Excursions in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden; including notices of the state of public opinion in those countries, and anecdotes of their Courts

Front matter

EXCURSIONS IN DENMARK, NORWAY, AND SWEDEN. VOL. I. WIUTTN6, BEAUFORT HOUSE, STRAND. FREDERICK . . KING 0.' DErTM : DyHenry 3oIb«r ■ .-_ . zrowSjn Street. _. 'VO. J EXCURSIONS IN DENMARK, NORWAY, AND SWEDEN INCLUDING NOTICES OF THE STATE OF PUBLIC OPINION IN THOSE COUNTRIES, AND ANECDOTES OF THEIR COURTS. BY ROBERT BREMNER, Esq., AUTHOR OP " EXCURSIONS IN THE INTERIOR OF RUSSIA," &C IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. HOLSTEIN. DENMARK. WEST COAST OF SWEDEN. LONDON: HENRY COLBURN, PUBLISHER, GREAT MARYBOROUGH STREET. 1840. PREFATORY NOTE. The travels narrated in these pages formed a part of the continental tour, of which a portion has already been published under the title of Excursions in the Interior of Russia ; and to the favourable reception which that work has met with, is the appearance of the present one due.

I am not forgetful, however, that the success of my former publication is not attributable to the author, but to the great interest which now pre vails among all classes throughout Europe regarding Russia ; neither am I ignorant that much of its success is to be ascribed to the favourable notice of the Literary and Political Press, me tropolitan as well as provincial. He must be a very ill-informed, or a very conceited author, who denies that, although the aid of the press cannot make a bad book popular, yet, with out it, a good one, even if he has written such, stands little chance of making its way to public favour ; and its indulgence ought to be the more gratefully acknowledged, when, as in my case, it has been extended to a writer without name, with out patronage, without influence of any kind.

Of the present work the best recommendation VI PREFATORY NOTE. lies in the magnificent scenery and interesting in stitutions of the countries which it describes. The lively interest felt in England regarding the north of Europe, which had already become very strong, has been greatly increased of late by the various publications of Mr. Laing and others (not for getting the unpretending, but useful Handbook for travellers in those regions), as well as by some admirable treatises which have appeared in Lard ner's Cyclopædia, the Edinburgh Cyclopædia, &c. ; and without presuming to enter the lists with more experienced champions^ I trust that what is here laid before the public may further satisfy the prevailing curiosity in regard to these long-neglected countries. This work possesses, at least, the recommendation of giving the most recent information regarding some of them ; and should it possess no higher merit, I hope that, at all events, it will be found deserving of the same character for candour which all have attri buted to my remarks on Russia.

Chapter I. Wayside Sketches In

HOLSTE1N. Page Attractions of the North of Europe for the English traveller — The Author's proposal to the Reader — Starting-scene at Hamburg — Concert of tongues — Muster of vehicles — Confu sions of night-travelling — Coach companions — John Bullism — Morning scenes — Aspect of the country — Nightingales — Byron's " roses" of Holstein — Maidens of the land — Braunstedt — Neumunster — Tavern doings — How a German eats his way — Jungfers at the post-houses — Merry students — Female costumes — Milkmaids 3 CHAPTER H. KIEL ITS PROFESSORS, TRADE, AND NIGHTINGALES. Picturesque costumes — Trade and manufactures — Effects of the Prussian customs-union on English commerce— Sights — University of Kiel —Able professors — Impartial mode of selecting them — Jews filling chairs — College prison — Religious opinions — Pastor Harms — Popular mode of electing clergymen — The bath-house — The bay — Nightingales — Errors of poets — A German table d'hote — Universality of the English language — Abuses in the passport system CONTENTS.

Chapter III. Farming, And Prospects Of The Farmers In

IIOLSTl'.lN. Page Constitution of Holstein — Revenue— Parliament — Lauenburg — Farming — Dairies — Condition of the agriculturists — Greatly burdened — On the supply of corn to England — Propriety of leaving our farmers without protection — Mort gages — Cold winters — Game — Bad implements, &c. — Scotch farming fails in Germany — Succeeds in Holstein — Irish ex ample — Mr. C . — Hint to emigrants 45

Chapter IV. Steam-boat Trip Among The Danish Islands

Pleasures of the deep — Waves of the Baltic — Beautiful island scenery — Zealand — Falster — Morning view at sea — Our fellow-passengers — German Counts — An Englishman in love, or the despairing angler — Liberal professor — Voracious Dane — Cliffs of Moen — Fairy sports — Queen's chair — Island of Amak — Fine approach to Copenhagen — Scene of the battle of the Baltic 59

Chapter V. First Days In Copenhagen

Best streets — Modest palaces — Equestrian statues — Great square — City of silence — Rampart-walk — Sea-view — Market-place — Streets of the old town — Churches — Thorvaldsen's statues in the Church of the Virgin — Jews Synagogue, and forms' of worship — Holiday walk in the gardens of Fredericksborg — Conduct and appearance of the lower classes — Girls of Amak — Appearance of the better ranks in the theatre — Love of theatrical amusements — Dancing illustrations of national history 77

Chapter VI. Sight-seeing In The Danish Capital

General situation — The harbour — Shallowness of the Baltic — Imperceptible tides — Saltness — Tame character of the public architecture — Every-day crowd — Shops — Long-tailed CONTENTS. XV Page horses — Sailors' Town — Palace of Ckristiansborg — Its picture gallery — Portraits of Christian IV., the Hero of Den mark — National song on him — Royal Library — Collection of northern antiquities — King's stud — Milkwhite steeds of Denmark — Palace of Rosenberg — The Spiral Tower — Ex change — The Round Tower — Carriage-drive to the top — Ob servatory — University Library — Ponderous sermon-books ... 99

Chapter VII. The University Literature Language

College of Regents— Number of students — Period of study — Rigid examinations — Influence of the University system on the national literature — And on the state of religion — Schools — Very numerous — How supported — Provision for the clergy — Professors — Clausen — Otto — Eschricht — Oehlenschlager — His poems — The Danish language — Many words the same in Danish and Scotch 11G

Chapter VIII. Fine Arts Thorvaldsen

Thorvaldsen — Sketch of his career — Early love — His works in the Academy of Fine Arts — Ganymede — Basso-rilievos — ■ The Graces — Psyche, &c. — Thorvaldsen in Rome — His studies — His Byron — Schiller — Gutemberg — State of painting and architecture in Denmark— New buildings of Copenhagen compared with those of London 133

Chapter IX. Charitable Institutions The House Of Correction

School for the Deaf and Dumb — School for the Blind — " God save the King" — The House of Correction — Its sick-rooms — Interesting prisoner — His escapes — Fatal love of home — Diet — Horseflesh used as food — Extensively employed in Paris — Objections — Work and discipline of the prison — Bad accommodation — Women's division — Neatness — Deaths — Skulls for the phrenologists CONTENTS.

Chapter X. The Great Burial-ground Of Copenhagen The Environs

Page Singular ornaments of the graves — Little gardens — Flowers — Feelings excited — Visits of the Danes to the graves of friends — Forest scenery near the capital — The country palaces — People in the park — Sans Souci — The Hermitage — Deer — Storks — Beech-forest — Farm-houses and farmers — Bad system and management — Labourers — Village of Tarbek — Great crowds of shipping — Tycho Brahe's island — Spot where the British troops landed — Wellington's appearance in Europe — English ignorance of the art of war 160

Chapter XI. The King The New Constitution And State Ot Public Opinion

Anniversary dinner- — Powers of the Danish parliament — The king — A friend to liberty — His character — Appearance — Popularity — The Crown Prince — The Danish army — Reforms called for by the people — Commercial system — Few manufactures — Guilds — Operate unfavourably — Must be modified — Municipal corporations — The army — Public revenue — Falls short of expenditure — State of the circulating medium — Exports — Horses— Condition of thefarmers in Zealand — Of the labourers — Their food, habits, &c 173

Chapter XII. Navy Of Denmark, And Feelings Of The People Towards England

INFLUENCE OF RUSSIA- Present state of the Danish navy — Regret of the Danes for its decline— Its seizure in 1807— Bombardment of the city —Recollections and existing traces of that event— Feelings of the court towards us— Conduct of the king to English naval officers — The nation friendly to England— Charge against our diplomacy— Views and intrigues of Russia CONTENTS. XVII

Chapter XIII. National Traits The Press Amusements

Page General character of the people — Not drunkards — Danish ladies — Liberal opinions very general — Ardour in cultivating English literature — London publications — Reading-room — Danish periodicals — Few Danes travel — Style of living at home — Scarcity of titles — Old families — British residents — Danish cookery — Yams — French wines — Coffee — Chicory — Comforts of the middling classes — Tradesmen and their carriages — The wagen — Winter — Fine summer — Amusements of the stranger — A happy scene — Review of the soldier students 205

Chapter XIV

A DRIVE THROUGH ZEALAND. Aspect of the country — Lingby — Baiting-house — Village churchyard — Appearance of the farms — Sheep — Fruit-trees — Country town — Gothic Palace of Fredericksborg — Its antique chapel — Ornaments of the altar — Shields of the Knights of the Elephant — The splendid hall of the knights — Pictures — Mary Stuart — Audience-room — Inscriptions — Restored pictures — Charles Edward — Singular deer — Danish pony — Stud in the forest — Fair maid of the inn — Palace of Fredensborg — First view of Elsinore 226

Chapter XV. Elsinore

— OPPRESSIVENESS OF THE SOUND DUES — HAMLET's GRAVE. Account of the Sound dues, their origin and amount — Oppressive on English commerce — Falling off in the number of ships sent from England to the Baltic — Rapid increase of Russian, Prussian, and American shipping — Burdensome charges on our ships in foreign ports — Manner of collecting the dues — Factors — Formalities — Visit to Cronenborg Castle — Its strength and beautiful pearance — Sunset view from the roof— Apartments of Queen Matilda — Her history — Visit to the tomb of Hamlet — Authenticity of Shakspeare's scenery — Palace of Marienlyst — Public churchyard — Danish beds — Great church — Latin inscriptions — Parting compliment to Denmark 243 vol. i. b CONTENTS. XVIII WEST COAST OF SWEDEN.

Chapter I. Crossing The Sound, And Debut In Sweden

Page Navigation of the Sound — Open boats — Coast resembles that of Ross-shire — Helsingborg — Bold dragoons — Parade of purses— Swedish money — notes, silver, &c. — Best mode of travelling — Our interpreter, Mr. Andrew Berglund — History of a man of genius — Our carriages 267

Chapter II. Night Journey Through Scania

Charioteering — Corn-brandy — Appearance of the country — Fields — Farms — Engelholm — Exile postmaster — Night scenes at the post-houses — Open doors — Shoots of spruce on the floors — Helmstadt — Mountain scenery — Churchyard of the hamlet — Paul Pry — Wooden house, three hundred years old — Storks — Falkenberg — Angling — Good quarters — Hint to anglers — Swedish salmon, — Blackcock — Stockholm diligence 280

Chapter III. Coast-sketches On The Cattegat

Moorland scenery— Magpies— Warburg— People in church— Kongsbacka — Fair equestrian — Shores of the Cattegat— Smuggling— Execution— Gottenburg— Its Italian aspect CONTENTS. XIX Page — Inns — Trade — Porter — Style of living at — Ramble among its rocks — Resemblance to scenery of other parts of Europe 292

Chapter IV. Interview With

A MIGHTY HUNTER. Mr. Lloyd — Bears — Hunting — Ravages by wild beasts among the cattle — Angling — Large Salmon — Compared with some killed in Scotland — Sporting lords in Sweden — Danger of travelling alone in the north, and on foot — Keep of a horse — Eating powers of the peasantry 301

Chapter V. Things Which Most Struck Us On First Entering Sweden

Contrast between Sweden and Denmark — Lively aspect of the country — Appearance and dress of the people — Drinking — Rough habits — Resemblance to the Scotch — Country beaux — Marriage parties — Women — Drams before dinner — Beds — Locks — Stoves — Houses in the country — In towns — Windows — Gates on the roads — Milestones — Country churches — Huge copper coins of old 310

Chapter VI. How To Speak Swedish

Advantages of application — Hint to travellers — Comforts of being a Scotchman — The three most useful words in the Swedish language — Waiting-maids — Effects of a compliment — Courtesy good policy — Specimens of a traveller's Swedish... 324

Chapter VII. How To Travel In Sweden

Account of the posting system — Expenses of travelling compared with England — Inns — Habits of the farmers' servants — The Schutzbonde — The forebud — The dag-bok — Complaints, &c XX CONTENTS.

Chapter VIII. Falls Of

TROLLHÆTTAN. Page Clearness of the nights— Pleasures of travelling in Sweden — Romantic vale of the Gotha — Litln Edet— Porest scenery — Trollhættan— Lord F.— The Falls— The great Gotha canal canal — Saw-mills, &c 346

Chapter IX. Romantic Approach To Norway

Farm-gates — Whirlpool — Lake Venern — Venersborg — Scathed trees — Mode of building — Pleasant scenery of the lake — Appearance of the country people — Leather aprons — Happy pigs — Uddevalla — Quistrom — A summer vale — Swedish fare — Cheap living — Mode of driving — Precipices — Enclosures — Wolves — Churches and parsonages — Romantic cliffs — Inlets of the sea— Favourite plant of Linnæus — Hogdal — Peasant's funeral in the mountains DENMARK VOL. I li A SUMMER TOUR IN DENMARK S NORWAY, &c.

Chapter I. Wayside Sketches In Holstein

Attractions of the North of Europe for the English traveller — The Author's proposal to the Reader — Starting-scene at Hamburg — Concertos tongues — Muster of vehicles — Confusions of night-travelling — Coach companions — John Bullism — Morning scenes — Aspect of the country — Nightingales — Byron's "roses" of Holstein — Maidens of the land — Braunstedt — Neumunster — Tavern doings — How a German eats his way — Jungfers at the post-houses — Merry students — Female costumes — Milkmaids. Beautiful North ! Land of fresh thoughts and fair scenes — stronghold of liberty — home of the brave ! b To thee does the heart turn back with all the strength of first and warmest love. Who that has once trod thy valleys, and scaled thy mountains, mused beside thy lakes, and been filled with awe amid thy forests, can in after years suppress the raptures which thrill through his bosom at remem brance of thee ?

Other lands, fair too and famed, may have been visited in the interval ; but even Italy with her thousand trophies, and Greece with her thousand tales, cannot efface impressions once formed by thee. And, fair Summer — in memory ever associated with these matchless scenes — hail also to thee ! While I trace these broken words, the snows of winter are spread around me, and its chills forbid the hand its task ; but at the thought of thee bright days arise. Warm gales once more fan the cheek, soft balm fills the air. The song of the mountain-bird again cheers, the voice of the stream again refreshes, the roar of the cataract again resounds. Under thy smiles, what varied delights may be enjoyed within the compass of a single sun ! I gaze on the rising orb as he lifts his head above the tumultuous hills — I sail by sunny isles where beauty and peace have their reign — I stretch my limbs by mossy fountains — thread the solemn forest — and climb the airy mountain's side.

I hold converse with ag-ed and virtuous men, and look upon the revels of joyous youth. I listen to the song of the shepherdess, and cull the sweetest flowers of the mead, till declining day brings the bleat of returning flocks, or is made musical with the murmur of the laden bee ! Once more, then, beautiful North and fair Sum mer, do I bid ye hail ! To you is my page in scribed — to you * * * But it is time to drop this " Cambyses' vein !" From these lofty paces sinking down at once into an ordinary amble, we would tell the reader that nothing more is meant by these big words than that of all the countries in Europe, none so well reward the traveller for his pains at the moment, or are looked back to with such delight in after years, as those of the North. The firm hold which these countries obtain in the memory of all who have visited them is not entirely owing to the magnificence of their scenery.

It also proceeds in a great measure from the delight which we feel in contemplating manners so primitive and interesting as those here presented to us, and from the satisfaction which all men derive from witnessing the working of institutions most liberal in their principles and beneficial in their effects. The life — the " freshness" — of every thing keeps the traveller in a state of constant enjoyment — how different, alas, from the feelings with which he is often doomed to traverse the older countries of Europe ! In the South all is dim, — decaying : a sadness rests on the most glorious of its scenes and associations. Man and his work are both in their decline ; the free spirit is bowed down, the tower is crumbling to its base. Except the strains which even slavery can sing, there is no song, nor voice of gladness to be heard ; and the pilgrim takes his leave without one joyful remem brance of the past, without one buoyant hope for the future.

In the North, on the contrary, all is yet young and full of hope. Freedom has never yet been driven from those fastnesses, and their tenants still worship her as ardently as of old. In wandering amongst them we feel that they have the spirit and the dignity of men ; and when at last we take leave of their shores, it is not with pain and sorrow, but with joy and hope — inclined to think better of our species, and cherishing high anticipations of the career which these nations will yet run. Strange, then, that in an age, distinguished as the present is by a wandering spirit, so few hasten to this enchanting field. The means of reaching the most favourable points are now numerous and regular, the roads in the countries themselves are excellent, and the accommodation for strangers fast improving ; yet, with all these inducements, very few bend their steps thitherward.

For one tra veller who leaves England for the North, one thousand go to France and Italy. This neglect appears the more remarkable when it is considered that so many books have been written on Scandinavia. Perhaps, the very best books of travels in the English language, and some of them very recent ones, relate to the countries comprised under that general name. Still the good public is not moved from its apathy. We read and — 'forget ! We are slow to be turned from the beaten path ; or, rather, to speak more plainly, we have not courage to step an inch out of the way, lest we should be guilty of that greatest of all English sins, not doing as others do ! But it will be asked, if abler advocates have failed in exciting an interest about these countries, what hope can an unknown and uninfluential spokes man have that his voice will be more effectual ?

Courteous reader ! Have you never heard that in some great undertaking — in rearing a proud work of architecture for instance, — the help of even the humblest labourer is not altogether with out its value. He may but bear the hod, or ply the trowel, yet in the end his little labours tell on the muss, and when the structure is completed, he can say with truth, " I, too, had a share in it !" Now this humble labourer am I. Alone, my feeble efforts would be valueless, but united to those of others, they will help "some little ;" and when the public taste shall at last be roused — when thousands shall be flocking, as assuredly they will one day be, to these now neglected regions, I, too, may claim a share in the triumph. It will thus be seen that all which I here aim at is to aid in diffusing a knowledge of countries which, it is my firm conviction, are among the most delightful in the world.

If I wished to con fer the highest favour on my dearest friend, it would be to prevail with him to visit the scenes now to be imperfectly described, persuaded as I am that all who go thither must bring back a rich store of fresh thoughts — feelings of delight, warm beyond any that other lands can inspire — a higher admiration of Nature's works — and, above all, a higher admiration of the power and the goodness of him who " Raised the great mountains — spread the gleaming lakes Gave beauty to the sheltering valleys, And bade the misty cataracts proclaim, With ceaseless and indomitable voice, Their testimony to his might and being !" Once again, therefore, courteous reader, let me crave your company for a time ; forsake the dull round of the pleasures which cities afford, and try whether the charms of nature have lost their power — whether the chords which charmed in young and happy days, amid fields and flowers, may not yet be awakened.

At the season when our journey be gins, Nature again displays her beauty! again attunes her songs : " The birds chant melody on every bush; The green leaves quiver to the cooling wind, And make a chequered shadow on the ground." Who, that has once loved the charms of nature, can allow her voice to pass unheeded ? ' Who, that has reason, and his smell, Would not amid roses and jasmine dwell, Rather than all his spirits choke With exhalations of filth and smoke, And all the uncleanness which does drown, In pestilential clouds, a populous town ?" Let us, in thought at least, wander away from these "pestilential clouds," and, if I may not engage that after my journey, or rather my tale, is over, you will literally "go and do likewise;" yet for this at least do I engage, that we shall jog on peace fully and socially together to its close.

We shall visit many a fair sight, listen to many a pleasing lay ; where the way is rough, we shall smooth it with a tale — where it is dull, we shall even hurry over it the faster — and where it yields aught that may instruct, we shall pause and make the most of the lesson. To begin, then, with the beginning. Some three years since, two Englishmen, after wandering for a time over various parts of the continent, took up their winter quarters at a German university. Pleased with the attentions they received from the professors and their families, as well as from the citizens in general, they, or rather (to come at once to the more tractable pronoun) we lingered in this retreat month after month, each day becoming more attached to the kind friends who had made exile so agreeable ; each day too, may it with all modesty be added, appreciating more highly the many opportunities for improvement which no where are to be found in greater number than at that ancient and flourishing seat of learning.

But time was passing on. The best of friends must part. A stormy March had stubbornly re tarded the advance of spring, but was at length driven to flight ; and no sooner had the first days of sunshine given assurance that " winter was over and gone, the singing of birds come," than — heaving a sigh for those we left behind, and for whose happiness many a warm wish must be che rished in future years — we resumed our rambles through the north of Germany. These led us to the gay and singular city of Hamburg, which we hereby dismiss without one word of notice. So much has been already written about it, and so many go to see it, that Pali-Mall and the Thames themselves are not better known than the Jungfernstieg and the Alster. Not so, however, the country lying to the north of this much-frequented city.

To the general reader, as well as the general traveller, Holstein is compara tively an unknown region. At its threshold, accordingly, most gentle reader, do our wanderings together commence. Carry your thoughts back a short space — only to the spring of 1836, — and join us at our starting, from the most industrious, and at the same time the most licentious — in some places the dirtiest, and in others the most splendid of continental cities. That starting scene was one of the strangest we ever witnessed. The hour of ten — at which the home-dwelling begin to think of rest ; but, at which the road-tossed traveller is only commencing the labours of a second day more fatiguing than the first — this, on the continent, not unfrequent hour for starting from large cities, had just pealed from every tower in Hamburg, when we repaired to the well-known thoroughfare from which coaches start for every part of the world.

Here a most unexpected scene of bustle awaited us ; we had imagined that our travelling escort through Hol stein would consist of only one large and lonely vehicle, in which we might sleep away our night journey across this drowsy region as lazily and peacefully as even the fattest of Hanseatic burghers could desire. Great, therefore, was our surprise to find, in addition to the stately diligence, a goodly tail of cars, dillies, glass-coaches, and nondescripts, paraded in the narrow street as lengthily and as heterogeneously as the goodliest tail, political or vehicular, to be seen in any part of Christendom. In explanation of this display, it must be stated that however small may be the number of travellers leaving Hamburg on other nights of the week, on the evenings preceding the days on which the steamer leaves Kiel for the Danish capital, the concourse of passengers is so great, that the huge carriage called by way of pre-eminence the diligence, must be reinforced by every variety of trans port that the city can muster.

From the lumber ing eil-wagen to the rickety arm-chair, all are in demand. Such is the march of travelling in these restless times. Not many years have elapsed, when any person intending to traverse Holstein had to wait several days before he could get a companion to share his carriage — but now, the case is completely reversed ; thanks to good roads and regular steam-boats, the traveller finds so many competitors, that, if he neglect to engage a place betimes, he must endure the honour of bringing up the rear of some long procession, like that just described, in, it may be, a crazy luggage car, without roof to cover him, or bench to sit on, liable to be as gently handled as a sack of wheat, or jolted out like a stray portmanteau, to be sent after his friends by next week's steamer. The long train of carriages was surrounded with screaming porters and little guards in red coats ; for the King of Denmark condescends to imitate England, and is almost the only continental mon arch who deigns to do so, by arraying his sol diers in short red coats, and his mail-guards in long ones of the same hue.

These functionaries gene rally carry a small bugle slung on the shoulder, and act in the double capacity of coachman and guard. On the present occasion, both bugle and red coat, with all the other imposing insignia of office, were required to aid them in marshalling the stormy crowd about to be placed under their care. The scene, in fact, was one which Hamburg alone can present ; such a Babel of tongues as may be often met with in that city, cannot be paralleled in all wide Europe. Farther south, may be heard fighting and bargaining, on such occasions, in more tongues than one — German, French, and perhaps a little English, are brought into play ; but seldom are more than two or three languages to be heard at one time — in Hamburg, on the other hand, a good half-dozen dialects are employed in keeping up the active cross-fire with clerks and postilions.

To those of the south, heard every where, are added the tongues of the north, heard in equal number only at this precise point, the rallying-place of Russians, Swedes, Norwegians, Danes, as well as of nations more commonly met with. In short, pilgrims from every quarter here come in contact for a moment, but are ready to fly off in a thousand directions so soon as postilion's horn and steam-boat bell shall spread them over Europe. Before we move forward, then, list but one moment to their clamour, for never again will such discord be heard. The con cert is now at its wildest : the Frenchman chatters ; the German growls ; the Swede twangs deep and long, like a Lochaber man ; the Dane pleads soft and submissive ; the Russian blusters and looks fierce, handling his stick, as if he still thought him self among hi s serfs ; the Englishman grumbles, — or takes his seat, as we did, to enjoy the fun.

At length the train got into motion, a short glimpse of the moon lighting our departure. A few minutes' drive took us out of the territory of Hamburg into that of Denmark. Our rapid passage through Altona, of course suggested little beyond what we already knew of it, as the second city of the Danish dominions, and the dullest, perhaps, in the world, — as containing near 27,000 inhabitants, and as being a favourite retreat of the wealthy citizens of Hamburg, to which, by its dulness, its regularity, and its quiet, it forms the most complete contrast. Happy had it been for us, had we been per mitted to slumber out the remainder of our journey as undisturbed as its commencement. Alas ! our night was doomed to be one of delay, and, but for good company, of annoyance. Cold, rain, and want of room, were the least of the evils we had to complain of, Nor was the custom-house visit very formidable ; on driving into a broad yard towards the end of our first stage, our trunks were opened, and the usual question put to the own ers, " Whether they had any thing new or un worn ?" but, beyond the mere formality of turning over a few of the articles belonging to each pas senger, no trouble was given.