Abroad again; or, a fresh foray in foreign lands

Front matter

ABROAD AGAIN; OR, A FRESH FORAY IN FOREIGN LANDS. I'.Y CURTIS GUILD, EDITOR OF THE BOSTON COMMERCIAL BULLETIN, AND AUTHOR OF "OVER THE OCEAN.*' BOSTON : LEE AND SHEPARD, PUBLISHERS. NEW YORK: CHARLES T. DILLINGHAM. IS77. Copyright, By CUKTIS GUILD, i877- Electrotyped at the Boston Stereotype Foundry, 19 Spring Lane. PEEFACE. Such of us as have longed to " go abroad," remember, in our young days, and, it may also be said with equal truthfulness, in maturer years, that we have sometimes promised ourselves a good thorough gossip and chat with friends who had just returned from foreign lands ; and that we were disappointed, even after most laborious effort, in obtaining the information which we expected familiarly imparted, or, in fact, any except what we knew before, and which anybody that had perused a reasonable portion of the current literature of the day would have been able to impart, with out having crossed the ocean.

This sort of people have been to Rome. " O, yes ! It is a fine old city, and full of interesting ruins, you know." " The Vatican ? Certainly. The Pope lives there, and the works of art there are truly wonderful." " How did the Colosseum look ? " " Why, it is oval in form, you know, and a large portion of it is ruins — a most interesting place." Such are samples of the information you may get from your travelled friend, who, you fondly imagined, would describe to you his experiences and sight-seeings so much more intelligibly than it is done in the books. Those interesting trifles which the untravelled are so fond of reading about, it must be remembered, become so much a matter of course, so familiar to the traveller abroad, that he can hardly bring himself to believe they are of importance enough to allude to, or of interest enough to put in print.

But in these days of abundant newspaper correspondence, and epistles from every part of the globe by those trained soldiers of the press who have tested every phase of popular taste, even that for trifles above mentioned, it is hardly to be expected that such an exhausted hunting-ground as Europe will yield at this late day much that has not, in some shape, been previously presented to the reader. The author, on his first visit abroad, notwithstanding his journey was over fields that had been trodden and retrodden by American tourists, in his investigations for his own information, and his fora ging for facts that he himself desired to obtain, found, upon present ing them, that they possessed a sufficient degree of freshness and importance to be most acceptably received by the reading public. In this record of a second tour abroad, the reader is taken through an entire new series of scenes and experiences from those described

Preface

. IV in " Over the Ocean." Some time is spent in visiting curious his toric localities in London ; a pen-picture of English home life is given, and some of the modern wonders of the great metropolis are described more minutely than perhaps has previously been done. To Rome, that ever fruitful field for historian, antiquary, and novelist, considerable space has been given in these pages, although no author can reasonably expect to present much that is new from a field that has been so industriously gleaned. If fresh interest can be excited with regard to those wonders of art and classical scenes of antiquity already familiar from frequent description, by a new presentation, possessing sufficient originality to command attention, it is all that at this time can be reasonably expected. Although the gayeties of that paradise of many American travellers, Paris, are not described, nor the magnificent scenery and moun tain-passes of Switzerland, or picturesque beauty of the river Rhine, as in the author's former volume, yet the reader is taken to quaint old cities like Verona and Innspruck, and among the lofty peaks and glaciers of the Tyrol and Upper Engadine, through the great art galleries of Dresden and Berlin, and into that curious country so much of whose territory has been wrested from the sea, — Holland.

Allusions are frequently made in these pages to information sought, but not found in the guide-books. While it will be admitted that if those publications gave everything everybody desired to find in them, they would become encyclopedias, yet to many tourists a portion of the information furnished by some of them is unintelligible. This arises from the fact that the compilers seem to have assumed that all tourists have a liberal, or university education. As regards Ameri can tourists, a large majority of those able to travel abroad have only enjoyed the benefits of a common-school education, hence copies of inscriptions in antique Latin without translation, names of buildings, statues, antiquities, public resorts, &c, given in the foreign vernacu lar in an English guide-book, or sentences in Greek, Latin, French, or Italian as the last words of great men, or descriptive of paintings, or, in fact, for any purpose of illustration, are to such majority not only an annoying puzzle, but a constant reminder of their lack of that knowledge possessed by others who have enjoyed more advantages.

Even the savant and student prefer the most direct and simple style of information to any other. With this in view, the author has sought to present his thoughts, impressions, and descriptions, not only in a graphic and interesting, but in a straightforward and simple manner. His foray for fresh ma terial in foreign lands for readers at home, resulted in the discovery of an abundance of supplies ; whether the selections therefrom were skilfully made, or are properly presented, it is for the reader to deter mine. C. G. CONTEXTS.

Chapter I

Unpleasant Recollections. — Doubts Dispelled. — Why Americans go Abroad. — The Voice of Experience. — Sharp Practice. — Picture Starts. — Union Stores. — Tricks upon Travellers. — Hints about Shopping-. — Prenez-Garde. — Notable Exceptions. — Bugbears of Travel. — Foreign Physicians. — Planningthe Tour 1-18

CHAPTER IL

Excursion Parties. — A Specimen Character. — A Yankee Inquisitor. — Turningthe Tables. — Representatives of America. — " Most Interesting Thing in Europe." — Experts in Travelling. — Inexperienced Tourists. — Hotel Impositions. — Servants and Sovereigns. — Acceptiug the Situation. — Letters of Credit. — Bankers' Courtesies. — Seasoned Tourists. — A True Sailor. — Catechizing the Captain. — Steamship Experiences. — Pleasant Days at Sea. — Liverpool. — Hotels. — Torments of Tantalus. — The Circumlocution System. — Every One to his Calling 19-47

Chapter III

English Custom vs. American Requirements. — Behind the Age. — The Wonders of London. — Old Smithfield. — Historic Ground. — Wonders of a London Market. — The Strand. — Temple Bar. — Chancery Lane. — Realizing Dickens's Stories. — Historic Landmarks. — Classic Ground. — The Knights Templars. — Temple Church. — Scene of Initiation. — Templar Effigies. — Refinement of Cruelty. — Grave of Goldsmith. — The Thames Embankment. — London Bridges. — The West End. — Restaurants. — The City 47-75

Chapter IV

Well-bred People. — English Home Life. — English Servants.— Lunch. — English Stable- Yard. — Dressing for Dinner.— An English Dinner. —The Dessert. — u We will join the Ladies." — Finale of the Feast. — An Amusing Blunder. — An English Breakfast. — Taking Leave. — English Domestic Service 76-92

Chapter V

Catching a Train. — Against Regulations. — The Policeman in Plain Clothes. — Under Surveillance. — An Uncomfortable Position. — Five- Pound Penalty. 92-'J7 V CONTENTS. VI

Chapter VI

A Ride in London. — Old Holborn Bars. — Bowbells and Old Jewry. — The English Guilds. - Beckett's Birthplace. — Ballad of Beckett. — The Business Centre of London. — A Cheap Neighborhood. — Five- Miles from Charing Cross.— Bethnal Green Museum. — An Admirable Institution 9S-10S

Chapter VII

Royal Albert Hall. — Grand Auditorium. — Well-planned Interior. - Costly Monument. —Superb Statuary. — Effective Groups. — Statue Group of America.— Art and Poetry. — Prodigality of Decoration. — Elaboration of Art.— A Costly Tribute 1»-11U

Chapter VIII

Rome.— The City of our Dreams.— First Sensations. — Reality vs. Romance.— Sight-seeing in Rome. — Tomb of Hadrian.— Magnificent Mausoleum. — St. Peter's. — The Grand Pavilions. — The Great Obelisk.— The Vestibule. — First View ofthe Interior. — Beneath the Dome. — Vast Proportions. — Kissing the Toe of St. Peter's Statue. — The Tribune. — Tombs and Monuments. — Mai ble Miracles.— How to visit St. Peter's. — A Village in the Air. —A Dizzy Promenade 120-141

Chapter IX

The Pantheon. — A Glorious Pagan Temple. — Vandalism. — The Capitoline Hill. — Legends and Localities. — The Square of the Capitol. — The Wolf of the Capitol. — Capitoline Museum. — Hall of the Emperors. — Portrait Busts. — Sculptured Stories. — The Endymion Sarcophagus. — A Youthful Prodigy. — Preservers of Art. — Hall of the Centaurs. — The Dying Gladiator. — Marble Faun. — Classic Ruins. — Roman Forum. — The Rostrum. — The Nameless Column. — The Arch of Titus. — Arch of Septimius. — Arch of C6nstantine. — Borrowed Sculpture. — The Marmetinc Prison. — Trajan's Column. — Unearthing Old Rome. — A Pillar of History. — Au Egyptian Relic. — Convent ofthe Capuchins. — Capuchin Church. — Ladies not Admitted. — A HaU of Horrors. — Suppression of the Convent 142-179

Chapter X

The Vatican. — The World's Art Museum. — Obstructions to Visitors. — The Pope's Guard. — Costumes in Rome. — The Last Judgment. — A Great Artist's Great Work. — Museum of Statues. — The Athlete. — Grand Army of Statues. — Priceless Art Wealth. — Tiberius Cæsar. — " A Mass of Breathing Stone." — Reading Up. — Sarcophagi ofthe Scipios. — The Boxers. — The Laocoun. — A Story in Marble. — Apollo Belvedere. — Lord ofthe Unerring Bow. — A Menagerie in Marble. — Hall of Statues. — Nero as Apollo. — Hall ofthe Muses. — The Muses in Marble.— A Suspected Character. — Sala Rotunda. — Hall ofthe Greek Cross. — Magnificent. Mosaic. — Hall ofthe Chariot. — The Quoit Throwers. — Fatigue of Sight-Seeing. — The Etruscan Museum, — Ancient vs. Modern Workmanship. — Etruscan Art. — Ancient Vases. — The Egyptian Museum. — The Vatican Library.— Literary Wealth. — Raphael's Masterpiece. — Gallery of Vases.— Notable Art Treasures. — Hall of Maps. — Hall of Tapestries. — Grand Pictorial Effects. — Obstacles to Enjoyment. — Advantages of Preparation 170-228 CONTENTS. VII

CHAPTER XL

The Colosseum. —Relics of the Past.— The Giant of Roman Ruins. — The Colosseum described. — Roman Vandalism. — Tbe Royal Road. — Architectural Skill. — A Dream of the Past. — Exploring the Colosseum. — Behind the Scenes. — The Christians to the Lions. — Horrors of the Arena. — An Imperial Joker. — Systematic Sight-Seeing. — Caracalla's Baths. — Ancient Popular Resort. — Palace of the Cæsars, — Streets of Ovid and Virgil's Time.— House of Livia. — The Appian Way. — Tomb of Cæcilia Metella. — Roman Aqueducts. — Picturesque Views. — St. Paul Extra Muros. —Constantine's Cathedral. — A Struggle with Time. — Royal Chapels. — The Santa Scala. — Ascending the Holy Stairs. — Temple of Vesta. — Bridge of Horatius. — Guido's Aurora. — Guido and Raphael 228-202

Chapter XII

The Pincian Hill. — Farewell to Rome. — From the Sublime to the Ridiculous. — Venice. — Exploring tbe By-ways. — Gondoliers. — Scenes on the Grand Canal. — Italian Music. — Heart of the Venetian Republic. — Tbe Voice ofthe Bells 253-272

Chapter XIII

A Singular Story. — The Fearful Three. — Ghosts of the Past. — Terrible Dungeon. — A Dangerous Experiment.' — Venetian Prison. — Mysterious Visitors. — Prisoner of the Inquisition. — A Terrible Situation. — A Dash for Liberty. — A Chamber of Horrors. — A Desperate Struggle. — The Foe iu the Dark. — A Puzzling Position. — Leaden Moments. — Trapped in a Prison Cell. — A Terrible Night. — Daylight at Last. — Vain Efforts for Freedom. — Starvation in Prospect. — Exhaustion and Despair. — Succor at Last. — The Luxury of Liberty. — *< Such Stuff as Dreams are made of." — The Lady in the Case 273-297

Chapter XIV

The Arsenal at Venice. — Remnant of a Great Power. — Maritime Importance of Venice. — Ancient Armor and Wondrous Weapons. — The Bucentaur. — Verona. — Street Scenes. — Roisterers of Verona. — Montagues and Capuluts. — Juliet's Balcony. — Tomb ofthe Capulets. — The Verona Amphitheatre. — Modern Performance in an Ancient Circus. — Della Scala Family Monuments. — A Murderer's Mausoleum. — Scenic Streets. — Relic ofthe Middle Ages. — Cathedral at Verona. — Church of St. Anastasia. — The Tyrol. — A Night in Botzen. — Tyrolean Scenery. — The Alps again. — Innspruck. — An Amphitheatre of Alps.— The Golden Roof. — Historic Beauty. — Royal Felicity. — Ambras Castle — Andreas Hofer. — Spider- Web Pictures. — The Court Church. — Giants in Bronze. — The Silver Chapel. — A Grateful Picture 298-337

Chapter XV

Seeking Companions. — Post Horses for St. Moritz. — Memorable Mountain. — Perilous Position. — Route to the Engadine. — The Finstermiiuz Pass. — "The Day we Celebrate " in the Alps. — Hoch Finstermiinz. — Wonders of au Alpine CONTENTS. Pass. —Tarasp Springs. — The Engadine Valley.— Samaden. —Hans Christian Andersen. — St. Moritz. — A Fashionable Resort. — Crowded Out. — A Miniature Hotel. — Scenes at the Springs. — Study of Characters. — Improving an Opportu nity. — Romantic Ride. — Bernina Brook. — The Morteratsch Glacier. — The Albula Pass. — From Mountain to Valley. — The Schyn Pass. — Gate of the Via Mala. — The Splugen Road. - Arrival at Prague. — A Hurried Visit. 338-373

Chapter XVI

Dresden. — Protection of Art Treasures. — Japanese Palace. — Museum of Porcelain. —Streets in Dresden. — The Dresden Gallery.— Raphael's Madonna.— The Holbein Madonna. — Masterpieces of Great Masters. — Old vs. New School. — Art Treasure House. — The Tournament Hall. — Historic Armor Suits. — The Saloon of Costumes. — An Aladdin's Cave. — The Green Vaults. — Costly Burlesques. — Jewels sown broadcast. — Court of the Great Mogul. — Dresden Beer Gardens. — Americans in Dresden. — Berlin. — Unter den Liuden. — Statuary in Berlin. — Old Friends in a New Place. — The Brandenburg Gate. — The People of Berlin. — Public Buildings. — Streets and Shops. — Thiergarten. — Mausoleum at Chaiiotteuburg 374-107

Chapter XVII

The Museums of Berlin. — Allegorical Illustrations. — Gallery of Gods and Heroes. — Hall ofthe Emperors. — Tlie Antiquarium. — Classic Antiquities. — Ancient Gems. — Antique Coins. — Picture Galleries. — A Wealth of Art. — Kaulbach's Frescos. — The Reformation. — Tower of Babel. — Battle of the Huns. — The Greek Saloon. — Unknown Antiquities. — A Monarch 1200 B. c Egyptian Historical Halls. — ''In Thebes Streets Three Thousand Years Ago." — Prussian Historical Relics. — Frederick the Great. — Glass and Enamel Work. — Curiosities of Art. — Potsdam.— Sans Souci. — The Orangery — A Monument of Justice. — Inside Look at Royalty. — The Five Palaces. — Berlin to Hanover. — House of Leibnitz. — A Beautiful Drive 40S-443

Chapter XVIII

Amsterdam. — Dutch Windmills. — Dutch Characteristics. — Canals of Amsterdam. — Drawbridges and Canal Boats. — Peasant Women. — Commercial Importance. — Canals to the Sea. — Magnificent Public Work. — Dutch Agriculture. — The Palace.— Rembrandt's Night Watch.— Old Dutch Masterpieces. — An Excursion to Brock. — A Cow Saloon. — Dutch Cheese-Making. — Dutch Farm-House. — An Immaculate Village. — The Hague. — StatueB and Monuments 443-4G3

Chapter XIX

Rembrandt's School of Anatomy. -- Paul Potter's Bull. — Gems of Art. — Dutch Historical Relics. — The "House in the Woods." — Scheveningen. — A Dutch Watering-Place. — Magnificent Railway Bridge. — Back to Paris. — Guide- Books. — Good-bye to the Reader XnSTJa^k 403-474 ABROAD AGAIN.

Chapter I

Abroad again ! What ! have you forgotten all those wretched days on shipboard, when, stretched out in your state-room, weak from sea-sickness, you longed so much for the comfort of your sweet chamber at home, where there was no mingled perfume of ocean and oakum ? Home, where you could put your foot down with a certainty that the floor wouldn't reel away from you ; where wash-bowl and pitcher and towels would stay in their places, and where everything on the floor didn't slide about, and everything hung up didn't swing back and forth till the sight of it produced nausea? Have you forgotten that vow you registered, that, having seen Europe once, you were satisfied, and that books, and engravings, and lectures, and descriptions would satisfy you in future ? Do you remember telling friends that the best thing to make one appreciate a good home was to be away from it for six or eight months, and that one of the most agreeable sights you saw on your last journey was the spires of your native city on your return trip ?

Do you call to mind those wretched days in the cabin of the steamer, during the gale, when no one of the passengers went on deck but an old sea-captain, who was going to Liverpool to take command UNPLEASANT RECOLLECTIONS. of a ship, the travelling agent of an English mercantile house, who had "crossed twenty times, and the young American who had served in the navy ; and how we all thought if we only got ashore safely this time, we nevei would be caught in such a predicament again ? Do you know how wretched it was to be ill at a Tyrolean inn, with no one nearer than a hundred miles who spoke your native language, and a doctor, whose French was worse than your own, to attend you ? Have you forgotten the swindles of hotel-keepers, the fatigue of diligences, the brevity of German beds, and the liveliness of Italian ones ; the indigestible messes on some inn tables, and the garlic flavor of others ; the bother with luggage, quarrels with couriers ; the back-aching inspection of picture-galleries, the lies of the valet de place, and the omissions of just what you wanted to know in guide-books ?

To be sure you have ; but, like those bitter tonics which we swallow with a shudder, these memories only serve to rouse a fiercer appetite than ever. The memory of sea-sickness exists but as a disagreeable dream, and you feel confident now that your knowledge and experience will make you to combat it successfully. The humdrum life of home has become monotonous. You feel that the first journey to Europe was merely preliminary — necessary to teach how you ought to travel to see it sensibly. And now you know how to travel abroad, how much better and more thoroughly will you see everything ! Books, engravings, lectures, forsooth ! What are they to seeing the place itself? What scores of interesting things you saw in Westminster Abbey, old St. Paul's, the Venetian palaces, St. Peter's, among Roman ruins, and even on the Parisian boulevards, that the letter-writers and the book makers never think of writing about.

Appreciate a good home ? To be sure you do. And the very thing you mean to do now is to buy something abroad to decorate it with and show your appreciation. There DOUBTS DISPELLED. 3 were those bronzes in Paris that you always regretted not taking ; there was that picture in Florence that you find, after all, you might have afforded ; and those Roman mosaics and antiquities, which, if your trunk had only been larger, you might have bought ; and then, those — Ah ! but next time you will look out for all those things. You mean to do good shopping as well as sight-seeing. The gale? Well, that was only two days' discomfort, after all ; and how pleasant were the next three days after it ! How everybody was on deck, and how the ocean seemed to have got smoothed down as flat as a table-cloth ! All the passengers were at the cabin-table, and several young men, who had been sick till then, absolutely smoked cigars after dinner ; and the deck was steady as a rock.

How the old sea-captain, when asked if we had been in any dangeiysaid, " Not to such a ship as this ; " and how the agent of the English mercantile house told the lady who had vowed "if she only got on shore this once, she never would go on the ocean again — neveri" the story of the Irishman on shipboard in a storm, who vowed a gift of twenty pounds to the Virgin Mary if he was permitted to reach land safely, and, being reminded some months after of the nonpayment of the vow, shrewdly remarked that "the Vargin wud niver" catch him "on the say agin." > What was two days' homesickness at a Tyrolean inn ? One must have a bilious attack somewhere. As to hotel keepers, let them try any of their games on you now — old, seasoned traveller as you deem yourself! You know more of cafes and restaurants now, and can avoid garlic mes ses without difficulty.

Couriers you will have none; and galleries and museums you will inspect more leisurely, and valets de place shall be made to know their place. In fact, when one has set his heart upon doing a thing, especially if it be something that he has thought he should not do, it is really astonishing what a number of reasons he can bring forward to sustain his change of opinion. BENEFITS OF FOEEIGN TEA VEL. To one fond of travel, or to a person of any degree of education and culture, the European tour is a source of never-ending enjoyment, months and years after it is over. With how much more interest do you read of events that transpire in the old world, that are enacted in the very streets or in the historic buildings that you have visited and fixed in your mind while sight-seeing I With what new beauty do copies of statues, pictures, and busts become imbued, after you have seen the grand originals !

With what fresh attraction is history invested, or even novels, the scenes of which are laid in those countries, cities, or very spots that you have crossed the ocean to see ! Enthusiasm in the returned tourist should never be mis taken for snobbishness, as it sometimes is by those who have never been abroad. I confess, before having travelled abroad, to have sometimes thought of those who had, and who were eloquent over the artistic beauty of foreign pictures, the magnificence of ancient architecture, and the grand conception that created celebrated statues which they expatiated most eloquently upon, over some wretched and familiar plaster model, — that their admiration might be affectation, and their expatiation but a parade of where they had been and what they had seen more than their less travelled listeners.

On the other hand, there are foreign-travelled snobs who are as amusing to sensible persons as the home-travelled members of the same genus. The latter will be readily recognized as those who are continually telling when they were last at Saratoga ; or that General Bustah remarked to them in Washington ; or that " our carriage was ordered in season for Senator Swyndell's reception." They ask you if you don't think Sharon Springs a prettier (!) place than the White Sulphur, and if you have many friends at Long Branch. " Chawming place, Newport; but, if you'll be lieve it, we took a cottage at Niagara Falls last season," The foreign-travelled snob is fond of referring to when TRAVELLED SNOBS. he was in Vienna, or Paris, or London ; and how much it cost for the opera ; and of his having a courier ; or being in Rome with the Highbreds ; or " Came down to Geneva with Finifines ; " or of the ride he took in the " Bowar des Bolone " with Colonel Throdice.

He never refers to libraries, statues, museums, or pictures, except that he may halt opposite one, perhaps, in your drawing-room, squint knowingly at it through his closed fist, and ask where you " picked that up." This class of snob, male and female, travels and visits celebrated places, as it does at home, not to perfect itself in knowledge ; not from a desire to see localities and historic places of which it has read and studied ; not from any admiration of sculpture, painting, fine arts, or natural scenery : but because it is the fashion; or, rather, it thinks it out of fashion not to have been in Europe. The lady snob of this class is better posted on dress makers and milliners in Paris than she is on the natural scenery of Switzerland, and will be better able to tell you of her reception at a royal "drawing-room," — for which she obtained tickets through the moneyed influence of her husband, and which cost her no end of expense, — than to describe an Alpine mountain pass that she has journeyed over, an Italian picture gallery that she has sauntered through, or a cathedral that she only remembers from having lunched with a party with whom she went to see it.

Another class of travellers are those whom you would say, were it not questioning the inalienable right of the universal Yankee, had no right to be abroad. And, indeed, it might be better for our country if they had never been permitted to travel. These are a class of people practically ignorant of their own country and its institutions, and whose only knowledge about others is that they are "foreign parts," that " Queen Victoria lives in a palace, and the Pope of Rome in St. Peter's," and who are amazed to find WHY AMERICANS GO ABROAD. that the people of Italian cities are not dressed like the brig ands in the picture-books, and those of Switzerland like the characters they have seen represented at the circus or on the theatrical stage. The annual spring and summer rush of tourists from America to Europe has now come to be almost au American fashion, and doubtless there are many who make the trip simply to be in the fashion ; but we are not at all inclined to join with the opinion of some of our American journalists who ridicule and scold their countrymen for spending money abroad, laboriously figuring up statistics, showing how much American gold is disbursed by American tourists to English and Continental hotel-keepers and merchants, and lamenting that so large a portion of our means should be expended for foreign luxuries instead of articles of domestic produc tion, and condemning the moneyed American because he does not expend all his money in his own country.

Americans who have money to spend and tim§ to spare like to go to Europe, because there are more historic, artistic, and natural sights to be seen, and more easily seen there, and also because they can obtain some things which are utterly unattainable at home. If the American in his own country desires to spend the summer at the sea-shore or a watering-place with his family, owing to the shortness of the season and the determination of landlords to make a handsome profit each season, he finds the expense very nearly as much as a three months' trip in Europe would cost him. And what has he had for the money at home ? Small, inconvenient rooms in a great caravansary of an hotel, where the attendance is abominable, the extra charges frightful, the place noisy with brass bands, " hops," and various fashionable excitements from picnics to prayer meetings, to make the blood more fevered in the heat of summer ; while ill-cooked food, the confusion of constant arrivals and departures, and the utter absence of any of that restful quiet that the body craves, cause him ere the season THE VOICE OF EXPEEIENCE. is over to long for the quiet of his own home, and wonder why he deserted it.

It is not to be asserted by any means that there is no discomfort in European travel or hotels, for off the great lines of travel routes the same annoyances exist as in America, but, as a general thing, at the great popular resorts a far more satisfactory return may be had for the money expended than in this country. There is so much useful information that can be given by one who has been " over the route " to those who are about to start, and, moreover, as every one who has travelled abroad knows, there are so many dearly bought experiences that might have been avoided had the advantage of a little instruction from an expert been enjoyed previous to setting out, that the author feels warranted in commencing this work with a few hints to travellers upon minor matters. They are the results of his own personal experience, and may be of value to those who visit the localities here referred to.

First, on the ever prolific subject of shopping abroad. Jewelry and pictures, to those who have the money to spend, are generally among the most attractive objects that claim attention. The price of jewelry in London is frightfully high. Geneva is the place for that article : first, because of your surety of getting the genuine 18-caratgold ; and next, because they are a community of jewellers there, and labor and living are cheaper. It should be understood, however, that watches can now be made better and cheaper in America than in Switzerland. Diamonds the Parisian jewellers think they can sell as reasonably as any dealers in Europe, but I rather favor the honest Dutch dealers of Amsterdam, the headquarters of diamond-cutting in the world, and where I have seen the finest diamonds — not in the royal treasuries — I ever looked on, and where diamond-cutting and dealing is as much a specialty as watches in Geneva or gloves in Paris.