1857.CXX.
Berlin, Prussia,Jan. 7, 1857.
After an absence of nearly two years I find myself once again in the Prussian capital, and when I recognise my former friends and acquaintances who have remained stationary, and answer their interrogatories, I can scarcely believe that most parts of Europe have been revisited by me within this short period; the Atlantic crossed and re-crossed; the head waters of our great Mississippi gazed upon; and I return here without finding any noticeable changes. I tell them from my own experience, that in 1844 the prairies were crossed from the head of Illinois river navigation to Chicago, and from Galena to Milwaukee, in ordinary coaches, with indifferent accommodations for man and beast; that wild waving grass and flowers bounded the horizon, and scarcely a sound was heard except the cries of the wolf and prairie hen, when the places named were villages. Then I tell them what great cities, with teeming population, I found in their stead during the past year, with lines of railway, expanding like arteries from the human heart, spreading life and activity in all directions. If they are inclined to doubt statements which appear fabulous, the fortunate presence of a famous bill of fare, of the Chicago Hotel, gives demonstrative evidence of the progress of civilization.
The Americans are becoming notorious on the continent as extensive travellers, which is not surprising, as our country is so extended, and the opportunities for locomotion are so great. During my first visit to Egypt it was rare to meet one of my countrymen; but five years since I was informed at Grand Cairo that more of them, than of English, had gone up the Nile that winter.
Our political system is to Europeans an enigma. A well-dressed person, at a public table, asked me how large a court Buchanan would have, and the emolument he would receive;and seemed greatly surprised that we had no court, and that the salary of twenty-five thousand dollars per annum would not equal the livery expenses of some crowned heads; and that the emoluments of four years would not equal the christening expenses of the imperial infant of France; that we travel without passports; that the press is as free as the air we breathe; and that our national army is scarcely seen or known.
Christmas-day I found myself the only stranger at the table, in a family gathering of twenty-five persons. The Germans dine much earlier than the French. At half past twoP.M., an abundant repast, with various kinds of Rhine wine, was served, enlivened with the usual touching of glasses, and toasts. At the close of the dinner, the host struck up a hochlied, or hymn, accompanied by one of the ladies on the piano, which hymn was followed by shaking of hands and congratulations. The gentlemen retired to smoke, and the ladies amused themselves with dancing and waltzing. An hour later, we were seated again at the table, with coffee, conversation, and recitations from the younger members of the family. There was a constant change of diversions: juvenile violin players, exquisite performers upon the piano, vocal music, dancing, tableaux vivants, &c., kept the company incessantly occupied until about half-past ten, whenabendbrodwas announced. This meal (literally evening bread) consisted of a copious hot supper, not unlike the dinner, and required a stronger stomach than mine to digest, at that late hour. At midnight, with cordial salutations, after having enjoyed every moment of time, the company separated.
When the bulletins announced that theEisbahnwas in condition, hundreds of persons of both sexes might be seen upon the ice of theThiergarten, or Royal Park. A small fee admits you on the ice, where seats are prepared, and gardrobe for clothing; supplies of skates are on hire, with servants to strap them; there are chair-sleds for those who do not skate, or for lady invalids, drawn by gentlemen skaters; and hosts of fashionable and beautiful city ladies, gracefully waltzing and performing various evolutions, or gliding rapidly in groups over the frozen surface; it is a pretty and characteristic scene of winter life in this region.
With the present railroad and steam advantages, travellers are brought together singularly. At the hotel, a heavy-whiskered gentleman at my right opened a conversation in German—thelanguage spoken at the table—which was for a time continued, when it struck me suddenly who he was, and I asked if he recognised me? I received a negative reply. I asked if he had travelled in Egypt? He answered, “Yes, but many years since.” “True,” I responded; “you called upon me in Jaffa, in the Holy Land. You made the passage to Alexandria with us; you are an American,” and I called him by name. We were both mutually surprised and delighted.
I notice across the street, outside of the double window sashes, heavy coarse curtains drawn up, which are lowered at night to protect from cold and storms. What are the white and colored objects hanging against the glass, and what do the flower-vases contain? They are a counterpart of the porcelain variegated transparencies suspended from mine, with similar tulips; but it strikes me that my two India rubber trees, with their long green leaves, are more attractive. The people are very fond of these window decorations.
The droschki drivers, thickly clad, are dozing upon their seats. Here comes a customer. The driver gives him a ticket, as he enters, with the number of his vehicle, in case of reclamation, in default of which he is amenable to the police. He receives so many checks from his employer daily, and is responsible for them.
Our American ladies are shocked at seeing women sawing wood, carrying coal, making mortar, working upon the land, and performing all sorts of manual labor. A pair of harnessed cows before a wagon containing five or six ruddy-faced, thick-waisted, bare-headed, or cap-covered, country costumedbauerinnen, or peasant women, is quite a ludicrous sight.
This last sentence, I notice, partakes a little of the German form of writing. It must be atmospheric. In the works of some German writers, one sometimes reads a third of a page before finding the meaning of the sentence, the construction of the language having the advantage of keeping up and increasing attention to the end. The word which least defines the subject is placed at the beginning of the sentence. Then come those words which define it in a higher degree, so that the word which most determines the meaning of the phrase, is at the end. It is one of the richest and most beautiful of living languages for its literature, but exceedingly difficult to acquire, and few Germansspeak their language grammatically. Dialects are found all over Europe; and in many parts, the distance of a few miles changes thepatois. In no single country, for its extent, is a language (notwithstanding the slang, or provincialisms) so generally well spoken, as in the United States. With a knowledge of English, the traveller may visit all parts of our country, with slight exceptions, and hold intercourse with all classes, which cannot be done even in some parts of Great Britain.
Unconsciously this letter has been drawn out to an unusual length, and I fancy I hear you cry out, “Halten sie an!”
Breslau, Silesia,Feb. 10, 1857.
On my way south to the Austrian capital, instead of taking my former route, via Dresden and Prague, from which cities you heard from me two years since, I have made the detour to this place ostensibly to visit a travelling acquaintance, who had passed several months with me in Turkey, Greece, Egypt, and the Holy Land.
Breslau, with its suburbs, has a population of one hundred and twenty-five thousand, and has its attractions for the students, nine hundred of whom attend the University, which has a public library of three hundred thousand volumes. There is an interesting Zoological Museum, some antique churches, and other objects worth seeing. The public walks upon the former bastions, now planted with trees, with views upon the river Oder, whose branches traverse the city, are quite pretty, but fevers are the natural result there in summer. It is a bustling, active, trading city. The carnival season is now at hand. At a citizens’ masked and unmasked ball, given at the theatre, I noticed more variety of costume, more characters assumed and carried out with more life and animation than is generally manifested in Germany on similar occasions. I was struck with the contrast, having in Berlin recently attended the first of a series of three balls, given at the grand opera-house, and attended by the king and royal family. The attendance consisted only of those whose names guaranteed the privilege of a ticket, and ladies could not appear without the expenditure of large sums in dress; foreign ministers,civil and military officers, were covered with orders. The galleries, passages, and stairs, as well as the rear of the stage and parterre, which were planked over, were converted into a tropical garden of plants, flowers, and festoons of laurel. There was an excellent orchestra, and the supper halls were well garnished with dainties and substantials. The quantities of diamonds, emeralds, and rubies, with the scores of gas-lights, dazzled the eyes; the value of these baubles, properly applied, would prevent any further increase of taxation, a subject which is now agitating the country. The ball was numerously attended by the leading nobility and the whole retinue of the court; beauty and ugliness were there in the richest and most extravagant apparel. The variety of characters and uniforms in the waltz and dance, was undoubtedly calculated to strike one at first glance with wonder and admiration, but with a certain amount of restraint; the guests did not seem to enjoy themselves very much.
I adverted in my last, or meant to if I did not, to the practice of duelling still kept up by the German students, and winked at by the authorities, and even the professors themselves, who not unfrequently wear the marks of old duels upon their faces. Many clubs exist among these youths, whose different colored caps denote their members. They have their different places of rendezvous for pastime, drinking, and smoking.
An opportunity presented itself recently at Berlin to witness this foolish and shameful spectacle, which some consider a source of amusement. They fight for fifteen minutes, unless one or the other cries enough. The weapon is a straight sword, somewhat over three feet long, with a sharp blade; the end is about three fourths of an inch wide. The duellists are clad in a leather suit, the whole body protected except the head; the neck is bound with a scarf, and the right arm heavily bandaged with cloths; it is supported by a second during a halt, while a third stands with a sword to parry side-blows. Judges give the word of command, keep the time, and decide the contest. The students of both corps sit and stand around, smoking their pipes, without manifesting any particular concern, further than regards the manner in which the work is executed. It is incumbent upon each member to pass the ordeal, and the others have no hesitation in taking a hand for amusement. A cut upon the face or head, sometimes the loss of an eye, or a broken nose, isnot unfrequently the result of this barbarous relic of the days of chivalry. I am happy to say that our Americans, with two exceptions, avoid this foolish exposure; one of whom has a mark upon his face, which he will always carry. Disgusted with the whole system, I was glad to escape.
The German railroad companies are yet far behind in the comfort of their cars. In France, the coaches are heated with vessels of hot water under the carpet; going last winter from Paris to Marseilles, I found it as comfortable as in a parlor. From Berlin to this place I noticed that only the ladies’ carriages were warmed with bags of hot sand; fortunately, I obtained a seat in one of them. I learn that from hence to Cracow, and also to Vienna, in Austrian territory, they are not warmed, and shall make my arrangements accordingly. The people in these latitudes in winter accustom themselves so much to the use of furs that they don’t seem to require this precaution.
The houses, cafés, and places of amusement, are well warmed, and one suffers less from cold than in northern Italy.
Since the release of the royalists from the Swiss prisons at Neufchatel, and the anticipated call of the Prussian Landwehr to the battle-field, the war excitement has cooled off, and the community have been excited with the judgment and execution of Verger, for the murder of the Archbishop of Paris.
Vienna,March 15, 1857.
The movements and doings of this gay and mixed population during the Fasching, or Carnival season, may be of interest to you. I notice in the papers that in the city proper and suburban cities, there have been given in all over one thousand public and private balls during the festival season. The corners of many of the streets were provided with transparent lights, announcing the different balls, from the Citizens’, Jurists’, Lawyers’, Professors’ and Students’, to the Cab Drivers’ and Servant-girls’. It seemed as if the chief occupation was dancing, and all were disposed to employ the time until the beginning of Lent, when the famous musical Strauss and Sperl Bands could lay down their instruments, and a tired population reposetheir wearied limbs. It is computed that an inveterate dancer here, in the waltz gallop and dance, will travel over several English miles of surface in the course of the night. The Burger Ball, given in the Palace, was a brilliant affair; some two thousand five hundred persons present. In the absence of the Emperor in Italy, his father, the Archduke Charles, represented him. Fanny Ellsler, the danseuse of so much notoriety, who is now a resident of this city, was among the number of guests. She was bedecked with diamonds, and was in conversation with the Archduke. Prince Metternich, the renowned Austrian statesman, even at his advanced age, was present. Vienna is noted for its beautiful ladies; they belong to a variety of races, the city being a concentrating point, during the gay season, for the fair daughters of Hungary, and of the Bohemian, Polish, and Italian provinces.
The education of young ladies is more superficial here than with us. Music, dancing, and the languages, seem to be the most important branches of an education; not that all other acquirements are neglected, but that the practical is not considered so essential as in our institutions at home.
The Emperor, Empress, and suite arrived day before yesterday from Italy, and were received at the railroad depot by a large body of Italian residents, who addressed thanks for the Emperor’s acts of clemency in Lombardy. He was received by the citizens in large numbers, who formed a line of protection for the imperial cortege to the gates of the city, where the Burgermeister and authorities of the metropolis attended him.
The Italians have gained through his visit a Viceroy, in the person of his brother, who is to reside at Milan and Venice alternately, dispensing with the military government of Radetzky. Political refugees have been pardoned, and granted the privilege of returning. Confiscated property has been restored; the revolutionary events of 1848 buried in oblivion; the prisons for felons have been in many cases opened, and a sort of jubilee produced among all, except those whose national prejudices cannot submit to Austrian rule. Culprits and cut-throats in despotic and monarchical countries never divest themselves of the sheet anchor Hope, for the marriage of a Prince, the birth of a Princess, or an accession to the throne, bringamnesties frequently. These are paraded and published as acts of magnanimity; and with their consummation, not unfrequently come many breakers of the peace and pests upon society.
On Washington’s birthday, the Secretary of our Legation and his Austrian wife, our Consul and family, and some eight or ten American students and travellers, accepted a sumptuous dinner at the house of our patriotic Minister, Judge Jackson of Georgia. The stars and stripes of our beloved country were attached to the wall, encircling the portrait of the illustrious father of his country, whose memory we are proud to honor.
A twelve hours ride by rail brought me from Silesia to Vienna. At the Austrian frontiers our luggage was visited as usual, and our passports examined. I designed revisiting Polish Cracow, by taking a branch line to the left, but as the cars were not heated, declined doing so. I made some remarks relative to the discomfort and slowness of the train, which were responded to by one of the officers of the company, who was passing over the road in consequence of a collision which had occurred the day before, attended with loss of life and property. We Americans are so frequently called upon to reply to the gross calumnies upon our steamboat and railroad disasters, that I was curious to see if an account of this accident would appear in print, but I never saw it. The officer remarked that it was very important to keep it secret, as the apprehension of the travelling public would affect the interests of the road. The press being under censorship, and the government being a party in the construction of the road, we can understand the silence.
Trieste,April 15, 1857.
The distance from Vienna to this free Austrian port is about three hundred and fifty miles, which, upon the completion of the railway, in the month of August, will probably be accomplished in eighteen or twenty hours; I was once four days in accomplishing the same route.
The Semering Pass is about fifty miles this side of Vienna. It is a gigantic work, and excites the admiration and wonder of all travellers. The immense arches of the granite aqueducts spanningthe mountain torrents, and the road winding in a serpentine manner, with extraordinary curves, through the valleys, penetrating the huge long tunnels in and out, afford a fine rear view. The iron horse climbs continually up the ascent, to a height of two thousand seven hundred and ninety feet; then a tunnel four thousand feet long is passed, and the rail continues to Murzuschlag, in connexion with the southern or Trieste road, to Gratz, in Steyermark, or Styria, a city with a population of some sixty thousand inhabitants, the residence of the Archduke John, uncle to the Emperor, whom I saw at the German Congress of nine hundred, in Frankfort, in 1848, when the city was illuminated, and he was proposed for the Emperor of United Germany. I saw him here under other circumstances, sitting quietly in a provincial theatre. The town is beautifully situated in a healthy position, and in it are some objects of interest.
March is a bad month in Vienna for coughs and colds, and suffering from the same, I made my escape to Gratz, where I spent several days to recruit, and then took the railway to Laibach, distant some one hundred and twenty-five miles, noted for the Congress of sovereigns in 1820.
At Marburg, some fifty miles south, the German language, badly spoken as it is in Styria, begins to be lost; and at Cilley, in Carinthia, a language, entirely unintelligible to the Germans, is found. It is the Sclavisch tongue, which is used by many millions of Austrian subjects.
At that period I was travelling by post, which prevented a visit to the great quicksilver works of Idria, which demanded a ride of twenty-five miles over a bad road, some one thousand five hundred feet high, over the mountains. I had always regretted having lost the opportunity of seeing those immense government mines, and I now resolved to make up for it, notwithstanding that the season was early for the trip. Having in the interval of time visited the Almedan quicksilver works, in the Valley of San Jose, California, the silver mines of Peru, the lead mines of Galena, the iron mines of Sweden and of the Island of Elba, my curiosity was the more quickened to inspect this mountain of quicksilver ore, particularly as I had recently heard a series of lectures on these subjects, at the University in Vienna. Procuring a close carriage and a pair of strong horses with a driver, for a three days’ excursion, I was enabled toaccomplish this tour, and also to visit the renowned Grotto of Adelsberg, on my way to Trieste.
The village of Idria, of four thousand population, lies in a valley of a round bowl form, with an abundance of water power. The ascent of the mountain is by zigzag roads, with at intervals a peasant’s cottage, bleak and dreary; the summit once reached, we can scarcely realize that a smiling village, with gardens and fruit trees, exists in the low grounds. There are seven hundred men employed in these works. A ticket of admission is granted, a miner’s suit is provided, and a guide, with lights, procured, all to be paid for in turn. The descent commences through narrow arches and long galleries, of a man’s height, of stone work; then by flights of steps cut in the rock, from seventy to one hundred and forty in number, leading from one gallery to another. They are more fatiguing than the salt mines at Hallein. Some two thousand steps are here made to the fourth gallery, whose perpendicular depth is seven hundred and fifty feet. At a depth of three hundred feet I noticed that the timbers employed in the passages were charred, and learned that only a few years since fire had occurred by accident, which cost the lives of many miners, whose bodies were drawn out after suffocation. A portion of the pits have also been flooded with water; the steam and water pumps were exhausting it. The heat at this great depth is apparent, and the miners who are on duty with picks and axes, and blasting the rocks, have a warm berth of it. The poor fellows, in shirt and trowsers, with the dull light of the lamps in the close murky atmosphere, sweating at their toil, look certainly haggard, and excite one’s sympathy when he learns that the recompense is only sixteen kreuzers (or fourteen cents) per day. The government furnishes flour and fuel at fixed rates, which are less than current prices. The ore in some cases will average sixty parts, and the liquid quicksilver is seen in the pores of the stone formation. They turn out annually from two and a half to three million centners, of one hundred pounds each. The price is now low, being about fifty cents per pound.
The ascent is by steam or water power. From the bottom, seven hundred and fifty feet, a perpendicular square shaft communicates with all the galleries, for hoisting the ore. One puts himself in a square box, of solid wood construction, with a boardseat, supported by four chains from the corners, attached to a rope cable, and trusts to its strength and the movement of the water wheel to see daylight once again. The reflection is anything but agreeable; for should an accident occur, not a vestige of frail humanity would remain. The ascent on foot is too fatiguing, although many persons prefer it.
The smelting furnaces here are on a large scale, as also the manufacture of red vermilion from quicksilver and sulphur combined, under the action of great heat. It is a singular fact that those employed in these works not only lose their teeth early in life, through the salivation of the mercury, but the atmosphere being impregnated, young people of twenty-five years of age show the same signs of decay. They had recently four shocks of earthquakes, and a house near the pits was considerably cracked, but the miners said the vibrations were only slightly felt below.
A singular idea prevails, not only in this country, but in other parts of Europe, among certain classes, which reminds me of the days of Miller. It is the prophecy of the destruction of the world on the thirteenth of June, by a comet. I have seen several newspaper articles confirming the probability. I tell the people they must emigrate to America, where the vicinity of icebergs will keep them thawed out.
A seven hours’ ride brought me to the cave of Adelsberg, recently visited by the Emperor, Empress, and suite, on their return from Italy. Some three hundred laborers were employed for several months, carrying in sand for the purpose of making dry walks, repairing the bridge over the rushing waterfall, which loses itself here and appears again some miles distant, and in the preparation of the twenty thousand lights, along all the passages, and the grand illumination of the Dome of Neptune chapel, whose death-bell music is produced by beating sticks upon the suspended stalactites, and the riding school, organ, altars, and the ascent to Mount Calvary, with its twelve stations. The roof from the base of this enormous cave at this point is scarcely visible, but from the summit of Calvary, it is strikingly grand. The immense dancing hall is used once a year, for the people’s festivals. The distance walked over is probably four miles. I cannot describe the beauties of this nature’s wonder. Thousands of columns are formed and are forming, from the dripping, andone can see the most exquisite imitation of curtains, and drapery like lace of various colors, and the imagination conjures up a thousand forms of animals, antiquities, Hindoo and Egyptian deities. The amount expended for the Imperial reception was twenty thousand guldens, or ten thousand dollars. I happened along at a favorable time, as the decorations and evergreens were not removed, and the cave was perfectly dry; and I fortunately found two Austrian officers who were willing to join in employing twelve guides and torch-bearers, for lighting up, with one hundred and forty wax candles, in order to examine the old, as well as the newly discovered grotto, and see all to advantage.
Another six hours by mail coach, and we were on the summit of the mountain, descending to Trieste, with the beautiful placid waters of the Adriatic before us, the blue sky and an Italian sunset above us, the almond trees in bloom, and the city lying at our feet, with its hundred thousand inhabitants, and the flags from the ships, of all nations, waving in the mild and gentle breeze. The sight of the sea is refreshing after so long an absence, and on this occasion the elements conspired to make it particularly striking. The growth of the city has been rapid, and great changes have been made since I was last here; the new part is most substantially built; the streets are wide, and paved with flat slabs. The costumes are various, from all parts of the Levant and Archipelago. It is a perfect Babel for languages.
Venice, Italy,May 15, 1857.
A seven hours’ passage by steamer brings me across the head-waters of the Adriatic from Trieste to this city. The contrast between the rumbling noises of rolling wagons and carriages over the broad, well-paved streets of the trading city, in addition to the heat and oppression from clouds of dust from the calcareous mountain roads, to the clean, quiet quays and landing-place of the steamer at Venice, strikes the stranger upon his first visit, away from noise and dust, and breathing a pure salt atmosphere. We left Trieste with the beginning of a howlingBora, or north wind, which, being after us, had no other effect than toquiet most of our passengers, giving them a taste of the horrors of sea-sickness. Both cities are free ports, and notwithstanding they are under Austrian rule, the dissimilarity is very remarkable in every particular. The dialect is different; the currency is metallic, the Lombardian states never having accepted the paper medium of the Empire, being the only exception in all the Austrian provinces; their weights and measures are not the same; the habits and customs of the people are quite unlike. In Trieste commerce predominates, and early hours are observed; here it is the reverse, the habits of the people are late, the dining hour being fiveP.M.; the theatres commence at nine and are out at twelve or half-past twelve; many places of refreshment are open at midnight, and others never close; during the heat of summer, the bright moonlight nights are almost wholly passed in the open air, or in excursions in gondolas, and the quietude and tranquillity of the city induces repose by daylight.
It is now nearly a year since I wrote you from Venice, and this being my fourth visit, I will not reiterate the remarkable sights of this remarkable city. Sunday evening I was standing upon the Rialto Bridge, which crosses the grand canal, admiring by moonlight the marble palaces with their quaint architecture of Byzantine, Gothic, and other styles, when I noticed the steeple of St. Apostoli, illuminated in the distance; and on inquiry, I learned that it was a festival in honor of the admission of a priest to full privileges. How many lanes or passages, calledcalle, from four to twelve feet in width, in this labyrinth of a city, I travelled, I know not; but prosecuting my tortuous way through the multitude, I came at last to the Campiello, or little square of the church, whose neighboring houses were gleaming with lighted torches. Bengal lights and rockets were exploding in the air; the cafés were filled; the masses, mostly the working classes, were out, the brunettes without bonnets; the booths of the Fritolero, with their bright copper kettles of boiling oil, preparing pastry, were quite surrounded; dark-eyed damsels were overhanging the balconies, listening to the sound of a guitar, or the merry song of a gondolier, whose tiny bark lay in the canal underneath. I had so often witnessed similar spectacles, that I should have been almost unconscious of the novelty, but for the presence of an American friend on his first visit, whom I was desirous of gratifying; his expressions of surprise awoke me to a sense of thepeculiarities of the scene. As gondolas are used by strangers generally, who are unacquainted with the intricate passages which require long experience, much of interest is lost. One steps in his bark from the hotel door, and is rowed from church to church, from palace to palace, as well as to the theatre, by means of these intersecting canals, without the necessity of dodging in and out, and around corners, and over bridges; when time and experience permit, however, the land-route is of great interest, for one learns thereby the characteristics of the people; one may walk for miles, and find always something new and interesting.
Isolated as is Venice, every comfort and luxury can be procured here, and one naturally seeks out the sources of supply. The flower girls trip along in the morning under the porticos of San Marco, presenting strangers with early-plucked roses. Fresh butter and milk are found at the cafés. The water carriers, mostly country village girls, in funny costume, wearing boys’ fur hats of peculiar form, with feathers, are trotting bare-footed along with a pair of small copper kettles suspended from flat elastic rods over their shoulders; the markets are well supplied with shell and other fish; the landing-place for vegetables is filled with boats delivering their cargoes; the water barges are moving up the lateral canals; the wood market furnishes its quota; foreign vessels contribute the colonial supplies; oranges, cherries, strawberries, green peas, asparagus, are seen in all parts exposed for sale, and the stranger looks in vain for any signs of vegetation, or the bubbling of a fountain. Thegardino publico, the work of Napoleon, at the extreme end of the city, where, within a given circuit, horse exercise may be taken, is resorted to more by foreigners than by natives. Eight of these strange quadrupeds are kept in hire for the purpose. They are now regarded less as a curiosity than formerly.
Italy is the school for music, and the nursery of the arts; but dramatic artists must not expect to acquire fortunes in it. The operas and theatres are frequented for the purposes of coquetry, and the exchange of salutations replaces visiting to a certain extent. Shakspeare’s Othello, or the Moor of Venice, translated in Italian, has had several repetitions lately here; it loses in the translation, but the scene being laid here, the costume of the Doges, the canals and bridges in the decorations, give it additionalattractions. It is curious to see the cushioned and richly furnished gondolas by the light of a full moon, driving up like cabs to the front door steps of the theatre, taking in the well-clad aristocracy, or such as live remote, and do not wish to thread the narrow streets on their way home.
Luzerne, Switzerland,June 12, 1857.
In order to vary my plan in proceeding north into Switzerland, I was obliged to again take Verona, Vicenza, Brescia, and Milan, en route. It is not a year since I described to you my visit to these cities, and my excursions upon the Lago di Como, Guarda, and Lugano. I now wished to accomplish the last of the five great passes of the Alps, the St. Gothard, and include Lago Maggiore once again in the circuit, having last year crossed the Splugen, and on former occasions Mount Cenis, the Simplon, and the great St. Bernard.
From Milan, I took the poste to Sesto Calende, on the Lake Maggiore, where our passports were visé, as we were leaving Austrian territory. The next landing place on the opposite side, in Sardinia, is Arona, near which stands the bronze monument of San Carlo Boromeo, sixty-six feet high, upon a pedestal forty-four feet in height, to the head of which I had once ascended by an inner staircase. The remains of the saint are in a crystal and gold coffin, in the crypt of the Domo of Milan. We soon reached the islands called Isola Madre, Isola Bella, Isola Pescatore, belonging to the same family, and noted for their beauty. The two first are perfect gems. Isola Bella, with its palace, picture galleries, terraced gardens, fountains, tropical vegetation, gold fish, guinea fowls, &c., gives it the air of a little paradise. The length of the lake may be made in five hours, to Mogidorro, where an omnibus conveys you to Bellinzona, from which point the road strikes off over the Splugen Pass to the right, which I took last year from Como. I now passed in to the left, by diligence at the foot of the mountain, to Airolo, where I passed the night. Leaving in the morning, our horses climbed steadily up the zigzag walled roads, until at mid-day we reached the Hospice, a height of six thousand eight hundred and sixty-eightfeet above the level of the sea, where we partook of refreshments, and commenced the descent. The height is, you will perceive, seven hundred and sixty-two feet less than that of the location of the convent on the great St. Bernard, the highest habitable point in Europe, once described to you, and which is one thousand feet above the growth of timber. The mountains were snow-capped, the weather was fine, and we suffered but little from cold. The snow banks did not affect the passage. During eight months in the year sleighs are used. Some of the passes, which are subject to avalanches, are protected by long galleries, over which the huge masses slide into the gorges and ravines below. One of these galleries is one hundred and eighty feet long, and twelve feet wide. The melting snow produced beautiful cataracts, and the foaming and rumbling of the waters were at times deafening, particularly near the Teufel’s Brücke, or Devil’s Bridge, over the torrent Reuss, ninety-five feet in height, about four thousand feet above the level of the sea. The dangerous passes, on the verge of precipices hundreds of feet perpendicular, are protected by parapet walls. In two instances, from the encroachment of the snow upon the border of the deep chasms, our wheels were blocked with loaded wagons going in contrary directions, which obliged us to dismount, and caused some delay. The scattered stone houses of the peasantry in the valley, from the lofty eminences, looked like bird-cages, and the cultivated patches in the green fields I could only compare to brown rugs which had been washed and were lying out to bleach upon the grass. The descent in the valley, the wild, romantic scenery of the mountains, the deep greens foliage of the pines and cedars, the neat and airy Swiss villages, the herdsmen, with flocks of goats, the peculiar costumes of the peasants, the roaring of the torrents, and the splashing of cascades, were well calculated to keep up a lively interest, even in one who had traversed most of the mountains of Europe. The village where William Tell was born, and the spot where he is represented as having shot the apple from his son’s head, lent an historical interest to the route.
At Fuelen, the head of the lake, a small steamer was in readiness to conduct us, in two hours and a half, to Luzerne, one of the prettiest positions for a town in Switzerland. I had made the tour of the lake some years since, and was then, as now,struck with its majestic and magnificent scenery. The hotels here are excellent.
At the period alluded to, my health did not permit the ascent of Mount Riga; I have now accomplished it. An hour’s sail, by steamer, takes one to Waggis, where horses and guides are procured, and where the ascent to Riga begins. The mountain lies free on all sides, and stands on one of the most interesting points, in reference to its beautiful views, also its near approach to the great chain of the Alps, and the neighborhood of so many lakes and valleys; I counted eleven of the former. Its height is five thousand five hundred feet. Its extensive view, not only over north, east, and west Switzerland, but also over a part of Germany, well repays the tourist, if he be fortunate enough to have clear weather, in which one is often disappointed. The road or path is good, but it is laborious on foot, and places for rest and refreshment are found. The better way is, for ladies and gentlemen not accustomed to climbing, to take horses; in three hours the ascent is made. A cold water cure establishment is found half way up. The Stafelwirthshaus is about a mile from the summit, and on the extreme top is the hotel called Riga Kulm, where we passed the night. We were favored with a fine sunset, after which the horn sounded for dinner, which our party enjoyed under the bracing atmosphere. The sky was serene, and the moon in the full. We retired early, and the echo of the morning horn saluted us a half hour before the sun rose on this grand and imposing spectacle, whose beauties cannot be described with the pen. Cloaks and overcoats were in requisition, a warm breakfast enjoyable, and we descended by another route to the village of Kussnacht, where a vehicle was chartered to convey us to Luzerne. My next may be from north Switzerland, or from the banks of the Rhine.
Baths of Ems, Duchy of Nassau,July 14, 1857.
About the time I left Luzerne, in Switzerland, the sympathies and anxieties of the public were highly excited by the report of fire and explosion in the railroad tunnel, which is to intersect that city with Basle. Twelve persons, who had volunteeredin the rescue of upwards of forty workmen who were thus suddenly cut off, had perished in the attempt. When our passengers took the diligence to cross the mountain, in the depths of which the accident occurred, three of our number took a short cut across, hoping to obtain some information of the sufferers. It was melancholy to reflect that so many human beings were probably suffering the agonies of death under our very feet, without our being able to relieve them. I learned subsequently that thirty-three corpses had been taken out and interred. A horse was found slaughtered, but not eaten.
The Swiss cars are constructed after our American model; passengers see the scenery of the country better from them than from the coach cars generally in use in Europe.
A railway ride of three and a half hours, by express train from Basle, brings one to Baden-Baden, upon the west slope of the Black Forest, in one of the most beautiful valleys of Germany.
A few days’ sojourn, and I proceeded to Homburg, which is much frequented; but neither that place nor Baden-Baden was as full as I found them last year.
At Wiesbaden, however, I found larger multitudes than I had ever met there on my former visits. This I attribute in part to the facilities for play, newly granted by the Bank.
Having detailed to you, on former occasions, the baths, qualities and uses of the waters, amusements and excursions, it will be needless to go into repetition.
In addition to the plebeian movement, it would seem that royalty has turned out in every direction. The King of Bavaria and ex-Empress of Russia were at Baden-Baden; the Emperor and Empress of Russia are at Kissengen; the Grand Duchess Constantine and her suite live opposite to me, occupying the entire building called the Panorama, belonging to the Ducal Kurhaus, where I am lodging. Having seen all these imperial and royal personages in their own territories, my curiosity is not excited; but it is a curious spectacle for an American to witness the sycophancy and idolatry of the masses for crowned heads; and one naturally asks himself, “Are such people capable of enjoying any other institutions than those they have been educated to adore?”
Those who remain at Ems, do so ostensibly for health; andno waters in Europe are so valuable for bronchial diseases, incipient pulmonary disease, nervous complaints, and many other difficulties; the fair sex predominate.
The Russians have the privilege of travelling since the treaty of peace; the presence of the wife of the Grand Admiral Constantine has brought large numbers here. The other evening, on the occasion of her birthday, the Duke of Nassau gave a grand celebration. In the middle of the little river Lahn, which flows through the valley, opposite the quarters of the Grand Duchess of Constantine was an illuminated barge, with thirty musicians. The Swiss Cottage Restaurant, upon the hill-side, was brilliantly lighted; and on the opposite mountain-ridge was a display of Bengal lights, and other fireworks, which produced a pretty effect, much to the edification of visitors and the peasantry, who seemed to enjoy it highly. Last night a ball was given by this lady in the honor of the Russians.
One is elbowed on all sides by Dukes, Duchesses, Counts, Countesses, Barons, and Baronesses, and the whole aristocratic race.
The German aristocracy are easy and approachable. You find that you have made the acquaintance of your neighbor; cards are exchanged; you see, perhaps, the arms and title of a Count, Baron, or some high functionary or dignitary, in return for which you give him a plain American address, without a handle to the name.
The demoralizing and destructive practice of open gambling is only tolerated in the German duchies, and is a source of great revenue to their rulers. In France it is prohibited: Prussia has withheld the grant at her watering places: in Belgium it only exists at Spa: Sardinia has stopped it at Aix les Bains. But all the efforts of the great princes have not yet succeeded in destroying the system established at Baden-Baden, Homburg, Wiesbaden, and Ems.
Next month I go to Paris, and expect to be in the United States in September.