cent, of metal, and as it requires very 
 little manipulation to render it malleable, so it is 
 much fitter for the purpose to which it is applied 
 than for casting. 
 
 Gerle, a port on the gulf of Bothnia, according 
 to Dr. Clarke, makes a considerable figure, lying in 
 the midst of pasture land in a plain thickly planted 
 with firs. Its church is handsome, and as these 
 edifices are all built by the peasants, a great deal 
 of political animosity being excited among them, the 
 inhabitants of each parish endeavour to outvie their 
 neighbours in the stateliness, size, and beauty of 
 their churches. Gcfle contains 10,000 inhabitants, 
 
37*2 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 and is lighted with glass lanterns affixed to the 
 houses. Many large ships come close up to the 
 quay, but others are obliged to be lightened in a 
 bay about half a league from the mouth of the river 
 Gefle. The exports from hence are bar-iron, tim- 
 ber, deal-planks, nails, tar, pitch, and potash. 
 
 At a merchant's stable, at which the travellers 
 stopped, they saw a young bear which he was fat- 
 tening as a great luxury. The travellers had heard 
 that they would be attacked by the very largest 
 kind of bugs in Lapland; but at Gefle they were in 
 size enormous. Here they bought a fine live salmon 
 at the rate of two-pence per pound. At half past 
 ten at night, Dr. Clarke observes, that, being at 
 their inn, in a room having only a single window, 
 they sat writing with as much light as if it had been 
 noon ; and they were assured that a little to the 
 north of Tornea, if they travelled expeditiously, 
 they would find the sun above the horizon at mid- 
 night. At Gefle, few of the red-looking timber 
 huts or log-houses were to be seen, the dwellings 
 here being mostly white, and, as is commonly the 
 case in Sweden, the windows, owing to the colour 
 of the Swedish glass, look green. The streets are 
 straight, and are kept in good order. 
 
 On leaving Gefle Dr. Clarke determined to tra- 
 vel the night through, as there was no danger of 
 passing any object without seeing it ; the night 
 light and the daylight being at that time nearly 
 equal, the notes of the common post book, printed 
 in a very small type, could be read without ly light 
 from the moon, which had then ended her last 
 quarter. 
 
 The ants' nests, which the Doctor saw in the 
 forests through which he passed, are described as 
 being of sucli a prodigious size, that he could 
 hardly credit the accounts he had received of them, 
 or even the evidence of his senses. They consisted 
 of cones formed by heaping together the small 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 375 
 
 leaves and fibres of the pines, to the height of four 
 or five feet, and among these were branches, which 
 .it might be supposed impossible for these little in- 
 , sects to raise. 
 
 Bole, a small town in the north of Sweden, 
 situated at no great distance from the gulf of 
 Bothnia, consists of dwellings which may literal y 
 ,be stiied, log-houses, formed of timber nearly in the 
 isame state in wh'ch it had been felled, rough from 
 the axe, and without a nail. Here every builder 
 j works without saw, plane, chisel, nails, or hammer. 
 ,The trunks of trees are piled longitudinally, and 
 fitted at the corners by a kind of dove-tail work. 
 These houses seen at a distance, had ihe appear- 
 ance of piles of timber heaped lip for exportation. 
 Every man's possessions however resemble a little 
 .village, surrounding a square court, which is en- 
 tered by a gateway. The interstices of the houses, 
 where they do not fit close, are caulked to keep 
 out the wind and frost. The first covering for the 
 roof is the bark of birch trees pressed down by 
 poles in a transverse direction, and kept together 
 by large stones. Some of the houses in Upland 
 seemed to be dangerously laden with these stones, 
 as their weight might prove too much for their 
 roofs. Of these sort of houses each farmer has one 
 for his hay, another for his corn, a third for his 
 pigs, a fourth for his poultry, and so on for the 
 rest of his stock to the number of eight or nine. 
 
 At 13 )le our traveller saw no dwellings for poor 
 persons the peasants appeared to be all farmers, 
 or families holding land together. Here by the side 
 of every dwelling, Dr. Clarke noticed a " lofty en- 
 sign or the climate in a high conspicuous rack for 
 drying the un ripened corn. Sometimes there are 
 three or four of these conspicuous machines to one 
 duelling, and from these the traveller may guess at 
 she proportion of arable land in the occupation of 
 ibe landholder. In this part of Sweden bread is 
 
 vol. tv r . K k 
 
374 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 baked only twice a year, and in many other parts 
 only once, when a whole year's consumption is 
 made up in the form of biscuits, which being 
 spitted upon rods, are in this manner placed under 
 the roof of every house ; and being ranged in rows 
 over the heads of the inhabitants, they are taken 
 down as they are wanted during their meals. For 
 the most part, this kind of bread is made of rye 
 flour seasoned with aniseed. To strangers it fre- 
 quently seems sour, but the natives generally eat 
 it in milk, or with butter. 
 
 At Bole, an infant was seen swaddled quite after 
 the manner used in Lapland. It was lying upon 
 the ground packed up in a bag made of goat's skin, 
 the hair being on the inside, and nothing but the 
 head of the child to be seen. The wolves in this 
 part of the country still prove very troublesome, 
 but there are no bears. 
 
 From the most southern parts of Westro Bothnia 
 to the northern extremity of the gulf, the inhabi- 
 tants are employed in the manufacture of tar. Dr. 
 Clarke halted at a tar-work, and observes that the 
 most favourite situation for this is in a forest near 
 to a marsh or a bog ; because the fir is always pro- 
 ductive near these places. A conical cavity ^being 
 made in the side of a bank or a sloping hill, the 
 roots of the fir, of which the tar is made, together 
 with logs or billets of the same, are all trussed up 
 together, and put into this cavity. The whole be- 
 ing covered with turf to prevent the escape of the 
 volatile parts, it is then beaten down with a heavy 
 wooden mallet, further assisted by a wooden 
 stamper worked by two men. The stack of billets 
 being kindled, a slow combustion of the fir takes 
 place without flame, as in making of charcoal. 
 During this time the tar ooses out into a cast iron 
 pan, with a spout at the bottom of the funnel; and 
 as fast as the barrels under this are filled, they are 
 closely bunged up, being then ready for exportation. 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 
 
 375 
 
 From this description it is evident that the mode of 
 obtaining tar is by a kind of distillation per descen- 
 sum ; the turpentine melted by the fire, mixing with 
 the sap and juices of the fir, while the wood being 
 charred becomes charcoal. 
 
 At Fanskog, Dr. Clarke began to perceive " that 
 darkness is one of the benevolent gifts of providence, 
 the value of which, as conducive to repose, we only 
 become sensible of, when it ceases to return. There 
 being no shutters to the windows of the house 
 where the party rested, though they bound their 
 eyes with handkerchiefs, an impression of bright- 
 ness like a shining light still remained ; the return- 
 ing gloom of autumn was of course hailed as a bless- 
 ing and a comfort. 
 
 For calling the cattle together, and for frighten- 
 ing away wolves, the people have a long tube of 
 curious construction, called a lure; it is about six 
 feet long, and utters a blast that may be heard 
 several miles. 
 
 Nothing can offer a more striking contrast in 
 natural characters and manners, than the very op- 
 posite mode in which the feelings of different 
 people are expressed. An Italian postillion, if pro- 
 voked by the censure or reproach of his employer, 
 turns pale, bites his thumbs, or perhaps draws his * 
 stiletto. The Swede will sigh or perhaps shed tears 
 on the same account ; and yet the Italian is effemi- 
 nate, and the Swede is a manly character. 
 
 The burning forest is most frequent towards the 
 gulf of Bothnia ; and sometimes owing to the confla- 
 gration of a whole district, a prey to the devouring 
 flames for many leagues, a considerable part of the 
 horizon glows with fiery redness. The cause is oc- 
 casionally attributable to lightning. 
 
 Upon his arrival at Torneo, the last commercial 
 town in the extremity of the Bothnian Gulf, the 
 Doctor advanced into the immense wilderness of 
 Lapland. The Laplanders are divided into t wo 
 
 k k 2 
 
S76 FLOWERS 01? MODERN 
 
 hordes, partaking of the same origin, and distin- 
 guished by the same peculiar physiognomy, but 
 widely differing in civilization, and totally in occu- 
 pation. One class are stationary ; have some know- 
 ledge of, and a disposition for agriculture, and for 
 imitating their southern neighbours in the useful 
 arts. The other class are ignorant, sensual, super- 
 stitious, and cowardly. Having no permanent 
 abodes, they continually employ themselves in 
 hunting, fishing, and tending their numerous herds 
 of rein deer. 
 
 At Enontekis, the party attended divine worship, 
 and heard an extemporaneous sermon of an hour 
 and twenty minutes, the minister exerting himself 
 as if his audience had been stationed on the top of 
 a distant mountain. A lower key than this, he said, 
 would make the Laplanders think him unfit for his 
 office. In the meanwhile those of the audience that 
 appeared drowsy, were awakened by the sexton 
 striking a long pole on the floor, and which, if not 
 effectual, was u unceremoniously driven against 
 their ribs, or suffered to fall with all its weight upon 
 their heads. '* 
 
 In returning from Lapland, Dr. Clarke visited 
 Finland ; he is not so partial to the Fins as to the 
 Swedes, though he admits that in ingenuity and vi- 
 vacity they surpass them. He then crossed the 
 Bothnian Gulf, and proceeded over the Norwegian 
 Alps to Tronyem, corruptly pronounced and spelt 
 Drontheim. The sublime and magnificent scenery 
 of the passes over that stupendous range of moun- 
 tains, is well described and illustrated. On enter- 
 ing Norway, the Doctor was surprised to find so 
 many traits of resemblance which assimilate the 
 Norwegian character to that of our own. Even their 
 language approaches the English, and is acquired 
 with great facility. The town of Drontheim is par- 
 ticularly mentioned for the fertility of its environs, 
 and what completes the triumph of the horticultural 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 577 
 
 art in this country, over the rudeness of the climate, 
 is the singularity of finding plum, cherry, apple, and 
 pear trees, which in favourable seasons yield a plen- 
 tiful crop. Here is in fact, a hardy, brave, honest, 
 and thriving population. 
 
 Norway may also boast of a cataract or waterfall 
 much superior to that of Schaffhausen on the Rhine, 
 or even to the famous fall of Niagara in North 
 America. It was discovered or noticed for the first 
 time about the year 1812, by Professor Esmark ; a 
 circumstance which is attributed to its very remote 
 situation in the most lonely parj of the interior, and 
 to the very scanty number of curious travellers that 
 resort to the Hyperborean regions for the purpose 
 of making observations. It is situated in the dis- 
 trict of Tellemarken, and named Riakan Fossen, 
 signifying, the smoke of water falling. Dr. Schouw, 
 who saw this cataract in 18l L 2, was struck with 
 astonishment at the view of this magnificent spec- 
 tacle of nature. The fall is most conspicuous in 
 the spring, when the snow melts from the moun- 
 tains. This immense descent consists, properly 
 speaking, of three falls, two upon inclined planes, 
 each of which separately would form such a cataract 
 as is no where to be seen ; and the last is an abrupt 
 and precipitate perpendicular 800 feet in height. 
 In general such cascades as are most elevated, have 
 the least water, and such as discharge large masses 
 of water, have little elevation; but in the Riakan 
 Fossen, the rule is reversed. The volume of its 
 waters is supplied from a very considerable river, 
 called the Maamelven, into which the lake Mios- 
 wathen empties itself, which is eight or ten Ger- 
 man leagues in extent, and is not far from the 
 cascade. For passing the rapids that occur in the 
 Torneo and Muonio, the persons who are appointed 
 to work the boats or large canoes, actually force 
 them up the falls by means of long poles instead of 
 oars. The success of a voyage into Lapland is said 
 
 k k 3 
 
378 X : LOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 to depend upon this, in descending these rivers 
 these people can also trust their boats with the tor- 
 rent, whilst they preserve them from being upset 
 with uncommon skill and dexterity. 
 
 To the common propensity of the Laplanders to 
 dram-drinking, Dr. Clarke has added an undenia- 
 ble testimony : for this gratification, he says, they 
 will almost part with life itself. Having visited one 
 of their hordes, where an extra quantity of spirits 
 had been taken by an old man, he began to sing, 
 and being solicited by the strangers to give them a 
 specimen of the national music : " with both his 
 fists clenched, and thrusting his face close to that of 
 the interpreter, as if threatening to bite hirn, he 
 uttered a most fearful yell. It was the usual howl 
 of the Laplanders, consisting of five or six words 
 repeated over and over, but only expressing, * Let 
 us drive the wolves, See the wolves run.' In all 
 this noise, though accompanied by a strange gesti- 
 culation, it was observed there was not a single note 
 that could be called musical, but something that 
 produced a noise like the braying of an ass. 
 
 Colonel Skioldebrand, who aiso travelled through 
 Lapland, is an officer of some reputation in the 
 Swedish service. In order to explore his way to 
 the North Cape, he set out from Stockholm in 
 1808, with the benevolent view of confirming his 
 previous opinion, " that good and evil are equally 
 distributed to the inhabitants of all parts of the 
 world.'* On leaving Griselham, the first spot that 
 arrested his attention was the Frozen Sea, which 
 he prepared to cross. After some trifling impedi- 
 ments in the passage, he reached the rock on which 
 a telegraph was placed. Nothing can be more 
 beautiful during the summer months than the 
 islands in this part of the Baltic ; nor can any 
 thing be imagined much more desolate during the 
 long nights of the winter. The flourishing towns 
 of Abo, Wasa, and Ulleaborg, are situated on the 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 5JQ 
 
 eastern side of the gulf, and are places of considera- 
 ble traffic in the raw materials with which the north 
 of Europe abounds : the population of Abo is up- 
 wards of 8000, and that of L lleaborg, next in im- 
 portance, is estimated at 4000. 
 
 The Ostrobothnians are an honest and industri- 
 ous people. Their habitations, though not fitted 
 up according to our ideas of comfort and conveni- 
 ence, are well stored with almost every thing their 
 v/ants can require ; and there are few in which 
 silver spoons and other articles of domestic luxury 
 are not brought forward on the appearance of a 
 guest. The bath is their chief solace, and that 
 rapid transition from the most violent heat to ex- 
 treme cold, which we are accustomed to consider 
 so hurtful, is pra< tised here with the same impunity 
 as in Russia. The face of the country is generally 
 covered with forests of fir, and notwithstanding the 
 shortness of the summers, sufficient grain is sown 
 for the consumption of the people, and sometimes 
 enough for occasional exportation. 
 
 Colonel Skioldebrand continuing his journey 
 northwards in the beginning of June, his descrip- 
 tion of his entrance into W estrobothnia gives us a 
 high idea of the beauty of dint province, and of the 
 richness of the country in the vicinity of Torneo, 
 and of the size of the forest timber there growing. 
 This town, which by the treaty of Fredericksham in 
 1809, became the boundary of the Russian frontier, 
 was founded by Charles IX. of Sweden early in the 
 seventeenth centur}\ 1 he Swedish inhabitants are 
 proverbial for their love of good cheer, and their 
 indifference to the concerns of the rest of the 
 world; but these convivial qualtities, it is to be 
 feared, have been the cause o( the decay of the 
 trade formerly carried on here. The internal 
 traffic is now conducted bv the more industrious 
 Fins, encouraged to settle b}' the liberal provison 
 made bv the Russians for newcomers; and ii is 
 
380 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 Supposed that the population of Swedish Lapland, 
 has doubled in the course of thirty years. The art 
 of magic, for which the people of Lapland were 
 formerly so famous, is now wholly lost, and not a 
 wind is to be purchased along the whole coast. The 
 chase, and the care of the rein deer form the 
 people's whole occupation ; and in winter, the 
 Laplander, unless impelled by necessity, indulges 
 freely in his natural indolence ; becoming nearly as 
 torpid as the rest of the animal creation. 
 
 Colonel Skioldebrand left Torneo on the 1 6th of 
 June, not without many expressions of astonish- 
 ment on the part of the inhabitants, at the singu- 
 larity of the taste of a person for undertaking so 
 troublesome a journey, for the sake of visiting a 
 country, which to them appeared so little interest- 
 ing. The summit of Avasaxa, one of the Fiallen 
 mountains he visited, proved highly picturesque. 
 He observes, it was midnight, and the sun seemed 
 to touch the apex of a lofty mountain, which partly 
 concealed it. Nature in suspense seemed to wait 
 the decision of the luminary, whether he would 
 abandon the earth to the shades of night, or con- 
 tinue to illuminate it. We remarked the shadow 
 of one rock upon another in order to watch the 
 sun's motion, and in a few minutes, we observed 
 that the shadow had vanished, and consequently 
 that the sun was rising. Presently the united choir 
 of birds proclaimed a morning, which no night had 
 preceded. " The man who could be but slightly 
 moved by such a sight must be wretchedly un- 
 feeling." 
 
 It is curious to observe what hours are kept by 
 a people who have not the option of regulating 
 their movements by those of the sun ; and Colonel 
 Skioldebrand informs us, that when the sun con- 
 tinues above the horizon, it is customary to rise at 
 ten o'clock in the morning, dine at five or six in 
 the evening, sup an hour after midnight, and retire 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. S8l 
 
 to rest at three or four in the morning. In the win- 
 ter, during that long night, which lasts from the 
 beginning of December to the end of January, 
 fleep occupies more than half of the twenty- four 
 hours: even when awake, the inhabitants aft prin- 
 cipally employed in warming themselves, and busi- 
 ness is almost at a stand. 
 
 Torneo, is by many supposed, erroneously, to 
 be in Lapland, and probably was so originally ; but 
 the Laplanders have been gradually driven north- 
 ward, and Muoniska, a town about 140 miles dis- 
 tant from Torneo, is now the boundary between 
 Westrobothnia and Lapland, properly so called. 
 Here the extensive plains commence, which are 
 covered with the lichen ; slandicus, or rein-deer 
 moss, which is observed not to flourish with the 
 same luxurianc e, where its growth is interrupted 
 by woods of Scotch fir. Viewing this country from 
 an em nence, Colonel Skiohlebrand observes, 11 the 
 meandering course of the river Aknoll, covered 
 with verdure, and adorned with some birch trees; 
 hillocks, covered with rein- deer moss, formed a 
 pleasing picture, amidst a country so barren and 
 uncultivated. But not the least trace of a man was 
 to be seen, nor even a fire, which the Laplanders 
 never fail to kindle where they settle. 
 
 When the colonel arrived at the source of the 
 river Alten, he was carried down the stream, with- 
 out any adventure worthy of notice, to the sea 
 port of the same name, on the iYozen Ocean, 
 about 800 miles from Torneo. This coast is divided 
 into Nordland and Finmark, which are separated 
 by the course of the river Alten, and N.rdland 
 still belongs to Sweden. After remaining stationary 
 for some time, in order to recover from his fatigue, 
 and for other purposes, our traveller procured a 
 boat, with four good rowers, to proceed by water 
 to the North Cape, which is reckoned not more 
 than seventeen miles distant from Alten ; but, from 
 
332 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 motives of curiosity, he occasionally put into some 
 of the numerous fiords, or inlets, with which this 
 coast abounds. The habits of the Laplanders upon 
 the coast are distinct from those who rove about 
 the interior. Fishing is their sole occupation, and 
 few of them, as the colonel was told by the clergy- 
 man, lay their bones on shore, owing to the many 
 dangers attending these boisterous seas. 
 
 After threading a variety of islands, and dou- 
 bling many promontories, Colonel Skioldebrand at 
 length reached Mageroe, the island of which the 
 North Cape forms the northern extremity, and 
 obtained a sight of this bold promontory at mid- 
 night. He safely retraced his steps by much the 
 same route, with a very trivial annoyance from ca- 
 taracts and musquitoes. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Copenhagen — Helsingborg — Uddewlla — Moss — 
 Christiana — A severe Winter — Defence against 
 the Wolves — Iron Nights — The Harebacke — The 
 Dqfra Fiall — Friendly Inns — An Alarm — Dron- 
 theim— Morass of Tellegrod — Gigantic Rocks — 
 Fishing — Finmarh — Laplanders — Great River of 
 Alten — Firths and Bays — Pass of Kringelen — 
 The North Cape — Dark Huts — Island of Mage- 
 roe — Gammes, or Summer Dwellings — Lapland 
 Cookery — Superstition of the Old Laplanders — 
 Rapids and Cataracts — Torneo — Return to Chris- 
 tiana. 
 
 M. Von Buch left Berlin in the end of June, 1806, 
 and traversed the heaths and tame sandy tracts, 
 which extend to Hamburg. After a short stay in 
 this commercial city, he proceeded through the 
 rich and beautiful province of Holstein to Kiel, a 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 
 
 3S3 
 
 town situated on the shore of the Baltic, not far 
 from the mouth of the Great Sleswic Canal, and 
 the seat of a small university. On the 10th of 
 July he embarked for Copenhagen, in the regular 
 packet boat, the hold of which was filled with 
 Prussian deserters, who had entered into the Da- 
 nish service, and were to be sent to the foreign 
 garrisons. Passing near the sandy islands of 
 Laaland and Femern, they admired in their pro- 
 gress the rich meadows and chalky cliffs of Moen ; 
 innumerable vessels now appeared on all sides in 
 the Sound, and at length the towers of the Danish 
 capital were descried above the water, the harbour 
 of which they reached after a passage of two days. 
 To prosecute his journey into Norway, M. Von 
 Buch engaged a place in the silver waggon; a sort 
 of light carriage, or stage, established to trans- 
 port the products of the silver mine of Kongsberg 
 to the i oval mint, but which also accommodates 
 pa-sengcrs, and conveys to the capital, during the 
 winter season, immense quantities of grouse, ptar- 
 migans, and other game. The passage across the 
 Sound from Llsinore was enlivened by the gay 
 prospects on the Danish side, and by the vessels 
 of all nations sailing up and down the strait. On 
 his landing at the small port of Ilelsingborg, he 
 was astonished to rind the >wedes constructing a 
 mole of hewn granite, more than twenty feet broad, 
 and already far advanced into the sea. 
 
 Our author's journey from Ilelsingborg, along 
 the sea shore, was over a dreary low country, thinly 
 peopled, and miserably cultivated. 
 
 At Engelholm, he was surprised at the boldness 
 of a hanging-bridge, newly constructed, about fifty 
 feet above the surface of the river, and rendered 
 the more picturesque from the savage aspect of the 
 surrounding trees and rocks. Numerous detached 
 blocks of stone were seen lying scattered over the 
 fields, and which, on close inspection, appeared to 
 be gneiss. 
 
384 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 As lie approached Uddevaila, a thriving sea-port, 
 seated in a narrow indented vale, the road conti- 
 nued to lead over a broken rocky track; and the 
 proximity of the western ocean was already marked 
 bv the scantiness of the trees. Our traveller crossed 
 the dark, confined inlet of Swinesund, which bound- 
 ed the Swedish territory, and climbing the opposite 
 steep ascent, he now surveyed the heights of Nor- 
 way, and drove through a country enlivened by a 
 succession of rich and romantic prospects. The 
 fortress of Freclerickshal 1 , before which Charles 
 XII. perished, was seen frowning from the summit 
 of lofty rocks, studded with pines. Frederic kstadt, 
 another fortification of great strength, lay farther 
 in advance. 
 
 Ferrying across the rapid Glomme, Von 13uch 
 reached Moss, a place of great activity, from its 
 forges and saw mills: and, proceeding by a hilly 
 road, he descended from a height of 550 feet, 
 through the remains of Old Opslo, and on the 30th 
 of July reached Christiana, the chief town of Nor- 
 way, delightfully situated at tire bottom of a fine 
 bay, or firth, and exhibiting a variety of the richest 
 and most enchanting prospects. In this agreeable 
 abode he passed the rest of the season, and the 
 whole of the succeeding winter, making frequent 
 excursions to explore the mineralogy of the cir- 
 cumjacent country. The annual fair at Christiana 
 is held in January, and presents a stranger with a 
 lively and singular spectacle. Here the peasants 
 of both sexes assemble from the upland dah s, 
 clothed substantially in their finest attire; the in- 
 habitants of each district appearing in their pecu- 
 liar costume, which descends unaltered through 
 successive generations, and often shows an air of 
 antiquity. This, too, in the north, is the season 
 of gaiety and convivial meetings; when the earth 
 lies bound up with frost, and the ordinary labours 
 are completely suspended. But the Norwegians 
 
VOYAGES AttD TRAVELS; 385 
 
 have with their increasing wealth grown more re- 
 fined \ and the deep potations of former days have 
 given place to the elegant entertainment of plays, 
 concerts, and assemblies. They seem to be parti- 
 cularly attached to dramatic performances, and the 
 small town of Christiana itself contains two private 
 theatres, in which translations of the best German 
 and French pieces, and occasionally some native 
 productions, are acted with great spirit. The win- 
 ter at Christiana is scarcely more severe than in 
 the north of Germany. On the approach of spring, 
 after the snow has melted from the hills, and smil- 
 ing verdure appeared, great exertions are made to 
 get the loaded vessels to sea. Sometimes a passage 
 is cut for them through the field of ice which 
 covers the bay of Christiana, perhaps to the thick- 
 ness of two feet. This operation is performed with 
 much dexterity and expedition. A body of about 
 fifty men, ranged on opposite sides, briskly saw 
 the ice into large oblong blocks, which they press 
 forward under the extended sheet, and the ship 
 immediately following their progress, advances 
 quickly, and almost without interruption. 
 
 The winter was scarcely past, on the 21st of 
 April, when M. Von Buch began his toilsome and 
 adventurous journey to Drontheim and Lapland. 
 The snow still covering all the higher grounds, no 
 object appeared to cheer the eye. lie travelled in 
 a sledge, with some di faculty ; but, as he advanced 
 to Hedemark, the face of the country became flat- 
 ter, and he could perceive the grateful marks of 
 industry and cultivation. In some parts of Nor- 
 way it is dangerous, during winter, to pursue one's 
 journey in the dusk of the evening, as the fierce 
 and hungry wolves then leave the forests, and col- 
 lect in packs on the surface of the frozen lakes. 
 One mode of preventing the attack of these raven- 
 ous animals is, to hang a thick rope from the end 
 of the sledge, which scares them by its quick and 
 
 VOL. IV. L 1 
 
386 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 constant dancing. But the peasants far from the 
 towns are often obliged to defend their dwellings, 
 by surrounding them with a quickset hedge, which 
 the wolves will never leap. In these desolate quar- 
 ters, the inhabitants are sometimes reduced to the 
 wretched necessity of eating the inner bark of the 
 young fir trees, being dried, pounded, and ground 
 to a powder. This is mixed up with chopped 
 straw, the husks of corn, or moss seeds, and then 
 baked into a thin bitter cake. 
 
 Some of these upland vales being elevated 2000 
 feet above the level of the sea, it requires the most 
 painful industry to rear a miserable crop. To pre- 
 vent the sudden melting of the snows from wash- 
 ing down the soil from the sloping banks, the pea- 
 sants are accustomed to intersect the ground by 
 small temporary hedges, and that the ears of corn 
 may not be withered by the parching heat of sum- 
 mer, they bring water a great distance, and spread 
 it over the fields in slender rills. As the harvest 
 approaches, it is necessary to prevent the standing 
 corn from being lashed, or laid flat, by the violent 
 winds, by planting hurdles over the field. But, in 
 spite of all their precautions, the jarn natter, or 
 iron nights, as they call them, often disappoint the 
 hopes of the Norwegian farmers. 
 
 The wind howled furiously along the desert when 
 M. Von Buch ascended the Harebacke, at the 
 height of 4575 feet above sea. At length the lofty 
 pyramidal form of the Snahatta, covered with eter- 
 nal snows, like another Mont Blanc, rose into 
 view. The road now gently declined, and con- 
 ducted our shivering traveller, after it was dark, to 
 Fogstue, one of the four inns, or hospices, founded 
 in the year 1120, by the benevolent King Eysteen, 
 for the reception and gratuitous entertainment of 
 passengers intending to cross the tremendous Do- 
 fra Fiall. Here a good fire, and comfortable lodg- 
 ing, made M. Von Buch soon forget his fatigues, 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 387 
 
 and the raging storm. Next morning he was ac- 
 commodated by the landlord with clothing suited 
 to the formidable journey he had to perform. This 
 consisted of a cloak of wolves skin, with a large 
 sheeps skin cap and gloves ; leaving no part of his 
 body uncovered, but the eyes and mouth. In this 
 grotesque attire he proceeded in a light sledge, 
 over a chain of frozen lakes, to the pass of Jerken, 
 beyond which the road reaches its highest elevation. 
 He descended a ravine, formed by the torrent 
 Drifa, then fortunately frozen, and worked his ar- 
 duous way amidst the huge fragments of fallen 
 rocks, to Kongsvold, the third of those friendly 
 inns, or stations. The journey now being in a de- 
 scent, through a savage glen, was extremely dan- 
 gerous, as the ice had become soft and loose. But 
 the hamlet of Drifstue, the last of the hospitable 
 stations, afforded a welcome asylum. This spot is 
 too high for raising grain, but the vale and the 
 adjacent hills afford excellent pasture. Following 
 the course of the Drifa, the valley spread out by 
 degrees, but appeared covered with pines, at an 
 elevation of 2343 feet. The great mountainous 
 chain terminates at Opdal ; but the plain, which 
 stretches thence to Orkedal, lies so very high, that 
 in the beginning of May every thing had yet the 
 aspect of winter, and the thermometer did not rise 
 at mid-day above the freezing point. Near Sund- 
 set, at an elevation of 15S0 feet, the spruce fir be- 
 gan to reappear, mixed with the pines. 
 
 The majestic Snahatta, the centre of the great 
 chain, and the loftiest of all the Norwegian moun- 
 tains, was first ascended by Esmark, who observed 
 its height by the barometer to be 8120 feet above 
 the level of the sea, or little more than half the 
 elevation of Mont Blanc. M. Von Buch pursued 
 his journey down the Great Orkedal, by help of 
 the twilight, which in that northern latitude, 
 and at this season, rivals almost the brightness of 
 
388 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 day. The snow being nearly melted away, he was 
 frequently obliged to drag his sledge across plough- 
 ed fields, and he could not reach the inn of Bierk- 
 ages before midnight. The people of the house 
 were sadly alarmed by his untimely intrusion, and 
 M. Von Buch was not less surprised at the appear- 
 ance they made in starting from their sleep ; for in 
 this part, as he afterwards learned, the peasants of 
 all ages are accustomed, as in Italy, to go to bed 
 entirely naked. 
 
 Next day he drove through the beautiful valley 
 of Guldel, rich, populous, and flourishing. It was 
 a ting, or court day, and the farmers were cheer- 
 fully paying their taxes, or quit rents, to the royal 
 collectors. 
 
 After traversing a fertile tract of country, sprin- 
 kled with numerous hamlets, and crossing a low 
 range of hills, the venerable city of Drontheim, 
 with its ancient cathedral, and its lofty buildings, 
 near the bottom of a winding stream, presented in 
 the vista an enchanting prospect. Drontheim is 
 remarkably clean and handsome, though the houses 
 are all constructed of timber ; the public edifices 
 only being of stone. 
 
 A striking instance of economy is remarked by 
 Von Buch, viz. the dung of the horses is collected 
 here, boiled with water, and a slight mixture of 
 rye meal, in large kettles, into a disgusting mess : 
 this half digested substance is greedily eaten by the 
 cows, and even employed to feed the pigs, geese, 
 and ducks, and it is added, that the horses them- 
 selves will not reject this extraordinary food. In 
 the rocky islets, during some parts of the year, the 
 fishermen support their cows with sea wrack, and 
 the heads and garbage of fish. 
 
 On the 20th of May, M. Von Buch resumed his 
 journey into Lapland. The dreaded morass of 
 Tellegrod he crossed in safety, but not without 
 considerable apprehensions of danger. Jhis low 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 389 
 
 swampy ground is frozen during winter to the 
 depth of several yards, and is not again completely 
 thawed till the summer has far advanced. The 
 surface may appear dry and solid ; but as the heat 
 still penetrates downwards, the icy floor which 
 supports it gradually softening and melting, comes 
 to bend and tremble under the shock of pressure, 
 and at length gives way, when horses, carriages, 
 and passengers, all sink into the abyss. 
 
 After a fatiguing journey, through half-melted 
 snows, and across swelling torrents, our traveller 
 reached the Island of Rye, a small fishing station. 
 It is a dreary naked spot, not yielding even fresh 
 water. Still the hardy inhabitants derive a nig- 
 gard subsistance from the surrounding element, 
 as the eggs of the sea fowl, especially the numer- 
 ous gulls, constitute during the season their prin- 
 cipal food. The little islets on which they breed 
 are called vars, in opposition to the rocky emi- 
 nences, which are termed holms. Each var is 
 held as a sort of patrimonial possession, part of 
 the eggs only being taken away, and the birds al- 
 lowed to hatch undisturbed. 
 
 The rest of the journey was chiefly performed 
 by rowing, or sailing, along the craggy shore. In 
 those arctic seas the storm, which often rages 
 through the day, is generally observed to subside 
 into a perfect calm during the night. But dense fogs 
 very frequently cover the water, and conceal the 
 cliffs from view. On the 7th of June our traveller 
 arrived at the flat island of Sor Herroe, bordering 
 on the polar circle. The snow was now melting 
 fast away, forming innumerable streamlets, that 
 dashed in cascades down the sides of the hills ; fo- 
 rests of pines and spruce fir became visible ; luxu- 
 riant birches and alders enlivened every crag; and 
 vegetation, after a long slumber, seemed to put 
 forth all its force. The thermometer did not stand 
 
 L 1 3 
 
390 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 lower than 49° during the night, and it rose to 50% \ 
 and once even to 70°, in the heat of the day. 
 
 Vestenfiord, not far from hence, is the most 
 northern point at which oysters are found. Besides 
 the gigantic rocks of Alstahong, are some exten- 
 sive plains, fertile and well cultivated. Here, on 
 a Sunday, the Nordland fishermen were seen going 
 to church. They were all clothed precisely alike, 
 in close brown frocks, edged with blue trimming, 
 having large white trowsers drawn over their boots, 
 and red woollen caps under their hats. Instead of 
 having the fair complexion, and soft round visages 
 of the north, they seemed remarkably swarthy, 
 with black dazzling eyes, and prominent features. 
 
 The high projecting rock of Lovunnen, is a 
 great resort of the puffin, or alca arctica, much 
 sought for on account of its feathers. This silly 
 bird is very easily caught. The fowler lets down 
 an iron hook, or sends a dog, trained for the pur- 
 pose, into the narrow clefts, or holes of the rocks, 
 where the pudins sit crowded together; and the 
 first bird being pulled out, the next one bites and 
 lays hold of his tail ; and thus in succession, till 
 the whole family, clinging together like a chain, 
 are dragged to light. 
 
 Upon the neighbouring island of Luroe are three 
 or four immense barrows, a proof of its having 
 been inhabited in ancient times. On the other 
 side, this island terminates in a frightful perpendi- 
 cula rock, with a snowy summit, 21**7 feet above 
 the gaard, or farm. Still more tremendous were 
 the cliffs which frown over the ocean at Kunnen, in 
 the latitude of 67°. Here the alternate thawing 
 and freezing of the lower range of snow had form- 
 ed a great icy wall, or glacier, which descended 
 almost to the surface of the water. It was the 15tli 
 of June, and the radiant sun appeared at midnight, 
 diffusing a sensible warmth. The birch trees here 
 seemed to grow no higher than 1360 feet. At Lo- 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS, 391 
 
 dingen, about the latitude of sixty-eight and a half, 
 the pines, which in the southern part of Norway 
 were cnpable of growing at an elevation of 3000 
 feet, did not ascend higher than 6^0 feet above the 
 level of the sea. The birch was confined to the 
 limit of 12,50 feet. It was the 24th of June, the 
 eve of the festival of St. John the Baptist, and the 
 people flocked from all quarters, to sport the 
 whole night round a blazing fire, kindled on the 
 top of an adjacent hill; a practice common about 
 the tune of the solstice, to the whole of the Gothic 
 tribes, being a vestige of that most ancient wor- 
 ship of the glorious luminary of the day. 
 
 Not far from hence is Vaage, the great centre 
 of the northern fisheries, in which about 1800O 
 men, and nearly 4000 small boats are employed. 
 About sixteen millions of large tusk and cod are 
 caught annually among the creeks and islands, 
 where they come to cast their spawn. Instead of 
 long lines, the large, wide, meshed ftttf have been 
 generally introduced; these are let down at mghf, 
 perhaps to the depth of sixty or eighty fathom >. 
 The cod, or tusk, so caught, are carried ashore, 
 and dried in the spring, under sheds erected for 
 the purpose : by a long and fatiguing navigation* 
 this produce is carried for sale to Bergen ■ and it 
 is observed, that the poor fishermen, being exposed 
 without shelter to continual damps and raging 
 storms, contract acute disorders, which prema- 
 turtly terminate their existence. 
 
 Beyond this station Lapland commences, which 
 the Danes, however, call Finmark. At the is>and 
 of Sengen the coast appeared rocky as before. 
 Above 500 head of rein-deer annually swim across 
 the Sound, to feed in summer on the low hills in 
 Sengen. They belong to the roving Laplanders, 
 a poor miserable race, who though they are hardly 
 able to satisfy the cravings of hunger, will, like 
 the lowest of savage-, part with all their skin* 
 
 9 
 
392 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 whenever they can find an opportunity of pur- 
 chasing brandy, to procure the delirium of intoxi- 
 cation. The Norwegians look upon them with the 
 most sovereign contempt, and will scarcely ac- 
 knowledge them to be human. A colony of these 
 Laplanders, however, had been considerably im- 
 proved by the Moravian missionaries. 
 
 Sailing with a light breeze, our traveller was 
 hurried northward by the tide, along a bold coast, 
 crowned with snowy mountains, to the islet of 
 Tromsoe, hard by the Stortenass, or Great Rocky 
 Cape. Here, in the latitude of 69° 38', a village 
 has been founded, under the protection of the 
 Danish government, and endowed with peculiar 
 privileges and immunities. For two whole months, 
 at Tromsoe, the sun never sets, and as he wheels 
 his oblique apparent course, he skirts the northern 
 horizon at midnight, and again ascends, with 
 fiercer beams, in the progress of the day. The 
 variation of temperature is confined to a narrow 
 range ; the greatest heat was observed at two 
 o'clock in the afternoon, when the thermometer 
 rose to 61° or 62° of Fahrenheit ; and the greatest 
 cold at one o'clock in the morning, when the 
 thermometer stood at 50° or 52°. This low islet 
 is covered with birch-trees, though the prospect 
 was saddened by patches of snow, still lying un- 
 melted in the streets, gardens, and fields. At a 
 distance to the north, however, the eye was re- 
 freshed by the sight of the banks of the Eidsford. 
 Thickets of birches, aspens,, and alders, were 
 sprinkled along the shore; innumerable clear 
 streamlets gushed down the declivities, and hun- 
 dreds of rein- deer appeared feeding on the green 
 hills. But from a neighbouring height which our 
 traveller climbed, he commanded a wide prospect 
 of a most savage mountainous region, the nearest 
 snowy peak having an altitude perhaps of 2,770 
 feet above the sea. Returning again to the boat, 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 
 
 39$ 
 
 *mdi pushing forward, lie arrived on the 51st of 
 July in the beautiful bay of Talvig, the sun shin- 
 ing bright about midnight, and the thermometer 
 standing at 51°. He saw ships from different part* 
 lying in the harbour, and proceeded thence to the 
 governor's residence, about nine miles distant, at 
 a farm, near the great river Alten. Wliilst he 
 staid here the thermometer rose as high as 70° or 
 72°, though the poverty of vegetation was very 
 striking, as the pines did not grow above TOO feet 
 above the sea. The neighbouring country is the 
 most populous and best cultivated part of Lap- 
 land ; this being owing to the introduction of a 
 colony of Finns, whose perseverance has been so 
 successful, that the slothful Laplanders dreaded 
 their extension. 
 
 The firths, or bays, beyond Alten, are the re- 
 sort of numerous troops of small whales, sporting 
 oil the water in so lively a manner as to render it 
 dangerous for boats to appear amidst their gam- 
 bols ; but these whales are so lean as not to be 
 considered worth the trouble of catching. The 
 Reighbouring island of Hammerfest, covered with 
 continual fogs, has a most dreary and barren as- 
 pect. It is, however, visited by vessels from 
 Copenhagen, Drontheim, and even the Russian 
 port of Archangel; and brandy, flour, hemp, or 
 linen, are bartered with the Xordlanders for dried 
 fish and Eider down. The Russians, during their 
 stay, apply themselves to fishing, at which they 
 are extremely dexterous. 
 
 In the narrow pass of Kringelen, the peasants 
 pointed out, with enthusiasm, to our traveller, 
 a wooden cross, erected to commemorate the ca- 
 tastrophe of a Colonel Sinclair, and several hun- 
 dred Scotch, who, in the summer of 1612, were 
 surprised, and 14 dashed to pieces like potsherds/' 
 by a handful of the natives. This officer, in the 
 service of Gustavus Adolphus, had been sent to re- 
 
394 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 cruit in Scotland, and on his return, finding the 
 coast of Sweden blocked by a Danish fleet, was 
 compelled to land on the western side of Norway, 
 whence he advanced into the country, crossed the 
 great chain of the Dofra Fiall, and had nearly 
 traversed the entire breadth of the kingdom, when 
 he was suddenly overwhelmed by the sturdy moun- 
 taineers. Only sixty of the whole regiment were 
 spared, and these afterwards fell victims to the 
 ferocity of their conquerors. 
 
 The author's description of his arrival at the 
 famous North Cape, exhibits several striking pecu- 
 liarities of this country. This was about the end 
 of July, and the North Cape lies in the 71st degree 
 of latitude. Towards evening he observed he was 
 conveyed over the ford, about nine English miles 
 in breadth, to the Sound of Mageroe. The cur- 
 rent being violently against them, they run into 
 Finnburgh, there to wait for a favourable tide. 
 Here the dwellings of the Norwegians are earthen 
 huts, covered with grass, and resembling those of 
 the Tungusians, or the Gammers, among the Finns. 
 Still the interior has more of the likeness of a 
 house than people would imagine. A door, about 
 three feet high, is made to shut of itself, and a 
 dark passage then leads to the various compart- 
 ments. Another door leads into the principal 
 dwelling-room, which is constructed of logs, quad- 
 rangular up to the roof, that has a square opening 
 in the middle, open in the day, but covered at 
 night with a blown-up fish bladder ; and this serves 
 at once for a chimney and a window. The furni- 
 ture consists of little more than a table and a 
 bench ; the master's bed, a cupboard, or press, 
 are ranged around. The children and servants 
 sleep on the outside of this room, or with the cow. 
 A large chimney in the corner is called the kit- 
 chen. The thick earthen wall converts the hut 
 into a kind of cellar, and whether it storms or 
 
VOYAGEi AND TRAVELS. .i9b 
 
 snows without, whether it is winter or summer, 
 the feeling in one of these huts is the same; hut 
 in a common northern log-house, the air pene- 
 trates through the doors and windows, and finds 
 its way over the whole house. It is acknowledged, 
 that in these earthen dwellings, there is but little 
 light, and scarcely any prospect during four 
 months of continual darkness. 
 
 Over this inland of Mageroe, the pitiless storm 
 often rages with irresistible fury, and the cowering 
 fisherman, unable to keep alive the least spark of 
 fire, is every moment threatened with being swept 
 in his lonely hut into the ocean. The interior of 
 Mageroe is occasionally visited by herds of rein- 
 deer, who ramble after a few scattered tufts of 
 herbage, though exposed to the danger of the 
 avalanches, or the sudden sliding down of whole 
 fields of snow. 
 
 M. Von Buch having thus reached the extreme 
 point of his journey, prepared to descend by the 
 interior of the country, through the pathless wilds 
 of Lapland. He, therefore, engaged a native for 
 a guide, or pilot, as the northern fishermen aptly 
 styled him. In a previous excursion which he 
 made from Altengaarde, the first object he met 
 was a gammc, or Lapland hovel, resembling a 
 baker's oven, about eight feet wide, and four feet 
 high, composed of branches, loosely thatched with 
 grass, and having a square opening at the top, 
 serving for the admission of light, and the escape 
 of the smoke. Whilst the men were fishing on 
 the coast, the women, each in her place, was 
 crouding round a small hearth, sewing, or knit- 
 ting. These gammes are only built for the season, 
 which causes a most wasteful consumption of the 
 woods, which is further increased by the necessity 
 of having continual fires, even during summer: 
 yet as soon as the warm weather begins, the swarms 
 of gnats that issue from the marshes are immense, 
 
396 JLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 and the miserable Laplander can only seek refuge 
 from their pursuit in columns of smoke. 
 
 On the 3d of September M. Von Buch took 
 his final departure from Alteri, attended by his 
 guide, and with two rein-deer to carry necessaries 
 for his journey. He proceeded nearly south- 
 wards, along the valley of the great river. With 
 difficulty, in five days, he reached the heights of 
 Nuppi Vara, the most elevated part of the table 
 land. The snow had melted away, but scarcely a 
 bush could rear its head, and all nature seemed 
 torpid and heavy. At length, as he began to de- 
 scend, the barking of dogs, from below, announced 
 the proximity of some Lapland family, and he 
 saw their gamme planted near the edge of a great 
 marsh. Though the wind and rain beat furiously, 
 he was admitted to take shelter with reluctance, 
 and he soon witnessed the sulkiness of those in- 
 hospitable barbarians. This hut was larger and 
 more carefully constructed than the one he first 
 saw ; and it was, besides, protected with sail- 
 cloth, and had the luxury within of seats covered 
 with flannel or deer-skins. These tribes lead a 
 life of excessive toil and weariness, as men and 
 boys, women and girls, all keep watch by turns ; 
 and their faithful dogs, scouring the hills, collect 
 the rein-deer, and prevent them from falling into 
 the jaws of the famished wolf. 
 
 Some time before this our traveller was over- 
 taken, as he was crossing a firth, with a violent 
 storm of thunder, accompanied with the most vivid 
 lightning. The rain fell in large drops, and the 
 hailstones hissed as they struck the water. This 
 hail had not a snowy composition, but consisted 
 of real icicles, of the shape of pears, which must 
 have been frozen during their descent through the 
 air. M Von Buch had scarcely left the gamme, 
 just referred to, when the house, if it may be so 
 called, was entirely taken down, and d stributed, 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 397 
 
 and the inhabitants having laden the rein-deer with 
 all the utensils, were in motion to some new place 
 of settlement. The deer were bound together, in 
 rows of five, with thongs, and were led by the 
 mother and daughter, while the father went before 
 to prepare the new habitation. Some of the flock, 
 which amounted to 400 head, were conducted by 
 the other children. A flock of 300, it is said, will 
 maintain a family pretty decently, as out of these 
 they can afford to kill as many deer as are neces- 
 sary for food and clothing, and to make shoes, 
 boots, &c. A few rein-deerskins, hides, and horns, 
 may also be disposed of to the merchants for meal, 
 brandy, or woollen stuffs. But so much is the 
 pastoral life preferred, that every Laplander near 
 the sea would gladly exchange his hut and earn- 
 ings for a small herd of deer. While those on the 
 coast are frequently starving, the pastoral Laplan- 
 ders have their large iron kettles probably occu- 
 pied in boiling young fawns, or rein-deer's flesh 
 of some kind. The broth, as it is called, is boiled 
 up with thick rein-deer's milk, rye, and oatmeal, 
 and sometimes, though seldom, with a little salt. 
 The poor sea Laplander, on the contrary, has only 
 fish, or fish-livers, with train-oil. In summer time 
 the pastoral Laplander catches an incredible num- 
 ber of game, as ptarmigans, wood-grouse, and se- 
 veral other wild birds ; these he partly eats, and 
 partly sells. Like the Norwegian peasants, if they 
 shoot any bears they eat these also. The frozen 
 pieces of rein-deer's flesh they can preserve for a 
 considerable time, as they can their milk ; and 
 which, when melted, after several months lapse, 
 has a delicious taste. This frozen rein-deer's 
 milk, is eagerly purchased at Alten, where they 
 use it like cows' milk ; and without injuring its 
 quality, can mix a good deal of water with it, as 
 in its pure state it is too fat for domestic purposes. 
 The milk season generally ceases in October, and 
 vol. iv. M m 
 
3<>8 FLOWERS. OF MODERN 
 
 recommences about the end of June, or beginning 
 of July. The rein-deer bring forth their young 
 about the middle of May. The fawn is not suck- 
 led above six weeks, and it is then slaughtered, or 
 turned at large to seek its own subsistence. A 
 great part of the Swedish Laplanders, in Kemi 
 Lapmark, live in quite a different manner, mostly 
 by fishing, having no rein-deer, nor any cows, but y 
 perhaps, eight or ten sheep. These people drink 
 the water their fish has been boiled in y with the 
 greatest eagerness. In winter their diet is from 
 dried fish, and soups, made of water, fir-bark, and 
 rein-deer tallow. The bark of the firs, prepared 
 for this purpose, they cut, during summer, into 
 long strips, and then hang them up to dry against 
 winter. The broth made of these str-ips, and the 
 rein-deer tallow, is supposed to receive a consider- 
 able addition from a little ewe-milk, and a few 
 mountain bramble-berries. 
 
 As our traveller advanced, the surface of the 
 country became insensibly lower ; and at Kauto- 
 jekino he was again gratified by the sight of cows 
 and sheep feeding in green meadows. The po- 
 pulation here are a mixture of Quans and Laplan- 
 ders ; the former, only, being stationary during 
 the whole year, the latter always migrating in 
 summer to fish in the northen islets, &c. Even 
 Christianity has made but small progress among 
 these Laplanders, and often serves merely to dis - 
 guise their ancient superstitions. Till very lately 
 they generally brought with them to church a 
 cloth, into which they used to spit out the com- 
 munion bread, and carry it home, as an infallible 
 charm against injury and disease. It is also a 
 custom with the old Laplanders, to deposit their 
 little treasure, comprized, perhaps, in a few pieces 
 of coin, under stones, or other hiding-places, when, 
 by the death of the proprietor, the hoard is oft- 
 times iost. 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 
 
 399 
 
 M. Von Bueh having again approached the 
 source of the river Alten, was about to cross the 
 ridge that separates Swedish Lapland. He dis- 
 missed his rein- deer, which he found to be but 
 feeble animals, soon worn out by carrying the 
 smallest burthens ; and he engaged the parish- 
 clerk of Kautokejino, and two Quans, to accom- 
 pany him in the rest of his journey to Torneo. 
 These fellows, under a conductor they highly ap- 
 proved of, proceeded with great alacrity and vi- 
 gour. Being provided with a small portable boat, 
 they launched it as often as opportunity required, 
 and pushed it rapidly along a chain of narrow lakes, 
 which, notwithstanding their excessive coldness, 
 abound with the sik, or salmo lavaretus, a spe- 
 cies of salmon, resembling a trout, though of a 
 blueish colour, with a projecting snout. At the 
 close of a long day the party took up their qu ti - 
 ters on the border of the frontier lake, at the foot 
 of steep hills ; the Quans lay round a blazing fire, 
 busy in roasting their fish upon the points of 
 sticks. Next morning, though in the middle of 
 September, and at an elevation of 1380 feet above 
 the sea, the moss had only a slight sprinkling of 
 hoar-frost, which disappeared in a moment. 
 
 They now followed the course of the Munis- 
 jocko, which runs almost due south ; and after 
 shooting dexterously over a succession of water- 
 falls, arrived at a miserable fishing-hut, below the 
 Songavara. Here, among the industrious Finnish 
 colonists, symptoms of industry began to appear ; 
 and at Lower Muonioniska, our traveller found a 
 large village, and was ushered into a separate room, 
 •having glass windows, and was served with silver 
 spoons : yet the corn, cut by early frosts here, 
 scarcely ever ripens, whilst the potatoe eomes to 
 tolerable perfection, and is very much in use. 
 Hence he had to descend, for the space of a mile, 
 through a frightful succession of rapids and cata- 
 
 M m J 
 
400 FLOWERS OK MODERN 
 
 racts ; and it required the utmost address and stea- 
 diness to avoid the dangers of the passage. The 
 river again resumed its placid course, and flowed 
 through a thick spreading forest, variegated with 
 different kinds of trees, birches, willows, alders, 
 and wild cherries, with spruce firs in the back 
 ground. The country softening by degrees, the 
 Swedish dress and manners began to prevail ; and 
 when our traveller reached the romantic village of 
 Kangis, in sight of saw-mills and forges, all was 
 activity and animation. From Kangis our tra- 
 veller, in a loaded boat, swiftly descended the 
 Tiver, shooting through the incidental rapids of 
 the stream. He entered the hut in which Mau- 
 pertius and his associates passed the winter, in 
 1799. The banks of the river were lined with 
 cottages, but all beyond them appeared a dismal 
 boundless forest. 
 
 At Pullangi he saw, in the inspector's garden, 
 ripe peas, large yellow turnips, and potatoes, which 
 had been fresh dug. Still descending the stream* 
 near the close of day, he descried the church of 
 Upper Torneo, towering above a mass of build- 
 ings, and heard, with pleasing emotions, the deep 
 sound of bells, wafted along the broad surface of 
 the Muonio. How gladsome it seemed after wan- 
 dering so many months through dreary solitudes, 
 to mingle again in the busy walks of life ! Next 
 morning, on landing at Pakkila, he mounted a 
 small car, and was driven, with furious rapidity, 
 by a young Finlander, along an excellent road, 
 and through a rich and populous country. Crowds 
 of people were met, returning from Church, dres- 
 sed in their best attire. The elderly men wore a 
 yellow sash, and small black caps on their heads. 
 Torneo consists mostly of detached cottages ; and 
 the broad unpaved streets were nearly covered 
 with grass, affording food for cows. The adjacent 
 country, however, appeared rapidly improving. 
 
YifVAGBS AND TRAVELS. 401 
 
 M. Von Buch, at Torneo, completed his Lap- 
 land tour. He had sailed along the whole west 
 coast of Norway, in sight of the lofty ridge which 
 defends the continent, and had again descended by 
 the eastern declivity of that chain of mountains. 
 Jn the course of such a fatiguing journey he no- 
 ticed, as many particulars relative to the structure 
 of the rocks, as the shortness of his stay at each 
 place would allow. But the climate and produc- 
 tions of Lapland have since been examined, with 
 the most careful attention, by the zeal of Dr. 
 Wahlenberg, who performed four several journies, 
 between the years lSOO and 1810, to explore the 
 botany of that forlorn region, at the charge of the 
 academy of sciences, at Stockholm. 
 
 On the 21st of September, M. Von Buch having 
 left Torneo, the pine forests appeared tall and 
 vigorous. Proceeding along the coast of Bothnia, 
 the Swedish character gradually took place of the 
 Finnish. At Innervikin he was much struck with 
 the retiring of the sea; the low grounds formerly 
 washed by the floods, having been converted into 
 meadows. Not being inclined to make any long 
 stay in this quarter, M. Yon Buch availing himself 
 of the goodness of the Swedish roads, returned 
 with great expedition. From Stockholm he was 
 conducted, by a winding road, over a waved rocky 
 surface, diversified with frequent lakes, and alter 
 meeting with some obstruction from the newly fal- 
 len snows, he at length reached Christiana. When 
 the season returned, he made excursions to ascer- 
 tain more fully the peculiarities in the structure 
 of the adjacent country ; but after repeated at- 
 tempts to put to sea, he at last gained the conti- 
 nent on the 20th of November, having very nar- 
 rowly escaped the dangers of shipwreck and cap- 
 ture, and in a few days more arrived in safety a.; 
 Berlin. 
 
 M m 3 
 
402 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Iceland \ token easily accessible — The Althing As- 
 sembly — Ancient State of the Country — Authen- 
 tic Accounts of the lost Colony — A dreadful Frost 
 — Hans Egede — Discovery of America — Rechia- 
 veJc the Capital of the Island — Dress of Women 
 and Children — Specimen of Cookery — State of 
 Religion — Tales and Histories — Remarkable 
 Poor Laws — Eider Birds — Tame Seals — Gulls — 
 Edible Sea Weed — Sea Birds dried and burnt — 
 Polar Bears — Floating Ice — Horrebovo — Change 
 of Climate. 
 
 The first per3on who has been recorded to have 
 seen the island of Iceland, was a northern pirate, 
 named Naddoc, or Naddodr ; he was driven thither 
 by a tempest, in the year 86*1, and gave it the 
 appropriate name of Snoeland. It was next vi- 
 sited by Garder Suaversen, a Swede. The third 
 visitor was Flokko, who seems to have gone either 
 with the intention of forming a settlement, or of 
 reconnoitring with a view to one. He past one 
 winter at Watusfrordur, and a second on the 
 southern coast; and from the quantity of ice 
 which, in the intervening spring, filled the gulph, 
 he gave the island its present appellation. Upon 
 his report, a party of Norwegian nobles, who could 
 not brook their subjection to Harold Harfagne, 
 determined to emigrate thither, under the guid- 
 ance of Ingulf, and his kinsman Hiorleif. Iceland 
 was not in those days the dreadful country which 
 it is now ; the climate was far less severe, and its 
 tremendous volcanoes had not yet broken out. 
 The way once open, adventurers followed in great 
 numbers. Harold encouraged this at first, because 
 it rid him of turbulent spirits, whom it might not 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 405 
 
 be easy to restrain at home ; but the emigration 
 became so great, that, in order to check it, he 
 imposed a fine of four ounces of silver upon every 
 person, who should leave Norway to settle in Ice- 
 land. In the course of threescore years, the 
 whole of the coasts, and most of the habitable 
 parts are said to have been peopled. Danes and 
 Swedes, as well as Norwegians, repaired thither ; 
 and emigrants even from Scotland and Ireland. 
 The leader of every fresh party established him- 
 self like a feudal chief, dispossessing those who 
 were weaker than himself, if he did not find a 
 track to his mind which was unoccupied. After 
 half a century of continual broils, an end was put 
 to this anarchy, by the establishment of a general 
 government. The island was divided into four 
 provinces, each under an hereditary governor; 
 these were subdivided into twelve departments, 
 each having also its hereditary lord; and these 
 again into smaller districts, called streppar, which 
 were under four elective magistrates, whose bu- 
 siness it was to maintain good order, and espe- 
 cially to attend to the condition and management 
 of the poor. Every streppar had its assembly, 
 composed of all the inhabitants who possessed a 
 certain property, and were of unblemished charac- 
 ter ; their proceedings were under the cognizance 
 of an assembly of the department, which was 
 composed of the lords and deputies from the strep- 
 pars ; an appeal lay from hence to the provincial 
 assembly, and finally to the states-general, who 
 held their annual meeting on the shores of the 
 lake Thingvalla. This great assembly was called 
 althing, and nothing can be more striking than 
 the picture which it presented. 
 
 The magistrates, the legislators, and the assem- 
 bled people, lived in tents, pitched upon the baaks 
 of the river Oxeraa, where it enters the lake. The 
 lake is about ten miles long, and from three to 
 
404 
 
 -FLOWEKS 01 MODERN 
 
 «even in breadth. It is a wild and dreary scene* 
 bearing around it marks of the convulsions of na- 
 ture. There are two islands in the lake, composed 
 entirely of volcanic matter ; the mountains at the 
 southern end continually send up vapour from their 
 hot springs ; some of the rocks have been rent by 
 earthquakes, and others formed by lava. When 
 the Althing was originally instituted, these convul- 
 sions had not laid the country waste; but it must 
 have always been a solemn scene. The assembly 
 took place in the open air upon the grass ; and if 
 any culprits were condemned to death, the men 
 were beheaded, and the women drowned in a deep 
 pool. Here, for more than eight centuries, the 
 general assembly was held; till, about eighteen 
 years ago, it was removed to Reikinwik, somewhat 
 perhaps to the immediate convenience of the peo- 
 ple, yet with some injury to their feelings, and with 
 an ominous disrespect of antiquity, and of all which 
 deserves veneration. Here the langman, or lang- 
 saugumadur, presided, the chief magistrate of the 
 whole island, who held his place as long as he filled 
 it to the satisfaction of the nation. He was the 
 public speaker, the supreme judge, and had the 
 charge of promulgating all the laws enacted by the 
 Althing. Under this system, though frequently 
 disturbed by intestine broils, Iceland flourished as 
 an independent republic for nearly 400 years. In 
 1260, the people consented, in an evil hour, to be- 
 come subjects of the king of Norway; with Nor- 
 way, they were united to the dominion of Denmark, 
 and the consequences of that union are to be seen in 
 their present state. The Icelanders established 
 their fine constitution at once, as bees from their 
 hive, or rather they followed the order of the hive 
 from which they had swarmed, making only such 
 alterations as adapted it to the circumstances in 
 which they were placed. They had taken posses- 
 sion of a country which was uninhabited ; and 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 
 
 40.5 
 
 gaining it thus by occupancy, instead of conquest, 
 the great evils of the feudal systejji had no exist- 
 ence among them. Slavery was unknown among 
 the Icelanders, and they escaped those ages of op- 
 pression and barbarism, through which ail the Go- 
 thic kingdoms past in their progress, before the 
 conquerors and the conquered were blended into 
 one people, and a common language had been pro- 
 duced by the intermixture; and the Icelanders, 
 from the time of their first settlement, had their 
 own poets and historians; and were thus, when 
 compared with the rest of Europe, a literary, as 
 well as a free, people. The local situation of their 
 country, was also a material advantage in those 
 ages ; they felt the benefit of inhabiting an island, 
 being removed from all the wars of the continent. 
 The sea-kings also never went north in their expe- 
 ditions : it was only by bettering their climate, that 
 they could find the booty of which they were in 
 search. Iceland offered nothing of which they were 
 not in possession at home. The enterprizes of the 
 Icelanders took a different direction, probably be- 
 cause they could not go south, without encounter- 
 ing a people stronger than themselves. 
 
 Eric Randi, or the Red-headed, was banished for 
 three years, for having slain a neighbouring chief : 
 it so happened, that a man named Gunbrcern, had 
 not long before discovered land to the westward ; 
 the exile sailed in quest of it, wintered at an island, 
 examined the main land during the second year, 
 and at the expiration of the third, returned, and 
 persuaded many of his countrymen to form a set- 
 tlement in this new country, which he called Green- 
 land ; as if, by its name, to point out the advan- 
 tages, which, according to his description, it pos- 
 sessed over their land of ice and snow. So suc- 
 cessful were these representations, that no fewer 
 than five and twenty ships followed him thither; 
 but of these, only fourteen reached their destina- 
 
4<)6 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 tion. They settled in East, or, as it is now called, 
 Old or Lost Greenland ; an appellation which de- 
 notes the singular and melancholy fate of this once 
 flourishing colony. Fresh colonists pursued their 
 course both from Iceland and Norway ; and the 
 country was peopled both on the east and west 
 sides, as high as latitude sixty-five. The new co- 
 lony was formed before the conversion of the mo- 
 ther country ; but all the Gothic nations have been 
 converted with remarkable facility, and these 
 Greenlanders soon became Christians, and received 
 a bishop from Norway. The loss of this colony is 
 one of the most singular events in human history. 
 The last authentic accounts of their existence, are 
 towards the close of the fourteenth century. The 
 pestilence, which, under the name of the Black 
 Death, devastated Europe in the middle of that 
 century, is supposed to have reached this remote 
 region of the north. In Iceland, two thirds of -the 
 population was cut off by it ; and as the farther 
 north it proceeded, the more destructively it raged, 
 it is scarcely to be imagined, that this colony es- 
 caped. But the room made by such ravages would 
 soon have been filled up ; and there is reason to at- 
 tribute the loss of East Greenland to a more per- 
 manent evil. 
 
 During the winter of 1348, the whole coast of 
 Iceland was frozen ; so that a horseman might have 
 ridden from cape to cape, round the island. Such 
 a circumstance had never occurred before, since 
 the country was discovered : and it seems probable, 
 that in this winter, the accumulation of ice began, 
 which has blocked up the coast of East Greenland. 
 The drift-ice, collecting along its shore, maintained' 
 its ground during one inauspicious summer : but if 
 a land b;eeze had arisen, and sent it on its way to 
 better latitudes, Iceland and Lapland would not - 
 have been at this day the cheerless regions which 
 Jthcjy are. The ice, however, having took root, $s 
 
VOYAGES A\D TRAVELS. 40? 
 
 it were, along the coast, it has continued to in- 
 crease, producing effects upon the climate of the 
 north, which we ourselves, in some degree, expe- 
 rience. 
 
 The spirit of fable and conjecture has been busy 
 with the lost Greenlanders. A Dominican is said 
 to have returned from a convent of his own order, 
 in 1515. It was dedicated to St. Thomas ; and, 
 .according to his account, heated by a fountain of 
 ,hot water, which served for all the culinary pur- 
 poses of the community, and was conveyed by pipes 
 through all their apartments. The brethren also 
 irrigated their garden from the same source; and 
 by this means produced the most delightful flowers 
 and fruits, in a land of ice and snow. Wild as it 
 is, this tale obtained belief; and for more than a 
 century, geographers repeated it after each other, 
 land inserted in their maps, the Cacnobium 8. 
 , Tnomae. 
 
 The only certain intelligence of the lost Norwe- 
 geian colony, was procured by Mans Egede, a man 
 who should not be mentioned without admiration 
 and reverence. In one of his expeditions to the 
 inlet, called Balls' Kiver, he found the ruins of a 
 church, in a beautiful valley ; and clay houses, like- 
 wise in ruins, and overgrown with gra-s, and 
 thickets of birch, willow, elder, and juniper. In 
 another expedition, at a place which the Greenlan- 
 ders called Kakoktok, between sixty and sixty-one 
 degrees, he found the ruins of a church fifty feet 
 long, and twenty feet broad, having one great house, 
 and many smaller ones near it, and the walls of the 
 churc h-yard yet standing. He cleared away a heap 
 of rubbish from the church, in hopes of finding 
 some Norwegian antiquities. The Greenlanders 
 who were with him, could hardly be prevailed upon 
 to perform this labour, fearing that the souls of 
 those who were buried there, would take venge- 
 ance, for being disturbed. They could do little, 
 
408 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 for want of proper tools ; all they discovered were 
 a few coals, bones, and broken urns ; proving either 
 that the place had been used for burial before the 
 colonists were converted ; or that, after their con- 
 version, they burnt their dead. 
 
 The discovery of America by the Icelanders, and 
 the establishment there of a colony from East 
 Greenland, are facts which no writer will now pre- 
 tend to controvert : all traces of this settlement are 
 lost at a very early age : the latest account is that 
 in 1121. About a century after the discovery, a 
 bishop from Greenland went thither, to convert the 
 settlers. It seems probable that they were cut off 
 by the natives, whom they called Skrcellings, who 
 crossed over to West Greenland, and are believed 
 to have contributed to the extinction of the Iceland 
 colony. The discoveries and settlements of the 
 Icelanders, were made before their conversion to 
 Christianity : that event took place toward the 
 close of the tenth century. Bishop Thorlak, zeal- 
 ous for the welfare of his country, first established 
 a printing office there ; and, by his means, the 
 Bible was published in the Icelandic tongue ; for 
 the Reformation, after a short struggle, had ob- 
 tained a complete victory in Iceland. The press, 
 had it existed in earlier ages, might have saved 
 some of the old Icelandic heroes considerable trou- 
 ble, in recording their achievements. Olaf, of 
 Hiardarbult, carved the history of his adventures 
 upon the rafters of his house ; and Thorkil Hake 
 did the same thing upon his chair and bedstead. 
 
 Much timber is cast upon the northern and east- 
 ern coasts. The Greenlanders are supplied in the 
 same manner, and owe to this provision their sole 
 means of subsistence ; their houses, their boats, 
 and even their arrows, are made of the wood which 
 the sea wafts to them ; and if their necessities were 
 not thus provided for, the country would be unin- 
 habitable. This drift wood consists chiefly of fir ; 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 
 
 409 
 
 aspins, willows, alder, and birch, are also found, 
 and larch and cedar ; whence it comes, seems not 
 yet to have been ascertained. Iceland itself, at 
 one time, abounded with forests. The first settlers 
 are said to have cut their way through the thickets ; 
 this, however, may possibly mean nothing more 
 than the brush wood, which still exists there : but 
 the bog wood, and the roots of trees, which are 
 sometimes found, prove, beyond all doubt, that 
 there was a time when the climate of Iceland was 
 not too severe for the growth of forest trees. Ice- 
 land became an object of interest to naturalists 
 after it was visited in 1772, by Sir Joseph Banks. 
 
 Reikiavik, the capital of the island, is but a mise- 
 rable place, containing about 500 inhabitants. 
 The houses are in two streets, or rather rows, 
 which form a right angle ; the longest range ex- 
 tending along the beach. One house, and only 
 one, is built of brick ; the rest are made of planks, 
 and appear, at a little distance, like so many gra- 
 naries. The merchants' houses are only to be dis- 
 tinguished from the rest, by one or two wooden 
 chimnies, and by a few glass windows. The want 
 of glass in the other houses, is supplied by the cho- 
 rion and amnios of the sheep, stretched upon a 
 hoop, and laid over an opening in the roof, with a 
 wooden shutter, to protect it in stormy weather; 
 for smaller windows at the side of the door, blad- 
 ders are used. These merchants' houses, being the 
 best in Iceland, are made in Norway. The ware- 
 houses serve for shops, where the merchants retail 
 their foreign commodities, and receive, in ex- 
 change, such articles as the island produces for 
 exportation. The most conspicuous building is 
 the house of correction; the cathedral is of consi- 
 derable size, has large glass windows, a little square 
 wooden tower, with two bells, and is roofed with 
 tiles ; but it is sadly dilapidated. This is the only 
 stone building in Reikiavik; and yet the main street 
 
 vol. iv. N n 
 
410 FLOWERS OF MODERN" 
 
 is so obstructed with rocks, that a cart, if there 
 were such a thing in Iceland, could not proceed 
 half a dozen yards. There are a few miserable huts, 
 raised but little above the level of the ground, in 
 the neighbourhood of the town ; each of them has 
 two or three machines near it, on which the inha- 
 bitants hang their fishing dresses to dry. The 
 dress of the men consists of a woollen shirt, a short 
 waistcoat, and jacket of coarse cloth, and still 
 coarser trowsers. Their hats resemble those of our 
 coal-heavers. Their cloth they manufacture them- 
 selves : for the art of weaving, they are indebted 
 to Denmark, and it is almost the only benefit which 
 Denmark has bestowed upon them. Some wear- 
 ing frames were set up at the king's expence some 
 years ago, and workmen sent over to instruct the 
 natives in their use. The children, as is the case 
 every where in Europe, except in England, look 
 like little men and women. The ordinary dress of 
 the women is not unlike one of the most convenient 
 and becoming fashions of our own country. The 
 full dress is showy, but not inelegant ; the bridal 
 dress is still more showy. The head-dress is shaped 
 like a large flat horn, rising from a sort of turban, 
 and bending forward. Though the Iceland wife 
 exalts her horn in this manner, subjection to the 
 more worthy gender is practically acknowledged ; 
 and, to the great discomfiture of our English tra- 
 vellers, the ladies of a family wait at table upon 
 their guests. They have another custom, of which 
 the travellers complain still more feelingly ; that of 
 returning thanks by an embrace and a kiss. Mr. 
 Hooker describes a ludicrous scene, arising from 
 this custom, in which the man was more fortunate 
 than the master. He obtained leave, in one of his 
 excursions, to have his dinner dressed in the priest's 
 house, near which he had pitched his tents ; his 
 man, Jacob, a very interesting personage, whose 
 untimely end forms a most unwelcome conclusion 
 5 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 
 
 411 
 
 to his eventful history, was the cook. Jacob was 
 ionger than usual about his business; and Mr. 
 Hooker being impatient, made his way through 
 srnoke and darkness, into what he calls the cooking 
 room, a kitchen being too dignified an appellation 
 for such a den. Here he discovered Jacob sitting 
 on the ground, with two or three filthy women 
 about him, regarding his operations, and marvelling 
 at his frying-pan, in which he was dressing some 
 sliced fish, on a fire kindled on the bare earth, be- 
 tween his legs. Close by him was a pretty girl, 
 who had won Jacob's attention so much, that every 
 now and then he presented her with a slice of the 
 fish ; and she, in return for every piece, rose up, 
 took him round the neck, and kissed him. Her ex- 
 pression of gratitude was so much to Jacob's taste, 
 that this bait would have drawn all the fish out of 
 the frying-pan, if his master had not arrived in time 
 to remind him that he wished to have a slice or two 
 saved for himself. Mr. Hooker's ill fortune led 
 him, before he left the house, to present a snuff box 
 to the mistress, a little, dirty, ugly, old woman, by 
 no means free from cutaneous disorder. The old 
 lady imagined, that he only meant to give her the 
 snuff ; but when she was made to understand, that 
 the box was included in the gift, she instantly re- 
 paid him with an embrace ; from which, he says, he 
 extricated himself with all possible haste, and ran 
 to wash himself in the nearest stream. 
 
 The Icelanders are a religious people ; and every 
 where, except in the capital, they preserve the pu- 
 rity of their manners, as well as their faith. There 
 is an equality in the country, which is favourable to 
 morals. The servants are considered as nearly on a 
 level with the children of the house. In Iceland, 
 the equality is natural, and therefore unobtrusive; 
 the servants are generally orphans, or the children 
 of very poor farmers : they partake in the recrea- 
 tions, as well as the labour, of the family : whilst 
 
 Nn 2 
 
412 FLOWERS 07 MODERN 
 
 spinning, knitting, and sewing are going on in their 
 long winter darkness, some one reads aloud the old 
 tales and histories which their ancestors produced, 
 not more for the honour, than for the blessing of 
 Iceland. Scarcely a farm house is without some 
 of these books, which they exchange with each other 
 at church, the only opportunity they have of meet- 
 ing ; and thus the literary wealth of every parish 
 continually circulates. The servants, being thus 
 associated with the family, not unfrequently marry 
 their master's children; this is indeed so usual, that 
 a poor farmer sends his son or his daughter to serve 
 in the house of one more affluent, in hopes that 
 such a connection may be formed. The law of in- 
 heritance is favourable to this equality. No entails 
 are allowed ; the property of the deceased is divided 
 in equal portions among the sons, the eldest having 
 the privilege of choosing his share. The daughters 
 have each half a son's portion; the widow, half the 
 estate. 
 
 The poor laws here are remarkable. Every 
 householder is compelled to receive his relations 
 who cannot support themselves, to the fourth de- 
 gree of kindred. The householder, who has no 
 kinsmen that require his assistance, must contribute 
 to the support of the poor, either by taking into his 
 family some orphan, or aged person, or by paying 
 an annual rate, proportioned to his property. This 
 tax falls heavily : a landholder, who pays only two 
 or three rix-dollars to the revenue, is not unfre- 
 quently called upon for forty, fifty, or even sixty, 
 towards the maintenance of the poor in his district, 
 if he does not choose to receive any of them into 
 his family. These poor laws are strictly enforced 
 by the chief man of every parish. The other taxes 
 are light, and do not suffice for the civil establish- 
 ment of the island. The sysselmen collect them in 
 kind, and are required to pay the amount in money, 
 retaining a third as a salary. 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 413 
 
 Fish and oil are the chief articles of trade : be- 
 sides these, however, the Icelanders export, wool, 
 coarse woollen goods, skins, and feathers: the eider 
 down is one of their most valuable commodities. 
 Both Mr. Hooker and Sir G. Mackenzie saw these 
 birds upon the little island of Vedoe, one of the 
 most fertile spots appertaining to Iceland, and the 
 residence of the former stifthamptman, Stephenson, 
 who, as a special mark of distinction, still retains 
 that title. On the other uninhabited islets, they 
 form their rude nests, among the old and half de- 
 cayed sea-weeds, which the storms have cast high 
 on the beech; but here, where their down and eggs 
 afford the stiftamptman a considerable revenue, the 
 birds seemed to be sensible of the protection under 
 which they lived, and built their nests on the gar- 
 den walls, on the roofs, in the houses, and even in 
 the chapel. Every little hollow between the rock-, 
 was occupied by them; and even the ground be- 
 tween the landing place and the governor's house, 
 so strewn with their nests, that it required some 
 caution to avoid treading on them. The old gen- 
 tleman had also fitted the smooth, sloping side of a 
 hill, for their accommodation, by cutting two rows 
 of holes, in every one of which there was a nest. 
 The sound which the eider birds utter, is described 
 as very like the cooing of doves. They line the nest 
 with down from their own breasts, and there is a 
 sufficient quantity laid round it to cover the eggs 
 when they go to feed, which is generally at low 
 water. The nest is stripped of its lining twice, and 
 sometimes a third time : when the duck has ex- 
 hausted her own down, the drake supplies what is 
 wanting. If the down be taken from the dead bird, 
 it has no longer that elasticity which renders it so 
 valuable. During the brooding season, all cats and 
 dogs are banished from this little island. One year 
 a fox got over upon the ice, to the great alarm both 
 of the ducks and the governor j another fox was 
 
 n n 3 
 
4l4 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 brought over, and fastened by a string near the in- 
 vader's haunts 5 and Reynard, in spite of his cun- 
 ning, fell into the snare : he had a great taste for 
 eider duck, but none for solitude ; and venturing 
 towards this companion, came within reach of the 
 hunter's gun. The Icelanders take their toll of the 
 contents of the nest, as well as of its lining ; and, 
 for their own eating, they prefer those eggs in which 
 the bird is formed. It is said, that as soon as the 
 young birds leave the shell, the duck takes them on 
 her back, swims out to a considerable distance, then 
 dives, and leaves them to exert their power of swim- 
 ming : as soon as they have learnt the use of their 
 feet in this Way, she returns, and becomes their 
 guide. The old birds, whom duty no longer fixes 
 to their nests, take once more to the seas 5 and, in 
 a few weeks, the whole race depart, going where no 
 navigator has yet followed them. When the brood- 
 ing season returns, their unerring guide brings 
 them again to their safe nursery. They very rarely 
 build on the main land, though, in some places, 
 they have been enticed to venture there, when the 
 people send away their cattle and dogs, and take 
 especial care to keep them from being disturbed. 
 The inhabitants make little islands, on purpose to 
 invite them. In the eider birds, the Icelanders have 
 their sea poultry; they have their sea flocks in the 
 seals. The seal is easily tamed, and sometimes do- 
 mesticated in Iceland, though the people have a 
 strange aversion to its flesh, which, in old times, 
 was considered as a princely dish. A gentleman in 
 the neighbourhood of Burntisland, has completely 
 succeeded in taming a seal 5 which appears to pos- 
 poss all the sagacity of the dog, lives in its master's 
 house, and eats from his hand. In his fishing ex- 
 cursions, he usually takes it with him, upon which 
 occasion it affords no small entertainment. When 
 thrown into the water, it will follow for miles the 
 track of the boat; and although thrust back by the 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 
 
 415 
 
 oars, it never relinquishes its purpose : on the con- 
 trary, it is said to struggle so hard to regain its seat, 
 that any one would imagine its fondness for its 
 master had entirely overcome its natural predilec- 
 tion for its native element. Sportsmen, acquainted 
 with the haunts of these poor animals, raise up little 
 bulwarks to conceal their approach, or wait for 
 them behind a rock \ the gull, however, under- 
 stands these approaches, and frequently baffles all 
 the precautions of the hunter, by flying; over his 
 head, and screaming close to the seal : if the latter 
 does not take the alarm, the bird strikes him on his 
 head ; and, as soon as he slips into the water, seems 
 perfectly conscious that he is no longer in danger. 
 
 The Icelanders derive food for their cattle, as well 
 as themselves, from the sea : there is a sea- weed, of 
 which the cows are very fond, when the inhabitants 
 will spare it ; it is the fucus palmatus of Linnaeus. 
 The cattle are said to be very fond of it 5 and the 
 sheep seek it with such avidity, as often to be lost 
 by going too far from the land at low water. The 
 Icelanders generally prepare it by washing it well in 
 fresh water, and exposing it to dry, when it gives 
 out a white powdery substance, which is sweet and 
 palatable, and covers the whole plant ; they then 
 pack it in casks, to keep it from the air, and thus 
 preserve it ready to be eaten either in this state, 
 with fish and butter, or, according to the practice 
 of wealthier tables, boiled in milk, and mixed with 
 a little flour of rye. In the interior, it bears half 
 the price of dry fish, and can therefore only be given 
 to the cows in time of needs 
 
 In the most populous parts of the country, for 
 want of pasture, the people, after eating the fish 
 themselves, boil down the bones for the kine, and 
 give them also the water in which it has been dress- 
 ed. Fish bones are used as fuel, with dried cow 
 dung and turf, in the Westmann Islands, the 
 wretched inhabitants bum dried sea birds. Whales' 
 
416 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 flesh, and sharks' flesh, are the dainties which serve 
 an Icelander for his dessert. Sometimes an enemy 
 comes from the sea. Every year a few polar bears 
 are brought upon the drift ice ; and coming half 
 starved with the voyage, soon make their arrival 
 known, by the depredations which they commit. 
 But the posse comitatus is immediately raised, and 
 Bruin has never yet been able to form a settlement 
 in the country. The ice brings with it worse evils 
 than an invasion of these animals, because no hu- 
 man means can remove or lessen them. As long as 
 the ice continues floating, the weather is fickle and 
 stormy, and the tides are irregular ; but as soon as 
 the ice islands become fixed in the gulphs and in- 
 lets, the weather grows calm, settled, foggy, moist, 
 and exceedingly cold, withering the vegetation, and 
 destroying the cattle. Even a Shetland harvest has 
 been blasted by the approach of an ice island. 
 
 The Icelanders have some strange notions con- 
 cerning floating ice ; they affirm, that it takes fire. 
 It is admitted that flames are seen upon it, which, 
 it is said, arise from the collision of two fragments 
 meeting with such violence, that the drift timber, 
 which they carry with them, takes fire at the fric- 
 tion. The natives, however, insist, that the ice it- 
 self is formed principally of salt-petre, and that it 
 might be used in making gunpowder. In these re- 
 gions, even summer is not safe; a huge floating 
 island deranges the season, as well as the tide, and 
 carries with it a winter of its own. 
 
 Horrebow mentions a royal garden, full of all 
 sorts of culinary vegetables ; he speaks of turnips 
 weighing two pounds and a half, of gooseberry 
 bushes producing ripe fruit ; and expresses his con- 
 fidence, that various trees, if properly managed, 
 would bring their fruit to maturity; and that even 
 corn might be cultivated with success. But the 
 tallest birch trees which Sir George Mackenzie saw 
 in his travels, were not more than ten feet high. 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 4l7 
 
 Governor Thodal planted firs ; their tops seemed to 
 wither when they were about two feet high, and 
 they ceased to grow : poor encouragement for him 
 who would plant fruit trees. Mr. Hooker was in 
 many gardens where the cabbage was so small, that 
 a half-crown piece would have covered it; and he 
 tells us, that turnips, carrots, and even potatoes, 
 never arrive at perfection. Horrebow is not, how- 
 ever, a writer to be suspected of falsehood, nor of 
 conscious exaggeration. There is good reason for 
 supposing, that even our own country has experi- 
 enced a change in its climate, since his time. Ice- 
 land will probably become colder, unless some 
 earthquake should break up the belt of ice, which 
 forms a rampart round East Greenland. The Ice- 
 lander who would raise fruits, must take a hint 
 from the tale of the monastery of St. Thomas. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Hot Springs — Sagacity of the Gulls — Ravens — Foxes 
 — Iceland Sheep — Flocks carried away with the 
 Wind — Rein Deer — An unexplored Tract — the 
 Sncefel Jukul — A dangerous Ascent — Masses of 
 Lara — Treacherous Ground — the Geysers — Lau- 
 gerfell — Boiling Springs — Mr. Hooker — the 
 Roaring Geyser — Sir G. Mackenzie — Mr. Menge 
 — Vapour of the Geyser — Eruptions — Thunder — 
 Little Geyser — Little Strock — Earthquakes — A 
 Tremendous Eruption — An Icelandic Church — 
 the Iceland Kovkalv or Shark Oil. 
 
 Horrebow has seen people sit whole days beside 
 the hot-springs, bending hoops for barrels. He 
 says, it is universally known that the cows which 
 drink at a tepid stream, yield a much greater quan- 
 tity of milk than others : he says also, that there is 
 
418 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 generally a very fine growth of grass in the neigh- 
 bourhood of these springs. Olafsen and Povilsen say 
 that in the valley of Reikholtz the ground never 
 freezes ; and they mention traditions of a deep and 
 beautiful vale among the glaciers, with woods and 
 meadows, flocks and herds, and happy inhabitants, 
 who live in the enjoyment of a perpetual sum- 
 mer, conferred upon them, not by the heavens, 
 but by the bounty of the earth and its inter- 
 nal heat. It is only in hot-houses that the Ice- 
 lander can hope to raise the fruit of an English 
 garden ; but the hot springs in those parts of the 
 country where they abound, afford the means of 
 erecting these with little other expense than that of 
 the shed. The hot springs, with which this coun- 
 try abounds, are used as baths. Some of these 
 springs have natural basons near them, in which the 
 water becomes of a proper heat ; others are so 
 situated that it is easy to temper them. Among the 
 plants which have found their way into the country, 
 it is curious to find a spice ; a small quantity of cara- 
 way seed was brought from Copenhagen, and the 
 plant has spread itself. The angelica was introduced 
 about a century ago by a priest. He planted it in 
 an island of the lake Hittarvatu, and this gave rise 
 to an interesting occurrence in natural history. The 
 gulls and wild ducks soon discovered that the little 
 shrubby branches of the plant protected their nests 
 from wind and rain ; they happened to discover it at 
 the same time, and though in other places the gulls 
 do not like to have the ducks build near them, a 
 league, not merely of peace, but of amity was con- 
 cluded between them, and the gulls defended their 
 neighbours as well as themselves, against the ravens 
 and all other depredators. The Icelanders say, that 
 when the young ravens fall from their nest, and are 
 unable to recover it, the parents devour them : this 
 bird is the commonest in Iceland, though the inna* 
 Wtants destroy as many as they can. They have a 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 419 
 
 high opinion of him as a soothsayer ; but his super- 
 natural gifts are not sufficient to atone for the 
 ravages which he commits. Nothing escapes these 
 rapacious plunderers ; they watch the wild duck to 
 her nest, and drive her from her eggs ; they pounce 
 upon fish, attack the ewe as well as the lamb, and 
 fixing upon the galled horses, devour them alive. 
 In autumn a number of them will meet in the fields 
 without molesting each other ; but upon the ap- 
 proach of winter, they are said to form themselves 
 into troops of six, eight, or ten, each taking a par- 
 ticular district, as their peculiar royalty ; and if one 
 of another troop is bold enough to trespass upon it, 
 they attack the offender and put him to death, if he 
 be not swift enough of wing to escape. 
 
 There are no crows in Iceland, neither are they 
 much annoyed by mice. Foxes are very numerous 
 and very troublesome. The inhabitants use all 
 imaginable means for destroying these enemies. 
 They smoke them in their dens, and, if this fails, 
 besiege them there ; they shoot them, poison them, 
 catch them with hooks and lines, and lay traps for 
 them, from which, when caught by the leg, the 
 animal has been known to escape by gnawing off 
 the limb. If half the tales which the Icelanders tell 
 of their foxes, are true, it would seem that the 
 breed has not degenerated since ^Esop^s days, nor 
 disgraced the reputation which reynard obtained for 
 the whole race. But w ithout repeating the fireside 
 tales of a nation of story-tellers, certain it is that 
 the foxes fish, fowl, climb rocks to rob the birds' 
 nests, and embark upon pieces of floating ice, to 
 get from the main land to the islands. The people 
 have a tradition, that one of the kings of Norway 
 in old time sent over some foxes to Iceland, to 
 plague the inhabitants, as a punishment for their 
 disaffection to the mother country, an opinion, as 
 Mr. Hooker observes, which has probably no better 
 foundation than another of their tales, that the 
 
420 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 magpie^ which now infest them in such numbers!, 
 were originally imported by the English in pure 
 mischief. 
 
 A thousand writers have observed, with what 
 wonderful powers of pliability man accommodates 
 himself to all circumstances of society and situation ; 
 but it has seldom been remarked in how great a de- 
 gree animals possess the same power. The sheep in 
 Iceland, and in the Scotch isles, during a heavy fall 
 of snow, if they can find no shelter, place them- 
 selves in a circle, with their heads inclining towards 
 the centre. Thus, if they are covered with snow, 
 their breath forms an arch above them. In this 
 situation they have been known to remain for 
 many days. Every Iceland flock has one sheep 
 trained as a leader, and in winter, and bad weather, 
 his services are found exceedingly useful - y for how- 
 ever dark or stormy the night, he guides his com- 
 pany to the fold. Whole flocks, it is said, would 
 often be lost but for the sagacity of these guides : a 
 trained sheep of course bears a much higher price 
 than any other, and is always preserved till it be- 
 comes completely superannuated. They pull their 
 sheep instead of shearing them ; this custom also 
 prevails in the Zetlands, where it is called, rooing : 
 the Zetlanders say, that the wool continues much 
 finer when removed in this manner than by the 
 shears, which is by no means improbable. It might 
 be expected that the animal would be liable to take 
 cold by being thus literally stript naked ; no men- 
 tion however is made of any such consequence arising 
 from the practice. The worst, evils the sheep are 
 exposed to in this mournful country, seem to be 
 the violent winds, which sometimes drive them into 
 the sea. Horrebow says, he has seen even in sum- 
 mer a flock carried away by a storm sixty or seventy 
 English miles. 
 
 In severe weather, a little hay is given to the 
 sheep, but this is a luxury which can seldom be 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 421 
 
 afforded. Hay is by far the most important article 
 to an Iceland farmer. The ground immediately 
 round the house is laid out for it, and a field nas the 
 appearance of a church-yard, the soil being usually 
 thrown up in little hillocks, like so many graves, to 
 procure a greater surface. 
 
 Goats have been banished from the southern part 
 of Iceland, because they were continually injuring 
 the roofs of the houses, by climbing them in search 
 of food j some, however, are still kept in the north. 
 The poor Icelanders live so hardly themselves, that 
 they have nothing to spare for the pigs ; and thi- 
 animal, who is to be met with all round the world, 
 and who robs t he dunghills in England, is found too 
 expensive to be kept. For such a country the rein 
 deer is obviously as well adapted as the camel for 
 the desert. Thirteen were exported from Norway 
 in 1/73, only three of which reached Iceland; they 
 were sent into the mountains of the Guldbringe 
 Syssel, and have multiplied so Greatly, that it is not 
 uncommon to meet with herds, consisting of from 
 forty to an hundred in the mountainous districts. 
 The Danes sometimes go out in pursuit of them, 
 but the Icelanders, instead of profiting by these in- 
 valuable animals, the most important boon that 
 could possibly have been bestowed upon them, com- 
 plain that they eat their lichen. The rein-deer in 
 Lapland is almo?t as much a loser by his connection 
 with man, a^ the dog in Kamtschatka : he gives up 
 his liberty, and is not provided for in return 3 though 
 the Laplander might easily lay in a winter stock of 
 the lichen, and of the great water horse tail, on 
 which, in a dry state, Linnaeus sa\s, it will feed with 
 avidity, though not on common hay, Iceland will 
 be this creature's paradise. There is in the interior 
 a tract which Sir J. Mackenzie computes at not less 
 than 40,000 square miles, without a single habita- 
 tion, and almost entirely unknown to the natives 
 •themselves. There are no wolves in the island; the 
 
 vol, iv. O o 
 
422 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 Icelanders will keep out the bears ; and the rein- 
 deer being almost unmolested by man, will have no 
 enemy whatever, unless it has brought with it its 
 own tormenting gad fly. 
 
 Perhaps there is no part of this interesting coun- 
 try, if we except the Geysers, more attractive to the 
 curiosity of the stranger, than the Snaefell Jukul. 
 Mr. Bright ascended this dangerous mountain to 
 one of its summits. No guide could be found who 
 had ever gone beyond the line of the perpetual 
 snow, beyond which the sheep never wander. 
 Ascending to the first snow occupied about two 
 hours, and might, he conjectures, be about the dis- 
 tance of six miles : and now the most arduous task 
 of the party commenced. Their guides were no 
 better acquainted with the road than themselves. 
 The summits of all the surrounding mountains were 
 covered with mist, but the Jokul was perfectly 
 clear: the sun did not much incommode them, 
 which it does travellers, when it shines too bright, 
 by its reflection from the snow dazzling their eyes. 
 During the first hour they entertained strong hopes 
 of reaching the summit, as the ascent was not very 
 difficult, and the snow was sufficiently soft to yield 
 to the pressure of their feet. But these facilities soon 
 ceased, the acclivity became steeper, the snow harder 
 and full of deep fissures, which they were obliged 
 either to cross, or go a considerable way round to 
 avoid. Formidable as these fissures were to the 
 travellers, they could not but admire their beauty : 
 they were at least thirty or forty feet in depth, and 
 though not in general above two or three feet 
 wide, admitted a sufficiency of light to display the 
 brilliancy of their white and rugged sides. As they 
 climbed higher, the inferior mountains gradually 
 diminished to their sight, and they were encom- 
 passed by a complete zone of clouds, while the 
 Jokul still remained clear and distinct. At times 
 the clouds below them partially separated, and 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 423 
 
 formed the most picturesque arches, through which 
 they could descry the distant sea, and still farther 
 off the mountains on the opposite side of the 
 Breide-Fiord, stretching northwards towards the 
 most remote extremity of the island. In their pro- 
 gress the ascent became so fatiguing, that they 
 were frequently obliged to sit down for a few 
 minutes on the snow. 
 
 They now arrived at a chasm, which threatened to 
 stop all farther progress. It was at least forty feet 
 in depth, and nearly six wide : and the opposite side 
 presented the appearance of a wall elevated several 
 feet above the surface on which they stood ; besides 
 this, the snow in the interior of the chasm had fallen 
 in, till the part beneath them was completely un- 
 dermined, being precipitated into the abyss. Deter- 
 mined, however, not to renounce the hope of pass- 
 ing this barrier, they followed its course to a place 
 that encouraged the attempt. The opposite bank 
 was not above four feet high, and a mass of snow- 
 formed a bridge across the chasm, though not of 
 the most secure description. Standing upon the 
 brink, they cut with their poles three or four steps 
 in the opposite bank of snow, and then stepping as 
 lightly as possible over the bridge, they passed to 
 the step 4 -, which they ascended by the help of their 
 poles. The snow was now so excessively steep, that 
 their utmost elforts were necessary to prevent their 
 sliding back to the edge of the precipice, and being 
 plunged into the cha^-m. This dangerous ascent did 
 not continue long, for they shortly after arrived at 
 a tolerably level bank of snow, having on the right 
 a precipice about sixty feet perpendicular, bearing 
 the appearance of the snow on that side the moun- 
 tain having slipt away, and left behind that part on 
 which they stood. 
 
 There are three peaks to the mountain, and they 
 were now on the summit of that situated farthest to 
 ea-t. Immediately before them was a lisstm 
 " o o g 
 
424 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 more formidable, both in width and depth, than any 
 they had passed, and which indeed stopped their 
 progress, though they were still 100 feet below the 
 highest summit of the mountain. After making 
 several fruitless attempts to pass this fissure, they 
 were obliged to abandon the hope of advancing fur- 
 ther. 
 
 Having viewed the peak of the Jokul with disap- 
 pointment and mortification, the cloud9 rapidly ac- 
 cumulating, and visibly rolling up the side of the 
 mountain, they became anxious to return as speedily 
 as possible, in order to repass the chasm before they 
 were involved in mist. They found the magnetic 
 needle stationary, and apparently perfectly true, 
 though it has been asserted to be greatly agitated, 
 and to lose its polarity at the highest summit. They 
 were, however, surprized to find the thermometer 
 scarcely so low as the freezing point. They experi- 
 enced great difficulty in recrossing the chasm, as 
 whenever they stuck their poles into the snow 
 bridge, they went directly through. The first per- 
 son who passed, thrust his pole deep into the lower 
 part of the wall ; thus affording a point of support 
 for the feet of those who followed. The foot of the 
 second person who passed, however, actually broke 
 through the bridge of snow, and he had much diffi- 
 culty to prevent himself falling into the chasm be- 
 neath. They just crossed the abyss in safety, when 
 the mist surrounded them, and made it extremely 
 difficult to keep the tract by which they had de- 
 scended so far. 
 
 Travelling in Iceland is always attended with 
 sufficient danger. Sometimes the way lies over a 
 mass of lava broken into innumerable pieces in the 
 act of cooling, and full of chasms, from which the 
 force of the air beneath has exploded fragments of 
 all forms and sizes. Near Thingval, Mr. Hooker 
 was half an hour in proceeding C Z or $00 yards 
 among this rugged Java, when a false step would 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 425 
 
 have precipitated him to certain death. Here num- 
 bers of lives have been lost; but when Mr. H. la- 
 mented this, the priest who accompanied checked 
 him, by saying it was God's will that it should be 
 so : and the traveller was at a loss whether to 
 ascribe the indifference of the Icelanders to the 
 calamities of themselves or of whatever surrounds 
 them to real piety, or to the effects of the climate, 
 and that poverty and distress which attends their 
 whole life. Nature has given to this forlorn region 
 horrors peculiar to itself, The travellers passed 
 continually among large masses of rock, that lie 
 strewed in the wildest possible disorder about the 
 chasms, and frequently as they went on they were 
 deceived by what appeared to them houses in the 
 wild solitude, but on nearer approach they proved to 
 be only huge rocks torn from their previous situation 
 by an earthquake or some other terrible effort of 
 nature. Dreadful, however, as was this scenery, it 
 formed as it were only the entrance to the more 
 terrific regions to which the travellers were bound. 
 
 From a deep hollow of the sulphur mountain, 
 they saw a profusion of vapours arise, and heard a 
 confused noise of boiling and splashing, mingled 
 with the roaring of steam, as it forced its way 
 through narrow crevices in the rock. The whole 
 side of the mountain, as far as they could see, was 
 covered with sulphur and clay, of a white or yel- 
 lowish colour. In many places the sulphur was so 
 hot, that they could scarcely handle it; andwhere- 
 ever it was removed, steam instantly arose. Over 
 this Stygian crust they ventured, in imminent dan- 
 ger of sinking into the scalding mass. Jets of 
 steam, and fountains of boiling mud, are found in 
 this dreadful district. We may believe Sir G. Mac- 
 kenzie, when he says, that the sensations of a man 
 even of firm nerves, standing upon treacherous 
 ground, over an abyss where fire and brimstone are 
 in incessant action, enveloped in thick vapours, 
 
 o o 3 
 
426 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 and his ears stunned with thundering noise, can 
 only be well conceived by those who have experi- 
 enced them. Mr. Bright was at one time in great 
 danger,, and suffered considerable pain from one of 
 his legs sinking into the hot clay. 
 
 Mr. Hooker, in one of his excursions, was in 
 still greater peril, in endeavouring to avoid the suf- 
 focating exhalations from a sulphur spring, near 
 which he was gathering some specimens of the mi- 
 neral productions of the place, he sunk up to his 
 knees in a semi-liquid mass of hot sulphur; but in- 
 stantly throwing himself at full length upon the 
 ground, he reached a more solid spot with his 
 hands, and was able to drag himself out of this 
 scalding bog. Iceland abounds also with bogs of 
 the common kind ; less terrific indeed, but hardly 
 less dangerous. Through these tracts, a horse is 
 the surest guide according to Sir G. Mackenzie ; 
 he knows precisely where to place his foot in safety. 
 When in doubt, he feels the ground with his foot 
 before he attempts to venture his whole weight 
 upon it, and if he perceives that there is danger, 
 nothing will induce him to set a step forward. The 
 travellers were told they should find the road 
 through one of these bogs not so bad, because a 
 bridge had been constructed. This boasted bridge 
 proved, however, to be nothing more than a deep 
 ditch, with loose sharp stones at the bottom, along 
 which they passed in a string. The great objects 
 of curiosity in this country are the geysers. There 
 are few countries without warm springs, but the 
 geysers are peculiar to Iceland. 
 
 Mr. Hooker's account of his visit to these springs 
 is extremely circumspect and interesting. In the 
 morning having had some squalls and rain, he and 
 his companions set out intending to proceed to 
 Hecla, and return by another route. They forded 
 the Brueraa with no other inconvenience than 
 wetting their clothes and luggage, the water reach- 
 
 2 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 427 
 
 ing to the middle of the bociy of their tallest horses. 
 Here they procured some milk from a cottage, and 
 in its vicinity were two or three boiling springs, 
 used by the inhabitants for the purpose of cooking, 
 as well as for washing clothes. 
 
 Their journey now lay either entirely over a mo- 
 rass or close upon the edge of it, where a quantity 
 of loose soil had been washed down from the 
 mountains, and was scarcely more rirm. At five 
 o'clock in the afternoon they a'tained t :e moun- 
 tain called Laugerfell, from which the Geyzers 
 spring. It if of no great elevation and rises only three 
 hundred and ten feet above the course of a river 
 which run> at it- Goat. It is remarkable, however, 
 for its insulated situation : being entirely sur- 
 rounded by a morass extending a considerable way 
 in every direction, except towards the north, 
 where the Laugerfell is not separated by an int. r- 
 val of more than half a mile from higher mountains. 
 The north side is perpendicular, barren, and craggy, 
 the south one rises with a more gradual ascent. 
 Near its base a number of columns of steam rising 
 to various heights, were observed. They quickened 
 their pace but it was eight o'clock before they ar- 
 rived at the foot of the hill. Here the horses were 
 left to the care of the guides, while the travellers 
 examined the boiling springs. The lower part of 
 the hill was formed into a number of mounds ap- 
 parently composed of clay or coarse bolus of va- 
 rious sizes : some of them were a yellowish white, 
 but the greater number were of the colour of dull 
 red brick. Interspersed with these, lay pieces of 
 rock which had rolled or been washed down by the 
 rains from the higher parts of the mountain. On 
 these mounds were the apertures of boiling springs, 
 from some of which were issuing spouts of water 
 from one to four feet in height; while in others the 
 water rose no higher than the top of the basin, or 
 gently flowed over the margin. The orifices were 
 
428 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 of various dimensions, and either covered on their 
 sides and edges with a brownish siliceous crust, or 
 the water only boiled through a hole in the mound 
 and became turbid by admixture with the soil, 
 which tinged it either red, dirty yellow, or grey. 
 
 Upon the heated ground in many places were 
 some extremely beautiful though small specimens of 
 sulphuric efflorescence, the friability of which was 
 such that with the utmost care they could not be 
 preserved in a good state. The loftiest column of 
 steam may naturally be expected to rise from that 
 fountain called by way of distinction the Geyzer. 
 This spring lies beyond those first arrived at, and 
 is easily distinguished ; it is situated among many 
 smaller ones, A vast circular mound of a siliceous 
 substance elevated a considerable height above the 
 surrounding springs, marked the great Geyzer. It 
 was of a brownish grey colour, rugged on its exte- 
 rior, and particularly near the margin of the basin 
 from numerous hillocks of the same substance as 
 the mound. These hillocks vary in size, but are 
 generally about as large as a mole hill, rough with 
 minute tubercles, and covered all over with a most 
 beautiful kind of efflorescence, aptly compared to 
 the head of a cauliflower, and are of a yellowish 
 brown colour. Reaching the top of this siliceous 
 mound, there is perceived a round basin resembling 
 in shape a saucer with a circular hole in the centre 
 as the basin gradually shelves down to the mouth 
 of the pipe or crater, whence the water issues. 
 When measured by Mr. Hooker the mouth lay 
 nearly five feet below the edge of the basin, and 
 proved to be seventeen feet distant from the mar- 
 gin on every side ; the margin not deviating more 
 than a foot from a complete circle from the pipe. 
 The inside appeared even to the sight but was 
 rough to the touch like a coarse file, but it was 
 entirely without those hillocks noticed on the out- 
 aide, being only covered with small tubercles and 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 
 
 429 
 
 these in many places polished smooth by the falling 
 of the water upon them. The basin was filled 
 nearly to the edge with the most pellucid water ; 
 in the centre a small ebullition was observable with 
 a large but not dense, body of steam, increasing 
 however both in quantity and density as often as 
 the ebullition was more violent. Waiting till about 
 nine o'clock, they heard a hollow subterraneous 
 noise, thrice repeated in the coarse of a few mo- 
 ments ; these reports exactly resembled the distant 
 firing of cannon, and were accompanied with a 
 very slight, though perceptible shaking of the 
 earth ; almost immediately after the boiling of the 
 water and the ascent of steam increased, and 
 the whole became violently agitated. At first the 
 water only rolled over the edge of the basin with- 
 out much noise, but this was immediately followed 
 by a jet, or sudden shooting of the water into the 
 air, this continues but a few seconds, and in the 
 present instance did not rise above ten or twelve 
 feet merely forcing up the water in the centre of 
 the basin, but attended with a loud roaring explo- 
 sion : this jet fell as soon as it had attained its 
 greatest height, and then the water flowed over 
 the margin still more than before. A similar jet 
 was all that occurred that evening, and immedi- 
 diately after this second jet, when the water had 
 again overflowed, it suddenly rushed down about 
 three-fourths of the way into the basin. 
 
 The party remained near the spot the whole 
 night, but witnessed no more eruptions It was 
 observed to them by an old woman residing near 
 the springs, that the eruptions of the Geyzer are 
 most frequent when there is a clear and dry atmo- 
 sphere, attended by a northerly wind, and they 
 were assured of the truth of this observation by 
 the event ; for in the course of the evening the 
 wind, which before had blown from the south-west 
 veered to the north: and at twenty minutes past 
 
430 
 
 PLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 eleven on the following morning they were apprized 
 of an approaching eruption by similar subterrane- 
 ous noises and shocks to those they had observed 
 the preceding day. These reports they compared 
 to the distant firing of a fleet of ships on a rejoicing 
 day, when the cannon are sometimes discharged 
 singly and sometimes two or three almost at the 
 same moment. The heaving and consequent over- 
 flowing of the water now obliged Mr. Hooker to 
 retire a few steps from the margin, this occurred 
 three several times in as many minutes, and in a 
 few seconds a jet took place, and this had scarcely 
 subsided when it was followed by a second, and 
 then by a third, which last was by far the most 
 magnificent, rising in a column apparently not less 
 than ninety feet in height, and at the lower part 
 nearly as wide as the basin itself, which is fifty- 
 one feet in diameter. The bottom was a prodigious 
 body of white foam. Higher up, amidst the vast 
 clouds of steam that had burst from the pipe, the 
 water was seen mounting in a compact column 
 which at a greater elevation burst into innumerable 
 long and narrow streamlets of spray, either shot 
 to a vast height in the air in a perpendicular direc- 
 tion, or thrown out from the side diagonally, to a 
 prodigious distance. r l he beauty of this spectacle 
 was considerably enhanced by the excessive trans- 
 parency of the body of water, and the brilliancy 
 of the drops as the sun shone through them. 
 
 After a fourth jet much smaller than the pre- 
 ceding one, the water sunk rapidly in the basin 
 with a rushing noise, and nothing was to be seen 
 but the column of steam which had been constantly 
 increasing from the commencement of the eruption 
 and now ascended perpendicularly to an amazing 
 height, there being scarcely any wind. It ex- 
 panded in bulk as it rose, but decreased in density, 
 till the upper part of the column gradually lost it- 
 self in the surrounding atmosphere. It was fuj 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 43l 
 
 twenty minutes after the sinking of the water from 
 the basin before it was cool enough to enter, but 
 when they did they could proceed to the margin 
 of the pipe, down which the water had sunk about 
 ten feet, but it still boiled very furiousty, and with 
 a great noise when it rose a few feet higher in the 
 pipe, and then again subsided, and remained for 
 a short time quiet. This continued to be the case 
 for some hours. Mr. Hooker measured this pipe and 
 found it to be exactly seventeen feet over. The 
 pipe opens into the basin, with a widened mouth 
 then gradually contracts for two or three feet when 
 it becomes quite cylindrical, and descends verti- 
 cally to the depth according to Povelsen and Olaf- 
 sen, of between fifty and sixty fee t. Mr. Hooker 
 also visited that spring which Sir John Stanley calls 
 the roaring Geyzer; but though the water rose 
 and fell several feet at different intervals and was 
 often boiling with a loud and roaring noise, it did 
 not flow over the margin of the aperture. Its pipe 
 or well does not fall perpendicularly, but after de- 
 scending some way in a sloping direction, seems to 
 continue in a nearly horizontal course. Around its 
 mouth laid a considerable quantity of red earth or 
 bolus. At the foot of the hill near the spot where 
 the waters of the Geyzer join a cold stream, among 
 the numerous rills formed by the heated waters, 
 our travellers met with some uncommonly beautiful 
 specimens of incrustations. Every blade of grass, 
 and every leaf or moss washed by these waters, 
 was clothed with a thin covering of the same silice- 
 ous substance as the great basin was composed of, 
 but of so delicate a nature, that it was scarcely 
 possible to bring any of them away perfect. Sir 
 G. Mackenzie gives a very similar description of 
 the eruptions of the Geyzer, but was more fortu- 
 nate in bringing away the incrustations formed by 
 its waters. He selected a fine mass close to the 
 water on the brink of the basin Following the 
 
432 IXOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 channel which the water had formed when escap- 
 ing from the great basin, he found some beautiful 
 and delicate petrifactions. The leaves of birch 
 and willow were seen converted into white stone, 
 and in the most perfect state of preservation ; every 
 minute fibre being entire. Grass and rushes were 
 in the same state, as were also masses of peat 3 and 
 many large masses of these the travellers brought 
 w T ith them to Britain. The depositions owing to 
 the splashing of the water are arranged round the 
 mount of the Geyzer somewhat like a circular 
 flight of steps and the matter forming the inside of 
 the basin is more compact and dense than the ex- 
 terior crust ; and when polished is not devoid of 
 beauty, being of a grey colour, mottled with black 
 and white spots, and streaks. The white incrus- 
 tations formed by the water had in one place taken 
 a curious shape, very much resembling the capital 
 of a Gothic column. Sir G. Mackenzie and his 
 party w r ere so rapacious here as not to leave a sin- 
 gle specimen within their reach, and even scalded 
 their fingers in their eagerness to obtain them. 
 They witnessed the process of petrifaction in all its 
 stages, and procured some specimens in which the 
 grass was yet alive and fresh while the deposition 
 of the siliceous matter was going on around it ; 
 these were found in places at a little distance from 
 the cavity where the water running from it had 
 become cold. 
 
 During his abode in the neighbourhood of the 
 Geyzer, Mr. Hooker cooked his provisions in one 
 or other of the boiling springs. A quarter of a 
 sheep was one day put into the Geyzer and the 
 servant left to watch it, holding it fastened to a 
 piece of cord, so that as often as it was thrown 
 out by the force of the water, which very frequently 
 happened, he might readily drag it in again. The 
 poor fellow who was unacquainted with the nature 
 4>f these springs was a good deal surprized when 
 
VOYAGES AND TKAVELS. 433 
 
 he observed the water In an instant sink down and 
 entirely disappear, just at a time when he thought 
 the meat nearly eooked sufficiently ; they were 
 therefore obliged to have recourse to another spring, 
 and they found the operation altogether required 
 twenty minutes to complete it properly. It must, 
 however, be recollected, that an Icelandic sheep is 
 very small, the quarter not weighing perhaps more 
 than six pounds. 
 
 The greatest height which Mr. Hooker observed 
 the water of the Geyzer to rise, was according to 
 2) is computation, rather above a hundred feet, and 
 he conjecture that the height to which it throws 
 its waters may have increased in the course of a 
 few years, as in 1772, when visited by Sir Joseph 
 Banks, the greatest elevation to which the water 
 rose was ascertained to be sixty feet, while in 17 81), 
 its height was taken by a quadrant, by Sir Join} 
 Stanley, and found to be between ninety and one 
 hundred feet, and when he visited it, if his calcu- 
 lation may be depended on, it exceeded that height, 
 though Sir G. Mackenzie does not estimate the 
 greatest height of the eruption to have exceeded 
 ninety feet, and that even at the new Geyzer. 
 On throwing stones or other substances into the 
 pipe when the water was still ; an ebullition was 
 instantly produced, and when an eruption took 
 place Mr. Hooker observed all the pieces of rock, 
 tufts of grass, and masses of earth, w hich he and 
 Jacod had thrown in, cast out and many of them 
 fell fifteen feet beyond the margin. Some rose 
 considerably higher than the jets which threw them 
 out : others fell into the basin and were again cast 
 out with the next discharge. The stones were 
 mostly as entire as when put in, but the tufts of 
 grass and earth were shivered into small black 
 particles, and were thrown up by the nrst jet in 
 quick succession, producing a very pretty effect 
 among the white i>pray. From the escape of the 
 
 vol. iv. P p 
 
434- FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 steam on agitation, joined to the other appearances 
 of the Geyzer, Sir G. Mackenzie states a very 
 plausible theory, equally simple and ingenious. 
 He supposes a cavity partially rilled with boiling 
 water, and communicating with a shaft or pipe. 
 That part of the cavity which is not filled with 
 water is of course filled with steam, by the pressure 
 of which the water is sustained to the top of the 
 pipe. But upon any sudden addition of heat under 
 the cavity, a quantity of steam will be produced, 
 which owing to the great pressure will be evolved 
 in starts, causing the noises and the shaking of the 
 ground. The water must now rise above the pipe ; 
 an oscillation is produced ; the water is pressed 
 downwards, and the steam having now room to 
 escape, darts upward, breaking through the column, 
 and carrying with it a great part of the water. 
 As long as the extraordinary supply of steam con- 
 tinues these oscillations and jets will go on. But 
 at every jet some of the water is thrown over the 
 basin, and a considerable quantity runs out of it. 
 The pressure is thus diminished ; the steam plays 
 more and more powerfully, till at last a forcible 
 jet takes place; a prodigious quantity of steam 
 escapes, and the remaining water sinks into the 
 
 P ,; P e - 
 
 After examining these springs some time, Mr. 
 Hooker, before he quitted the spot was suddenly 
 gratified with a display of the eruption of the New 
 Geyzer. During the space of an hour and a half an 
 uninterrupted column of water was continually 
 spouted out to the elevation of 150 feet, with but 
 little variation, and in a body of seventeen feet in 
 its widest diameter; and this was thrown up with 
 such force and rapidity, that the column continued 
 to nearly the very summit, as compact in body 
 and as regular in width and shape as when it first 
 issued from the pipe; a few feet only of the upper 
 part breaking into spray, which was forced by a 
 
 3 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 435 
 
 light wind on one side, so as to fall upon the ground 
 at the distance of some paces from the aperture. 
 Standing with their backs to the sun, and looking 
 into the mouth of the pipe, they were gratified by 
 beholding a most brilliant assemblage of all the 
 colours of the rainbow, caused by the decomposi- 
 tion of the solar rays passing between them and 
 the crater. Stones of the largest size and great 
 masses of the siliceous rock which were thrown 
 into the crater were instantly ejected by the force 
 of thu water, and they were of so solid a nature as 
 to require very hard blows from a large hammer 
 when specimens were wanted. They were, how- 
 ever, shivered into small pieces by the violence of 
 the water, and carried with the utmost force to 
 the full height, and often higher than the summit 
 of the spout. 
 
 One piece of a light porous stone was thrown 
 twice as high as the water, and falling in the direc- 
 tion of the column, was met by it, and a second 
 time forced to a great height in the air. This 
 spring continued playing to an equal height for a 
 full hour and a half, but at the end of that time its 
 force began to diminish, and in about two hours 
 and a half from its commencement it entirely ceased 
 to play, and the water in the pipe sunk to about 
 the depth of twenty feet. The outline of the aper- 
 ture is an irregular oval, seventeen feet long, and 
 nine feet in width; on only one side of which there 
 is a rim or elevated margin, about five or six feet 
 in length, and one foot high ; but the ends of this 
 are ragged, as if it had formerly been continued 
 the whole way round the crater. The well is not 
 formed with any thing like the mathematical accu- 
 racy of that of the Geyzer ; but is extremely irre- 
 gular in its figure, descending in rather a sloping 
 direction ; its surface is composed of a siliceous 
 crust, of a deep greyish brown colour, worn smooth 
 by the continued frictiou of the water. Neither 
 
436 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 Sir John Stanley nor Mr. Hooker could perceive 
 any alteration in the state of the other springs oc- 
 casioned by the eruption of the New Geyzer ; from 
 which circumstance the conclusion is drawn, that 
 their subterraneous streams are independent of each 
 other. The people in the neighbourhood state 
 that in the spring of 1808 a violent shock of an 
 earthquake was felt, which made an aperture for 
 another hot spring, and caused the whole of them 
 to cease flowing for fifteen days. The ground at 
 the time appeared to be lifted up some feet; a 
 house was thrown down, and all the cattle at pas- 
 ture ran home to the dwellings of their masters in 
 the greatest terror. 
 
 Mr* Menge, a native of Hanau, who visited the 
 Geysers in the summer of 1819, gives the following 
 description of a night scene, which probably could 
 not be equalled in any other part of the world. 
 
 " About one o'clock after midnight, I was 
 awoke by a tremendous thundering, (Mr. M. 
 was taking his repose in a tent on the spot) ; the 
 earth trembled under me : I ran out,, and was sur- 
 prised by the sight of a spectacle equal to any thing 
 rfiat nature can display to mortal view. The sky 
 was perfectly serene, there were no clouds ; four 
 and twenty fountains rose perpendicularly from the 
 earth into the air ; and in the clear nocturnal at- 
 mosphere, the vapour of all the fountains struck 
 the eye most forcibly. In the midst of these foun- 
 tains, the Strock, with a dreadful noise, projected 
 its water into the air to such a height, that you 
 might fancy that the steam of the boiling water 
 reached the stars. The Geyser, with its vapoury 
 Colossus, was at the head. The full moon, rising 
 above a ridge of hills, shone behind the pillar of the 
 Strock ; and on both sides of the vapour of the Gey- 
 ser, the morning dawn tinged the serene heavens. 
 Th>s scene lasted three quarters of an hour. With 
 such objects around me, I looked for an eruption 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 437 
 
 of the Geyser. My attention had been attracted 
 the day previous by throwing in stones ; I hurried 
 to the Strock before its eruption was finished, found 
 the tunnel full of water, and threw a good large 
 piece of tuft into the tube. It immediately began 
 cannonading, and 1 had the good fortune to see it 
 in all its splendour. The colossal column of va- 
 pour, which, by the rushing out of the boiling 
 water, enveloped the whole tunnel, formed one 
 mass to the height of forty feet, and then spread 
 itself out again above: in the midst of the column 
 of vapour, sprouted up pyramids of water, and con- 
 centrated the vapoury cloud in such a manner, that 
 it spread into six or eight lamellae. The forenoon 
 of the 10th of June, passed off without any erup- 
 tion. The Geyser, however, thundered every half 
 hour. Jt became very warm, and, towards mid- 
 day, a south wind obscured the sky. About one 
 o'clock, the Geyser began to shoot up water as high 
 as the Strock ; and, rainy weather setting in, the 
 eruptions of the Geyser were repeated on the 10th 
 and the 11th, every five hours : the Strock, on the 
 contrary, remained quiet for these two days. Every 
 hour during this time, the little Geyser and the 
 little Strock were continually throwing up water ; 
 and, notwithstanding all the noise with which they 
 often drove me out of bed, at night they never rose 
 above four feet. 
 
 " During my three days' stay here, I saw twenty- 
 four eruptions of the Geyser, and only two of the 
 Strock. In gloomy and rainy weather, the Geyser 
 was at work ; the Strock, only in fine weather. 
 The eruptions of the large and little Strock are 
 totally different from those of the two Geysers; 
 both the Strocks are continually boiling ; whereas 
 the Geysers are for the most part quiet, and shoot 
 up their water in slow succeeding fits. On a space 
 of 900 paces in circumference, the great Geyser 
 stands at the north-east point, and has, towards the 
 
 p p 3 
 
438 FLOWERS OF MODERN 7 
 
 hills on the west, six small boiling springs near if ; 
 eighty paces behind it, to the south-west, follows 
 the great Strock at an equal distance, and at the 
 same direction. In the same relative situation, the 
 little Geyser and the little Strock are accompanied 
 by twelve or fourteen boiling springs. On the 
 whole space, the gravelly soil crackles like ice 
 when you walk over it. If you stand between the 
 little Geyser and the little Strock, while they are 
 both spouting up water, the crackling underneath 
 will frequently shake the whale ground. It is pro- 
 bable that this space will one day wholly sink in." 
 
 Earthquakes are not unfrequent in this part of 
 the country. It is conjectured by Sir John Stan- 
 ley, that one which happened in. 1789, but a short 
 time previous to his visit in that year, enlarged the 
 cavities communicating with the new Geyser ; for 
 before that, this spring had not played for a consi- 
 derable length of time whh any degree of violence. 
 The Icelanders who live near these hot springs, send 
 their clothes to be washed ; and the people thus 
 employed, dress their eggs and miserable potatoes 
 there. They are accustomed indeed to more for- 
 midable effects of the burning soil upon which they 
 tread. From 1724 to 1730, there was an eruption 
 of Mount Krabla, which, during that period, almost 
 incessantly poured forth its burning torrents ; and 
 Horrebow speaks of a man who lighted his pipe at 
 a stream of the lava. The natives call these tre- 
 mendous streams by the appropriate name of stone 
 floods. By day, they emit a blue sulphureous 
 flame, obscured by smoke and vapour: by night, 
 thev redden and illumine the whole horizon. Balls 
 of fire are sent up from the stone floods, as well as 
 from the burning mountains. In 1755, Katlegiaa 
 poured out a torrent of water, which swept glaciers 
 and rocks before it, and inundated an extent of 
 country fifteen miles long, and twenty wide : alter- 
 nate discharges of fire and water took place, each 
 
VOYAdES AS T D TRAVELS. 439 
 
 equally destructive; loud subterranean noises were 
 heard to the distance of eighty or ninety miles ; and 
 300 miles off, ashes fell like rain in the Feroe 
 
 isles. 
 
 The most tremendous eruption recorded in the 
 Icelandic annals, is that of 1783. It began on the 
 1st of June, with earthquakes; these continued to 
 increase till the eleventh, when the inhabitants 
 quitted their houses, and took up their abodes in 
 tents: meantime, a continual smoke was seen rising 
 from the northern and uninhabited part of the 
 country : three fire spouts broke out, which, after 
 they had risen to a considerable height, were formed 
 into one, visible at a distance of more than 150 
 miles. The whole atmosphere was darkened with 
 sand, and dust, and brimstone ; showers of pumice 
 stones fell red hot, together with a dirty substance, 
 like pitch, in small balls or rings, which blasted all 
 vegetation. At the same time, great quanties of 
 rain fell, which, running in torrents upon the hot 
 ground, tore up the earth, and carried it into the 
 lower country. This rain was so impregnated with 
 salt and sulphur, in passing the clouds of smoke 
 which filled the sky, as to occasion a considerable 
 smarting on the skin. At a greater distance from 
 the fire, there was, in some places, a shower of hail, 
 in others a fall of snow, so heavy, as to do much in- 
 jury to the cattle. Meanwhile, such steams arose 
 as to darken the sun, and make its disk appear like 
 blood : this was perceived in England. A tract of 
 country, above sixty English miles in length, was 
 converted into one great lake of fire. Its perpen- 
 dicular height, was from sixteen to twenty fathoms. 
 The hills which it did not cover, it melted down ; 
 so that the whole surface was one level expanse of 
 molten matter. Two burning islands were thrown 
 into the sea. Ships, sailing between Copenhagen 
 and Norway, were covered with a black and pitchy 
 matter, of brimstone and ashes j and the rain which 
 
440 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 fell in Norway was so acrid, that it totally destroyed 
 the leaves of trees. Nearly all the grass in the 
 island was burnt ; and what was left was in such a 
 state, that most of the cattle which escaped the fire 
 and flood, died for want of food, or were poisoned 
 by what hunger compelled them to eat. The at- 
 mosphere proved fatal to old persons, and all who 
 had any tendency to pulmonary disease. But the 
 greatest evil was the famine which ensued ; and 
 which was so dreadful, that the number of inhabit- 
 ants who perished in consequence of this eruption, 
 amounted to near 9000. 
 
 An Icelandic church is hardly of better construc- 
 tion than the rudest English barn. Mr. Hooker 
 describes the church of Thingvalla as an oblong 
 quadrangle, with thick walls, leaning a little in- 
 wards, composed of alternate layers of lava and 
 turf. The roof was of turf, thickly covered with 
 grass ; and from the top of this to the ground, the 
 building was scarcely more than sixteen or eighteen 
 feet high. The entrance end alone was constructed 
 of unpainted fir planks, placed vertically, with a 
 small door of the same materials. The body of the 
 church was crowded with large old wooden chests, 
 instead of seats, at once answering the purpose of 
 benches, and containing the clothes of many of the 
 congregation, who, as there was no lock on the 
 door, had free access to their property at all times. 
 The bare walls had no covering whatever, nor the 
 floor any pavement, except a few ill-shapen pieces 
 of rock, either placed there intentionally, or more 
 probably had not been removed from their natu- 
 ral bed at the time of building the church. A 
 few loose planks, laid upon some beams, constituted 
 the ceiling, and crossing the church at about the 
 height of a man, held some old bibles, chests, and 
 the coffin of the minister, which he had made him- 
 self, and which, to judge from his aged look, it 
 might be supposed he soon expected to occupy. 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 
 
 The whole length of the church was not above 
 thirty feet, and about six or eight of this was parted 
 orf by a kind of screen of open work (against which 
 the pulpit wa> placed), for the purpose of contain- 
 ing the altar, a rude sort of table, on which were 
 two brass candlesticks, and over it two extremely 
 small glass windows, the only places that admitted 
 light, except the door-way. Two large bells hung 
 on the right hand side of the church, at an equal 
 height with the beams. The church-yards are 
 often enclosed by rude walls of stone or turf, and 
 the area thinly sprinkled with banks of green sod, 
 which alone serve to mark the burial-places of the 
 natives. 
 
 The Sabbath scene at an Icelandic church, is in- 
 deed one of the most singular and interesting kind. 
 The little edifice is situated perhaps amid the rugged 
 ruins of a stream of lava, or beneath mountains co- 
 vered with never. melting snows; in a spot where 
 the mind almost sinks under the silence and desola- 
 tion of surrounding nature. Here the Icelanders 
 assemble, to perform the duties of their religion. 
 A group of male and female peasants may be seen 
 gathered about the church, waiting the arrival of 
 their pastor; all habited in their best attire ; their 
 children with them, and the horses which brought 
 them from their respective homes, grazing quietly 
 around the little assembly. The arrival of a new 
 comer is welcomed by every one with the kiss of 
 salutation ; and the pleasures of social intercourse, 
 so rarely enjoyed by the Icelanders, are happily 
 connected with the discharge of their religious du- 
 ties. The priest makes his appearance among them 
 as a friend, salutes individually each member of his 
 flock, and stoops down to give his almost parental 
 kiss to the little ones, who are to grow up under 
 his pastoral charge. These offices of kindness per- 
 formed, they all go together into the house of 
 prayer. 
 
442 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 Iceland is invaluable for the protection and ac- 
 commodation it would afford our Greenland trade. 
 The Iceland hovkalv, or shark oil, is the finest fish 
 oil in the world. It is colourless, and clear as wa- 
 ter, and will not freeze in the coldest winter of our 
 climate. It is made by cutting the fish in junks or 
 pieces, and by throwing a large quantity together 
 in a deep pit, where it is suffered to putrify and 
 ferment ; after this the oil exudes, and purifies it- 
 self, and is separated from the fleshy substance by 
 the pressure only, and without heat. After a little 
 repose, it becomes perfectly fine and clear, though 
 it gets of a deeper colour by carriage, perhaps in 
 dirty casks, or from a tinge of the wood. The Ice- 
 landers eat the flesh of the hovkalv, after the oil 
 is extracted, and think it excellent food. The 
 livers of the cod may be treated in the same man- 
 ner ; the heads, as well as the sounds, are of much 
 more value than is generally imagined. The Ice- 
 landers dry the heads, and, by proper treatment, 
 they certainly make as fine soup as the best turtle 
 in the world. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Departure of the Isabella and Alexander — Difficul- 
 ties in forcing the Ice — Kron Prinz Island — 
 Way gat > or Hare Island — Sacheuse, the Esqui- 
 maux — Boat or Umiak — Whalers and Whales — 
 Great Danger — Natives discovered — Ceremony 
 of pulling Noses — Simplicity of the Natives — De- 
 scription of their Persons — Prince Regent's Bay 
 — Red Snow — The Little Aivk — Cape Dudley — 
 Digges — Whale Sound — Sound of Baffin — The 
 Ships obstructed by the Ice — Jones's Sound — An- 
 noyance from Fogs — Lancaster Sound — Pond's 
 Bay — Apology for Captain Ross's Return — Mnr- 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 443 
 
 riages and Affection of the Natives — The King — 
 Origin of the Inhabitants of Prince Regent's Bay 
 — The Arctic Highlands — Their Dress and Ha- 
 bitations. 
 
 On the 18th of April, 1818, the Isabella and Alex- 
 ander, having completed their equipments, dropped 
 down the Thames, and arrived on the 30th at Ler- 
 wick, in Shetland. Here the observatory and seve- 
 ral instruments were landed and set up; but on the 
 third of May, they again put to sea ; and on the 
 26 th, after passing Cape Farewell, at a considerable 
 distance to the south of it, they fell in with the tirst 
 ice berg, which was computed to be about forty 
 feet above the surface of the sea, and 1000 feet 
 long. Here, it is said, " it is hardly possible to 
 imagine any thing more exquisite than the variety 
 of tints which these ice bergs display; by night as 
 well as by day, they glitter with a vividness of co- • 
 lour, beyond the power of art to represent." Ice 
 was now met with every day, and the weather was 
 found variable, while the ships held their course in 
 a north-westerly direction towards the entrance of 
 Baffin's Bay, very absurdly called Davis's Strait. 
 From the side of one of these ice bergs, about 325 
 feet high, a torrent of water was pouring down. 
 On another of those masses, to which the ship was 
 made fast, in latitude 68° 22', a stratum of gravel 
 was observed, and stones of various kinds, mostly 
 quartz and pieces of granite. Here they were vi- 
 sited by some of the native Esquimaux, who in- 
 formed them, that this ice berg had been a-ground 
 nearly a whole year, and that the ice was close from 
 thence all the way to Disco Island. Near this 
 place, they procured several species of sea-fowl, 
 and shot a seal of the enormous weight of S50 
 pounds. 
 
 During the difficulties that Captain Ross and 
 Lieutenant Parry experienced, in forcing the ves- 
 
■14-6 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 whaler must have been crushed to atoms. How- 
 ever the worst had not yet arrived ; the gale in- 
 creased, the ice moved with greater velocity than 
 before, and a continued heavy fall of snow for 
 some time prevented the people from seeing a 
 large field of ice that was bearing down upon 
 them from the west. It was now necessary to saw 
 docks for refuge in which all hands were em- 
 ployed. The ice was found too thick for the nine- 
 feet saws ; a circumstance that proved fortunate, 
 as it was found that the field of ice, to which they 
 were moored, was itself drifting rapidly upon a 
 reef of ice-bergs, which lay aground. It was ne- 
 cessary to reef the topsails close, to run as a last 
 resource between two bergs, or into any creek; 
 when suddenly the field acquired a circular mo- 
 tion, and the very part of the field into which they 
 had attempted to cut the docks, was observed to 
 come in contact with the berg, with such a shock, 
 as to rise more than fifty feet up its side, when the 
 upper part breaking off, it fell and covered with 
 its fragments, the very spot that had been chosen 
 as that of safety. 
 
 After the weather had cleared up, on the 8th of 
 August, a landing was made on a small island, about 
 six miles off, totally a desert, though piles of stone, 
 such as are frequent in the burial-places of the 
 Esquimaux, w T ere observed, and the burnt end of 
 a heath-brush, which Sacheuse said was an in- 
 strument used by his countrymen to trim their 
 lamps with. The ships made little progress along 
 the margin of the ice, which adhered to the shore, 
 and separated them from it. 
 
 On the 9th they were greatly surprised by the 
 appearance of people, who seemed to be hallooing 
 to the ships at a distance. At first they were sup- 
 posed to have been shipwrecked sailors ; the ships, 
 therefore, stood nearer in, and hoisted their 
 colours. It was,, however, discovered that these 
 
VOYAGE* AND TRAVEL*. 44? 
 
 people were natives of the country, and drawn by 
 dogs on sledges, which moved with wonderful ra- 
 pidity. When they came sufficiently near the 
 ships, Sacheuse hailed them in his own language; 
 but though they answered, neither party seemed 
 perfectly to understand each other. The stran- 
 gers then remained silent some time, but on the 
 ship's tacking they all shouted together, accom- 
 panied by many strange gesticulations, after which 
 they wheeled off with wonderful velocity towards 
 the land. Having erected a pole, and placed on 
 the ice a stool, with some presents on it, and an 
 Esquimaux dog, the ships stood to the northward, 
 to examine the state of the ice. Returning, after 
 the lapse of ten days, the dog was found asleep 
 where he had been left, and the presents un- 
 touched. On the next day, however, eight sledges 
 were observed moving furiously towards the ship ; 
 Sacheuse now volunteered his services to go on 
 the ice with presents, and endeavour to bring 
 about a parley. The strangers halting at the dis- 
 tance of about half a mile from the ship, by the 
 edge of a canal ; here the conference was carried 
 on without any apprehension. Sacheuse soon 
 discovered that they spoke a dialect of his own 
 language, and invited them to approach nearer ; 
 but their answer was, " No ! no ! you go away 
 and one of them drawing a knife out of his boot, 
 exclaimed. " Go away, or I will kill you.'' Sa- 
 cheuse told them he had a father and mother like 
 them, and wished to be their friend ; and to satisfy 
 them he threw across the channel, between them, 
 some beads and a chequered shirt, which they took 
 for a skin, and were some time before they ventured 
 to touch it. They thought, it seems, that whether 
 they touched the stranger, or his presents, instant 
 death would be the consequence. 
 
 One of them, however, more courageous than 
 the rest, ventured at last to touch Sachcuse's 
 
 Q q - 
 
448 FLOWLRS OF MODERN' 
 
 hand, then pulling his own nose, he set up a Joud 
 shout. The whole of the eight strangers now 
 came forward, and were met by the two comman- 
 ders of the vessels and other officers ; but they 
 were evidently in a state of alarm till the cere- 
 mony of pulling of noses had been gone through 
 by both parties. Heigh — yaw! here is an ex- 
 clamation of surprise and pleasure ; the more re- 
 markable, as being precisely that which is uni- 
 versally used by the Chinese and Tartars. As for 
 the looking glasses, with which they were pre- 
 sented, they very naturally enquired if they were 
 not made of ice. On approaching the ship, they 
 halted, and were evidently much terrified ; and 
 one of the party, after surveying the Isabella, 
 and examining every part of her, exclaimed 
 aloud, " Who are you V* " Where do you come 
 from?" " Is it from the sun or moon r" pausing 
 between every question, and pulling the nose with 
 great solemnity, in which he was successively imi- 
 tated by all the rest. Sacheuse endeavoured to 
 persuade them that the ship was only a wooden 
 house ; but the sails they could not conceive to be 
 any thing else but skins, whilst that which screwed 
 up their admiration to the highest pitch, was the 
 circumstance of a sailor going aloft, nor did they 
 take their eyes off him for a moment, till he had 
 reached the summit of the mast. In fact their 
 astonishment at every thing they saw, for the first 
 time in their lives, in and about the ships, and at 
 the people on board, so different from themselves, 
 should have been seen to be rightly conceived. 
 Being offered refreshments, they had no relish for 
 biscuit, salt meat, or spirits ; preferring, to every 
 thing, the dried flesh of the sea-unicorn, which 
 they carried about with them. Having received 
 some trifling presents, they returned to the shore, 
 hallooing, and apparently highly delighted with 
 the treatment they had received. 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. ±4<J 
 
 The ships taking up a new anchorage, at no 
 great distance, two or three days afterwards, they 
 were visited by three other natives, a father 
 and two sons, from whom they learned that the 
 iron, with which their knives were edged, was 
 found in a mountain in great masses; that they cut 
 it off with hard stone, and then beat it flat into 
 small pieces of an oval shape. A circumstance 
 that strongly marks the poverty of these people's 
 means, or that of their invention is, that though 
 much of their sustenance is derived from the sea, 
 they have no sort of embarkation in which they 
 can go afloat ; nor have they any knowledge of 
 the names kujiack and umiac, by which the boat 
 and canoe are generally designated amongst all 
 the other tribes of the Esquimaux. Upon the 
 whole, these northern people are more ugly than 
 their southern neighbours, and very like to some 
 of the natives of the Aleutian Islands, the Kam- 
 schatkadales, the Koriaks, && The average sta- 
 ture of those that were seen, was rather more than 
 five feet. Their faces were broad, round as the 
 full moon, chubby, and somewhat flattened ; with 
 the Tartar high cheek bones, and small eyes; their 
 hair was straight, black, and coarse : but the de- 
 scriptions given by Crantz and Egede, of the 
 southern Greenlanders, are said to be equally ap- 
 plicable to Captain Ross's Arctic Highlanders. 
 
 The ships came so near the land, in doubling 
 the Prince Regent's bay, as Captain Ross has 
 named it, that parties from both ships went on 
 shore in search of natives, and to collect speci- 
 mens of natural history. They observed, with 
 considerable surprize, large tracts of snow on the 
 sides of the hills, and in the vallies, deeply tinged 
 with some red colouring matter. This they called 
 snow, and a considerable quantity of it was col- 
 lected, and appeared, when in the buckets, like 
 so much raspberry ice-cream. When dissolved, 
 
 Q q 3 
 
450 F LOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 the liquor looked not much unlike muddy port- 
 wine; allowed to settle, the sediment, viewed 
 through a microscope, seemed to be composed of 
 deep red globules. It was brought to England, 
 both in a liquid and in a dry state ; but on exami* 
 nation, a considerable difference of opinion took 
 place between the chemists and other curious per- 
 sons ; some considering it to be of animal, and 
 others of a vegetable substance. Mr. Brande was 
 the first to analyse it, and having detected uric 
 acid, he pronounced it at once to be the excre- 
 ment of birds. Though this gentleman was not 
 aware of the circumstance, it appears, that the 
 neighbouring rocks and cliffs were resorted to as 
 the common breeding-place of the little hawk, 
 alca alle y whose numbers were so great, as some- 
 times literally to darken the air. Many circum- 
 stances respecting this bird, lent a plausibility to 
 the conjecture. It had long been known, and had 
 been noticed by Sir Everard Home, that it was 
 furnished with a kind of sack under the root of 
 its tongue, for the purpose, as was supposed, of 
 economizing its food. This was fully corrobo- 
 rated by Mr, Fisher, the assistant-surgeon in the 
 expedition, who found in the sacks of all those 
 he examined, a great number of those minute red 
 shrimps with which the Arctic seas abound. Mr, 
 Fisher observed u it was worthy of remark, that 
 this colouring matter, be it what it may, does not 
 penetrate more than an inch or two below the 
 surface ; and had it not been that a similar sub- 
 stance appears to have been observed on the 
 snow, on the Alps and Pyrenees, there could not 
 be any of the hawks which are so numerous here, 
 I should have been ironed to think that the red 
 or colouring matter, ailV led to, is the excrement 
 of these birds. v Still t ie general opinion of the 
 officers of the expedition, was in favour of the 
 vegetable origin of this matter. One gentleman 
 6 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 4, r )i 
 
 who collected it, said it had very much t lie taste 
 of beet-root; another thought it tasted of the 
 mushroom. Dr. YVollaston, after examining it 
 very minutely, both by the microscope and che- 
 mical tests, has given it as his opinion, that it is a 
 vegetable product. 
 
 This is by no means the first mention of red 
 snow. Pliny, and Aristotle before him, asserted, 
 that snow becomes red with age, occasioned by a 
 red worm which is bred in it. Signor Saratte 
 speaks of a red snow, which appeared on the 
 mountains, near Genoa, and which yielded a liquid 
 of the same colour. M. Saussure frequently ob- 
 served red snow on various parts of the Alps, the 
 colouring matter of which, from the smell given 
 out in burning, he concluded to be the farina of 
 some particular plant. Marten, also, in his voyage 
 to Spitzbergen, mentions his having seen red snow 
 near the Seven Icebergs, a place well known to 
 the whale-fishers. 
 
 But to return to the expedition. On the 17th of 
 August the ships passed Cape Dudley Digges, 
 whose latitude was found to agree pretty nearly 
 with that assigned to it by Baffin ; and the next day 
 they passed the Wolstenholme Sound of that navi- 
 gator, and found it completely blocked up with 
 ice. Captain Ross says, it seemed to be eighteen 
 or twenty leagues in depth, and the land on each 
 side appeared to be habitable. 
 
 Of Whale Sound no further notice is taken, 
 than that they could not approach it in a direct 
 line, on account of ice. In fact they never ap- 
 proached it nearer than twenty leagues, though 
 the ice was not probably very compact, as near 
 Carey's Islands, which were discovered the same 
 evening, the sea was clearer of floes and loose ice, 
 Captain Ross says, than ever he had seen it; but 
 there were visible a vast number of ice-bergs, 
 most of them aground in 250 fathoms. 
 
4,52 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 About midnight, on the 1 9th, Sir Thomas 
 Smith's Sound of Baffin, was distinctly seen, and 
 the two capes, forming its entrance, were named 
 after the two ships, Isabella and Alexander. Cap- 
 tain Ross considered the bottom of this sound to 
 be about eighteen leagues distant ; but its entrance 
 was completely blocked up by the ice ! As this 
 opening is stated by Baffin to be the largest of all 
 the sounds he discovered, and as Captain Ross, 
 by his own shewing, was sixty English miles from 
 the entrance of it, the fact of his having seen any 
 part, much less the bottom of Smith's Sound has 
 been doubted. As to the other great deep bay to 
 the westward of Sir Thomas Smith's Sound, Cap- 
 tain Ross, it was thought, was evidently in haste to 
 get out of it. 
 
 On the 20th of August it was found impossible 
 to get further north, in consequence of the ice, 
 and a solid mass was found reaching across that 
 bay that forms the northernmost part of Baffin's; 
 to this the name of Ross's Bay has been given. 
 The rise of the tide here was four feet, and the 
 flood set to the north ; but the velocity was di- 
 minished to half a knot in the hour. On quitting 
 this point the vessels proceeded to explore Jones's 
 Sounds, the next inlet where the passage in ques- 
 tion might be expected. This bay was filled with 
 ice of a greenish hue; but the land appeared bare 
 of vegetation : few birds were seen, no whales, 
 nor any animals, except seals. Here, also, it was 
 ascertained, that a ridge of very high mountains 
 extended nearly across the bottom of the bay, 
 joining to another from the south, not so high. 
 Satisfied there was no passage here, though a piece 
 of fir, with the mark of the plane and adze on it, 
 and nails, was picked up, the vessels stood to the 
 southward. 
 
 On the 24th of August the sun set to our navi- 
 gators, for the first time, terminating a day of 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 453 
 
 1 ,872 hours, as it is hew stated, and giving them 
 warning of the approach of a long and dreary winter. 
 
 On the 28th of August the fogs, which had been 
 prevalent for some days, began to be of serious 
 inconvenience ; the nights, also, became dark, 
 though at several times the land was traced to the 
 latitude of 75° 27', presenting ridges of very lofty 
 ice. The coast, too, being defended by ice, could 
 not be approached within five leagues ; the sea to 
 the eastward was at the same time entirely clear, 
 and the mountains only partially covered with 
 snow ; this part of the coast was considered habit- 
 able. 
 
 On the 29th, the ships continued standing to- 
 wards the most distant land, and during this pro- 
 gress the temperature of the surface water in- 
 creased from 32° to 36°. This was attributed to 
 the vessels having quitted the ice in the vicinity of 
 which the freezing temperature is naturally main- 
 tained. A wide opening appeared here between a 
 cape, called Cape Charlotte, and a more distant 
 land, which, after some tacking, the Isabella was 
 enabled to stand in for, and explore. 
 
 On the 30th of August, the northern side of the 
 land in this opening was seen, extending from west 
 to north, in a chain of mountains, covered with 
 snow. A yellow sky, without land, was also seen 
 between west and south west, the opening bearing 
 the appearance of a channel. In the afternoon of 
 the same day, standing to the south side of this 
 opening, they had approached the most magnifi- 
 cent chain of mountains they had ever beheld. 
 Here, although undoubted indications of a passage 
 through Lancaster Sound appeared, and though 
 the expedition fitted out was intended almost en- 
 tirely for the purpose of exploring it, the positive 
 manner in which Captain Ross stated the non-ex- 
 istence of the passage, has caused the greatest 
 surprize. Quitting this sound, the expedition pro- 
 
*54 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 eeeded to the southward, passing two more inlets, 
 like most of the others, filled with large glaciers 
 of ice, and almost impenetrable. 
 
 On the 5th of September another bay was found, 
 to the southward, called Ponds Bay, occupied by 
 a long glacier, extending a considerable way into 
 the sea, and of course impenetrable. At sun set 
 Captain Ross had run down above seventy miles of 
 the coast, apparently no where inhabited, and he 
 was " completely satisfied there could be no pas- 
 sage between latitude 73° 3j and ; c 2°." 
 
 In running further to the southward, the name 
 of North Ayr was given to a tract never before 
 described ; and the formality of taking possession 
 being put into execution, they discovered a fire- 
 place, a human skull, and other marks of civiliza- 
 tion. From this time to the 3d of October, the 
 narrative is made up of accounts of nothing but 
 bays filled with glaciers, and of high land backing 
 the whole coast. 
 
 As a manifest disposition has prevailed to cen- 
 sure Captain Ross, for disappointing the public 
 expectation, and particularly in the unsatisfactory 
 manner in which he quitted Sir James Lancaster's 
 Sound, it is proper to give his justification in his 
 own words. After referring to the log books cor- 
 rected by the hydrographer of the admiralty, Sec. 
 he proceeds, " But it may not be amiss to point out 
 the parts in my official instructions, which are 
 printed in the beginning of this work, wherein I 
 am directed to pay particular attention to the cur- 
 rents, and to be guided by them, and also to the 
 part which recommends me to look for the north- 
 east point of America, or, in other words, the 
 north-west passage, about the seventy-second de- 
 gree of latitude. As it was fully proved that no 
 current existed in the inlet which we had just ex- 
 plored, or to the northward of it, it naturally fol- 
 lowed that I should have supposed myself still to 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 
 
 455 
 
 the northward of the current which had been so 
 confidently asserted to exist, and that therefore 
 this inlet was not the place to persevere in forcing 
 a passage, but that there was reason to expect it 
 would be found further south. My orders to stand 
 well to the north had already been fully obeyed ; 
 and no current had been found ; and if a current 
 of some force did exist, as from the 1 best autho- 
 rities' we had reason to believe was the fact, it 
 could be no where but to the southward of this la- 
 titude. 
 
 " As in my instructions I am also directed to 
 leave the ice about the lnth or ^Oth of September, 
 or at latest on the 1st of October, I had only one 
 month left for my operations, in which month the 
 nights are long, and, according to a fair calcula- 
 tion, not more than two days clear weather out of 
 seven could be expected. It may therefore with 
 propriety be stated, that I had only eight days re- 
 maining to explore the remainder of Baffin's Bay, 
 a distance of above four hundred miles. Of this 
 space nearly 200 miles had never been examined; 
 a range, including the supposed place of the dis- 
 continuity of the continent, and that to which my 
 attention had been particularly called, and where 
 the imaginary current, which was to be my guide, 
 was to be expected. Jt is perhaps unnecessary to 
 add, that under these circumstances I was anxious 
 to proceed to the spot where it must be evident I 
 had the best chance of success. Yet my anxiety, 
 on the other hand, to leave no part of the coast 
 unexplored, even after all hopes of a passage were 
 given up, determined me to persevere as 1 did, 
 notwithstanding there was no current, a material 
 decrease in the temperature of the sea, and no 
 driftwood, or other indication of a passage, until I 
 actually saw the barrier of high mountains, and 
 the continuity of ice, which put the question at 
 rest. That 1 did so persevere became afterwards 
 a source of great satisfaction, as I was fortunate 
 
456 FLOWEIIS OF MODERN 
 
 also to succeed in every part of the coast to the 
 southward, to which my attention was to be di- 
 rected, and where I was led to expect the current 
 was to be found. This was a much more essential 
 part of my duty than the making of magnetical 
 observations, the only inducement still remaining 
 to linger in that dangerous bay, where much time 
 might have been wasted in attempting to land, per- 
 haps without success, or at any rate without at- 
 taining any beneficial results. My opinions were 
 mentioned to several of the officers, after J had de- 
 termined to proceed to the southward ; and also to 
 Captain Sabine, who repeated, on every occasion, 
 that there was no indication of a passage." 
 
 It is obvious, from the tenor of the instructions, 
 from the extraordinary preparations, and from the 
 victualling stores, in addition to the established 
 allowance for two years, amounting to nearly 9000 
 pounds of preserved meat, of vegetable soups, es- 
 sence of malt, and all manner of comforts, of warm 
 clothing for every man of the two ships, that win- 
 tering somewhere on the northern coast of Ame- 
 rica was fully contemplated. Before the sailing of 
 the expedition, all on board was delighted at the 
 idea of hunting bears and foxes, and other ani- 
 mals, in the long moon-light nights, of a fortnight 
 each; and of making and registering observations 
 where they had never been made before. Even 
 Captain Ross himself was so impressed with the 
 probability of wintering, that just a month before 
 the period of his return, the <f ship's boats went 
 out to kill a whale, that the blubber, as he said, 
 might serve them for winter light and fuel." 
 
 With respect to marriages in these parts, it was 
 understood that when a man is able to maintain a 
 family, he was allowed to take a wife ; if the wo- 
 man proved fruitful, he was compelled to keep her, 
 but if not, he might put her away and take another ; 
 the woman also had the same privilege with rc- 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 457 
 
 speet to a husband. In case of the want of chil- 
 dren, the change of wives was permitted to a se- 
 cond or third. Much affection also appeared to 
 exist among them; most of the men spoke well of 
 their wives, and when they begged any fanciful 
 thing, as a looking-glass, they said it was for their 
 wives. They also shewed much respect for their 
 mothers ; one man said he would part with his 
 sledge, and another with Ins jacket, only that their 
 mothers would be displeased. Two of themen, named 
 Ervick and Meignak, were strongly pressed to part 
 with one of their sons, but they positively said they 
 would not, nor could either of them be tempted, 
 by any presents, to consent to part with a child. 
 Even in this rude and uncultivated state, none of 
 them were willing to leave their country, but on 
 the contrary, seemed happy and contented. Their 
 clothing appeared suitable to the climate, and ac- 
 cording to their account, they felt no want of pro- 
 visions. They seemed to have no diseases among 
 them, nor could the people with Captain Ross 
 ]earn that they 7 died of any complaints peculiar to 
 this or any other country; nor were any deformed 
 persons to be seen. 
 
 The king of this quarter is named Tuloowar, and 
 he was represented by all as a very strong, and a 
 very good man. The name of his residence was 
 Petewack, which they described to be near a large 
 island, supposed to be that of Wolstenholme. They 
 said his house was built of stone, and nearly as 
 large as the ship ; that there were many houses 
 near it, and that most of the natives lived 
 thereabout. They added, that they paid him a 
 portion of all they caught or found, and returned 
 to this place whenever the sun went away, with the 
 fruits of their labours. What appeared most asto- 
 nishing, they could not be made to understand 
 what was meant by war, nor had they any other 
 weapons than those used to kill game. On this 
 
 vol. iv. R r 
 
458 
 
 FLOWERS OF MODERN 
 
 account Captain Ross gave strict and positive or* 
 ders that no fire arms, &c. should be shewn to, or 
 given them on any consideration. 
 
 The origin of these inhabitants of Prince Re- 
 gent's Bay is involved in great obscurity. The 
 corner of the world in w r hich they exist is by far 
 the most secluded of any yet discovered ; and they 
 have no knowledge of any thing but what originates 
 or is found in their own country ; neither have they 
 any tradition how, or from whence they came to this 
 spot themselves. Till the moment of the arrival of 
 the English, these poor savages imagined themselves 
 the only inhabitants of the universe, fancying that 
 all the rest of the world was a mass of ice. The 
 natives of South Greenland generally believe that 
 they are descended from a nation in the north ; 
 and the moment they were discovered, Sacheuse 
 exclaimed, u These are right Esquimaux ; these 
 are our fathers." This hypothesis borrows some 
 probability from Egede's Greenland. The simila- 
 rity of their language proves them to be the same 
 people ; it is therefore inferred, that South Green- 
 land has been peopled from the north, and that 
 the northern parts of Baffin's Bay have been in the 
 same manner originally peopled from America. 
 
 The country to which Captain Ross gave the 
 name of Arctic Highlands, is situated in the north 
 east corner of Baffin's Bay, between the latitudes 
 of 76 an 77 40 N. and the longitudes of 60 and 72 
 west; thus extending on the sea shore for one 
 hundred and twenty miles in a north west direc- 
 tion ; the breadth, where widest, does not exceed 
 twenty miles, and toward the extremities is re- 
 duced to nothing. It is bounded on the south by 
 an immense barrier of mountains, covered with ice, 
 which takes its rise in 74° 30', and extends to 76 
 north. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Abbt.y of Jumfeges, 14 
 Abbeville, 4, 5 
 Abo, university of, 332 
 Adventure, a dangerous, 8'J 
 ArFschafFenbur/, 175 
 Auathocles, 121 
 Aix la Chapelle, MS, 184 
 Aland, islands of, 331, 332 
 Alps of Switzerland, 66, 67. 69 
 Altar of Obelisks, the, 26 
 Alten, the river of, 381 
 Althing Assembly, the, 402 
 Alt Often, 230 
 
 Amusements of Pesth and Bu- 
 
 da, 227 
 Ants nests, prodigious, 372 
 Appian Way, the, 162 
 Architecture, strange, 83 
 Arctic Highlands, the, 458 
 Arethusa, fountain of, 125 
 Argos, the modern, 146 
 Athens, 147 
 Baden, 176, 177 
 Baffin's Bay, 443 
 Bainiotes, the, 144 
 Banks, Sir Joseph, 409 
 Bark of trees eaten, 386 
 Basle, 85 
 
 Baths, warm, public, 228 
 Bear, attack made by a, 445 
 Beggars, familiar, 60. 298 
 Berlin, 190. 261. 318 
 Biberich, 180 
 Bingen, 3 81 
 Bohemia, 192 
 Bohemian landlords, 249 
 Bole, houses at, 373 
 Bonaparte's Column, 2, 3 
 Bonn, 182 
 Boulogne, 1, 2 
 Bourdeaux, 63 
 Bramsen, Mr. 140 
 Brandenburg, 267 
 Bremen, 290 
 Bremerlehe, 290 
 Bright, Dr. 202 
 Brocket!, the, 299 
 
 Brunswick, 274 
 Buda, 225 
 BurTnn, 67 
 
 Eu_;s, monstrous, 368 
 Burir, 269 
 
 Cambridge, Duke of, 303 
 
 Candia, island of, 142 
 
 Cape Dudley Digges, 451 
 
 Carlscrona, 321 
 
 Carriages, French, 2 
 
 Cassel, 173. 312, 513 
 
 Castro Giovanni, 123 
 
 Catacombs, 127. 357 
 
 Catanea, 130 
 
 Caudebec, 9 
 
 Cavern, magnificent, 79 
 
 Celle, or Zell, 281 
 
 Ceremonies, on the moral ten- 
 dency of, 212 
 
 Chateauvieux, If* visits Italy, 
 160 
 
 Chandos, Sir John, 59 
 Charlottenberg, 265 
 Chimneys, wooden, 409 
 Christiana, 384 
 Christmas gifts, 309, 310 
 Church, an Ieelandic, 440 
 Civaux, tombs at, 59 
 Civita Vecchia, 104 
 Clagenfurt, 199 
 Clausthal, 298 
 Cleves, 184 
 Coblentz, 182 
 Cold, horrors of, 329 
 Cologne, 182 
 
 Colony from East Greenland, 
 408 
 
 Columbia, banks of, 347 
 Como, 84 
 
 Confirming children, 309 
 Constance, 86 
 
 Copenhagen, 187, 188.383 
 Corfu, 140, 141 
 Corinth, 146 
 
 Corn, mode of drying, 373 
 Country, a prosperous, 187 
 Cracow, city of, 363 
 
INDEX, 
 
 Cretins, or Ideots, 89 1 
 Croats, villages of, 232 
 Crypt of St. Laurence, 26 
 Cunegunda, chapel of, 363 
 Danekker, 170 
 Dannemora, mine of, 330 
 Darmstadt, 173 
 Darkness, how a blessing, 375 
 Debretzin, 224 
 Deserter, a French; 320 
 Dettingen, 175 
 Diepholtz, 296 
 Dijon, town of, 68 
 Dinners, at Vienna* 205 
 Dole, the, 99 
 Domo, 83 
 
 Dram drinking, effects of, 378 
 Dresden, 249* 250 
 Drontheim, 388 
 Drottningholm, 328 
 Drunkenness not a German 
 
 vice, 312 
 Duels perpetual, 169 
 Eagle of the Alps, the, 101 
 Earthen huts, 394, 395 
 Earthquake, a violent, 436, 
 
 438 
 
 Economy, instance of, 388 
 
 Education, 300 
 
 Eider birds, nests of the* 413 
 
 Eimbeck beer, 297 
 
 Eisleben, 272 
 
 Elsinore, 190 
 
 Embden, 292 
 
 English feudal castles, 284 
 
 Eruption, tremendous, 430 
 
 Esquimaux, 443. 447 — king 
 of, 457 — ■ domestic happi- 
 ness of the, 457 
 
 Feelings differently express- 
 ed, 375 
 
 Ferney, 69, 70 
 
 Festival of Easter Mond. 228 
 Feudal services, 272 
 Finland, 376. 381 
 Finmark, or Lapland, 391 
 Finnish sledges, 330 — lan- 
 guage, 333 
 
 Fire, measures taken for pre- 
 venting, 229 
 
 Fisheries, northern, great cen- 
 tre of, 391 
 
 Fontaine, 20 
 
 ■ Napoleon, 69 
 
 Forest, a burning, 375 
 
 Fourcroy, 20 
 
 Foxes in Iceland, 419 
 
 Frankfort on the Maine, 174 
 
 315 
 
 Fredericksham, 379. 384 
 
 Frederickstadt, 384 
 
 Free-school, the public, 169 
 
 French, the, why preferred to 
 other nations, 172. 183. 190 
 — dresses, female, 3 — po- 
 litesse, 52 prejudices, 356 
 
 Friars, Franciscan, 235 
 
 Friezland, 293 
 
 Frozen Ocean, the, 381 
 
 Funf kirchen, 243, 244 
 
 Gamme, a,- or Lapland hovel, 
 395 
 
 Gardens in Iceland, 416, 418 
 Gene, 372 
 
 General de la Harpe, 163 
 
 Geneva, 70, 71. 73 
 
 German inns, 181 — manners, 
 
 281. 311,312 
 Gex, 69 
 
 Geyzer springs; 427 — * the 
 roaring, 433. 433 — the 
 new, 434. 437 
 
 Gibbon, the historian, 84 
 
 Girgenti,the ancient Agrigen- 
 turn, 121 
 
 Glasshutte, 219 
 
 Goats* why banished from Ice- 
 land, 421 
 
 Goitres, 197 
 
 Gondo, gloomy village of, 83 
 Goslar, 299 
 Gottenburgh, 316. 368 
 Gottingen, 298, 301 
 Gratz, 196, 247 
 Greenland, origin of, 405 
 Grotto, the, of Corgnale, 201 
 
ISDEX. 
 
 Grubenhagen, 293 
 Guldell, valley of, 333 
 Gymnasium, the, l(i9 
 Gypsies, Hungarian, 216, 238 
 Hall, Mr. leaves England, 1 
 Hamburgh, city of, 285. 365 
 Hanau, 175 
 Hanover, 277. 280. 299 
 Hans Egede, 407 
 Harburg, '284 
 Harcourt, the Duke of, 10 
 Harebacke, the, '386 
 Harmony, religious, 2?5 
 Hartzberg, the, 298 
 Helmstadt, 2~3 
 Helsingborg, 383 
 Helsijigfors, 333 
 Herdsmen, Hungarian, 239 
 Hesse, Grand Duke of, 173 
 Hevdinger, '288 
 Ilildesheim, 275 
 Hodgskin, Mr- 24-8 
 Hooker, Mr. visits the hot 
 
 springs; 427 
 Morse racing in Sicily, 117 
 Hot springs, 417, 418 
 Hottentot Venus, the, 38 
 House of a magnat, 221 
 Houses, singular, 235, 236 
 Hungary, 195 
 
 Ice on lire, 416 — obstruc- 
 tions of, 443. 445 — fields 
 of, 385 — island!*, 416 
 
 Iceland, 402, 404 
 
 — dress of the wife, 410 
 
 ■ mode of salutation, ib. 
 — — cookery in, 411 
 
 ■ tales, histories, 412 
 poor laws, ib. 
 
 ' — articles of trade, 413 
 
 Icelandic shark, 441 
 
 ■ ■ sabbath scene, 551 
 
 ley sea, the, 88 
 
 lglau, 193 
 
 Ilsenthal, 299 
 
 Ipsica, valley of, 154 
 
 Iron nights, what, 387 
 
 Isabella and Alexander, de- 
 parture of the, 442 
 
 James, Mr. 315 
 
 Jewish settlers, 354. 360 
 
 Jew merchants of Hunaarv, 
 223 
 
 Juliers, 183 
 
 Kiel, account of, 366 
 
 Kiev, or Kiow, city of, 356 
 
 King James, of England, 40 
 
 Kodiak islanders, 346 
 
 Kremuitz, 220 
 
 Kringelen, narrow pass of, 393 
 Lake of Geneva, 76 
 — of Chede, 77 
 
 , the Neusiedler, 232 
 
 Lamp, sepulchral, 27 
 Lancaster .Sound, 453 
 Land Hadeln, 289 
 Lapland superstition, 398 
 Lrjplander>, howl ol the, 378 
 
 roving, 391. 393 
 
 La Trappe, monastery of, 45 
 Laugerfell mountain, 427, 428 
 La y bach, 200 
 Leibnitz, 27? 
 Leipsic, 252. 257 
 Le Mans, town of, 51 
 Lent, a Russian, 338 
 Leo ben, 1?9 
 
 Lillebone, 8— Castle of, 10 
 Limoges, massacre at, 65 
 Lmkoping, 32< 
 Loccuin, 296 
 Log-houses, what, 373 
 Lubomirsky, family of, 3*7 1 
 Lucerne, lake of, 87 
 Lunenberg, 283 
 Lutheran church, the, 31 1,31? 
 Lyons, 69 
 
 Madame de Stael, 84 
 Magdeburg, 270 
 Mageroc, 382 
 Malaria, the, 161 
 Malmaison, 41 
 Mauheim, 178 
 Mauiotes, the, 142 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Marienzell, 198 
 Marengo, battle of, 94 
 Marriages among the Esqui- 
 
 meaux, 456 
 Marshal Ney, 20 
 Marshes, the finest, 292 
 Meissen, 256 
 Mentz, 171 
 Meppen, 294 
 Mer de Glace, 78 
 Messina, 136 
 Minerva, temple of, 125 
 Misitra, 145 
 Mob, a Russian, 339 
 Moliere, 20 
 Montanvert, 78 
 Monte Pellegrino, ll) 
 Montmartre, 41 
 Montmorency, 43 
 Montreuil, 4 
 
 Monument of Marshal Ney, 
 21 
 
 Moreau, general, 255 
 Morey, 69 
 
 Morge, church of, 84 
 
 Mortagne, 45 
 
 Moscow, 349 
 
 Mount Blanc, 67. 96 
 
 Etna, 132 
 
 — — Jura, 70 
 
 — - St. Gothard, 92 
 
 Mountain, a dangerous, 423 
 
 Mountains, Carpathian, 214 
 
 Naples, 148, 149 
 
 Neapolitan character, 153 
 
 ■ — manners and cus- 
 
 toms, 154, 155 
 
 Nieuburg, 296 
 
 Niewied, 182 
 
 Night scene, 436 
 
 Nordland, 381 
 
 Norfolk Sound, 346, 348 
 
 North Ayr, 454 
 
 North Cape, the, 382 
 
 Norkoping, 324 
 
 Norway, waterfallgin, 377 
 
 Norwegian colony, the lost, 
 407. 409 
 
 Norwegians, improved, 383 
 Novogorod, 343 
 Oldenburg, 291 
 Orkedal, the great, 387 
 Oschatz, 256 
 Osnabruck, 295 
 Ostrobothnians, the, 379 
 Otterndorf, 288 
 Out-door apprentices, 168 
 Ovid, tomb of, 232 
 Paintings, old, 5 
 Palermo, 105, 106. 112 
 Palota, 246 
 Pappenburg, 293 
 Paris, entrance into, 12 
 
 beauties of, 13 
 
 Park of La Mallerai, 11 
 Pattenson, 284 
 Peasants, Polish, 360 
 Pesth, 225 
 
 Petersburgh, city of, 335 
 Pierre Levee, 58 
 Pilgrimages, 244. 356 
 Pilgrims, parties of, 198 
 Pine forests, 401 
 Piscina, the famous, 12$ 
 Polish dresses, 363 
 Pompeii, 158, 159 
 Ponds bay, 454 
 Poor in Hanover, 310 
 Popinjay, shooting at the, 251 
 Poitiers, rich in antiquity, 54 
 
 church of Notre 
 
 Dame, at, 56 
 Potsdam, 319 
 Prague, 192 
 Presburg, 213 
 
 Prince Regent's bay, 449. 458 
 Procession to the memory of 
 
 Luther, 253 
 Protestants in Hanover, 304 
 Prussian manners, 266 
 Psalm singing, custom of, 252 
 Puffin, the, how taken, 390 
 Punchinello, 151 
 Quarries, Athenian, 126 
 Quarterly fairs, Hungarian, 
 
 225 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Raab, the (own of, 231 
 Rapids and cataracts, 399 
 Rastadt, 176 
 
 Reia deer, 391. 297, 39$. 
 
 Reckavik, 409 
 
 Rhine, fall of the, 85 
 
 — — mouth of the, 1 85 
 
 Robbers in Hungary, 253 
 
 Rocky, Cape, the great, 39 J 
 
 scenery, ib. 
 
 Roman Pharos, a, 2 
 
 road, 162 
 
 theatre, remains of, 11 
 
 triumphal arch, '213 
 
 Rcss, Captain, 443. 454 
 
 Ross's Bay, 452 
 
 Rouen, .5— Cathedral 6 — But- 
 ter tower, ib. — abbey at, 
 7 — Palais de J ustice resem- 
 bling Westminster Hall, ib. 
 — ancient buildings, 8 — 
 statue of the Maid of Or- 
 leans, ib. 
 
 Rousseau, John James, 43. 70 
 
 . John Baptist, 29 
 
 Russel, Mr. 103 
 
 Russia and Sweden, compari- 
 son between, 335 
 
 Russian baths, 355 — travel- 
 ling, 318 
 
 officers, narrow escape 
 
 of, 30 — peasants, MS — 
 iettlements, 545 
 
 frauds, 351 
 
 saints burial place of, 
 
 257 
 
 Rve, island of, 389 
 Sacheuse, courage of, 447 
 Saintes, antiquities at, 60, 61 
 Saints, Russian, 357 
 Salmagundi, what, 368 
 Samaritan Woman, fountain 
 
 of, 27 
 Sans Souci, 319 
 Saracenic buildings, 109 
 Saussure, ML de, 97, 98 
 
 Saxon god, altar of a, 299 
 Saxony, 248 
 
 Scene, an interesting, 530 
 
 SchafF hausen, 85 
 ! Scliauenburg Lippe, 296 
 1 Schemnitz, mines at, 217 
 
 Sirocco, the, 115 
 
 Sclavonian songs and villages, 
 214, 215 
 
 Sea poultry, flocks, and weed, 
 ' 414 
 
 j Seal>, tameable, 414 
 | Segeste, 119 
 , Semmering, the lofty, 248 
 ' Sermon, a loud, 375 
 
 Shark's flesh, an Iceland 
 dainty, 416 
 | Sheep, sagacity of, 420 
 ; Shooting matches, 297 
 
 Siniplon, the, 69, 70 
 
 — wonders of the, 80, 
 
 81 
 
 — village of the, 82 
 
 Sinclair, Colonel, 393 
 Skioldebrand, Colonel, 378, 
 
 380 
 
 Slaves in Russia, 352 
 Sledge procession, a, 209 
 Sledges drawn by dogs, 444 
 Smith's Sound of Baffin, 452 
 Suahatta, mountain of, 387 
 Snow, red, 449, 450 
 Soniiini, 20 
 Sor Herroe, 389 
 Souterreir.s, curious, 92 
 Spectacle, singular, 330 
 Stade, 287 
 
 Stained glass, baeutiful, 52 
 Statue of Napoleon, 3 
 Statutes, a collection of, 110 
 St. Bernard, Mount, 93, 94 
 St Denis, Abbey Church of, 
 41 
 
 St. John Baptist, festival of, 
 391 
 
 Stockholm, city of, 325 
 Stockhorn, 101 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Stone, the English, 78 
 Sr. Rosalia, fete of, 115 
 Student, funeral of a, 253 
 Stutsrard, 170, 171 
 St. Wilfrid, church of, 5 
 Sulphur mountain, the, 425 
 Swedish modes of punishment, 
 328 
 
 • - forges and iron, 371 
 
 ■ bread, 374 
 
 hospitality. .567, 379 
 
 manners, 369 
 
 » peasantry, 365 
 Swiss fare, 88 
 Syracusa, 125 
 
 Tableau, diversion of the, 207 
 Talvig, bay of, 593 
 Tar, mode of manufacturing, 
 374 
 
 Tell, William, chapel of, 87 
 Temple of Olympic Jove, 129 
 
 of Juno Lacina, 122 
 
 ————— of Esculapius, ib. 
 Thundering, tremendous, 436 
 Tichbein, the works of, 314 
 Toleration, religious, 302 
 Toll-houses, 268, 281 
 Tombs of the Revolution, 28 
 Tombs, singular, 124 
 Torneo, 375 
 Toulouse, 63 
 Tours, 52 
 
 Travelling, cheap mode of,323 
 
 in Iceland, 424 
 
 Trieste, 08 
 Tripol'ezza, 145 
 Yrolhatta, falls of, 369 
 Tuil Series, 33 
 Valley of the Rhone, 8l 
 Varasdin, town of, 236 
 
 Venice, 164 
 
 ■ horses at, 166 
 
 Versailles, 40 
 
 Vessels moveable with skates, 
 
 <-> ..1 Q 
 
 Vienna, 195, 202 
 Villa Adriana, the, atRoi.e, 
 161 
 
 Village, Hungarian, 221 
 
 herdsman, 222 
 
 Vintage feast, a, 230, 231 
 Universities, German and 
 
 Englrsh, 167, 168 
 Volcano, the, of Macaluba, 
 123 
 
 Voltaire, retreat of, 70, 77 
 Von Buch, Mi 382, 396 
 Voute de Glace, 78 
 Waitzen, 224 
 Wakes in Germany, 169 
 Waklac, 5-J4 
 
 Wallachian dress and man- 
 ners, 240 
 Watchman, cry of a, 3l7 
 Wedding feast, a ? 271 
 Westphalia, 295 
 Whale Sound, 451 
 Wielesca, mines of, 362 
 Williams, Mr. 66 
 Winter, pleasures of, 325, 326 
 
 a rigorous, 340 
 
 Wolves, attack of, prevented, 
 | 385 
 
 I • how frightened, 375 
 - voracious, ^23 
 
 \ Worms, 1 79 
 
 j Wvberg, 534 
 Zante, 141 
 
 j Zealand, 186 
 
 1 Zurich, 87. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 Ppafed by K. Gilt erf, St. John's Square,. Loudoc, 
 
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