Chapter C: W. V (13)

We arrived the third night at Vlada Kaukas, prettily situated upon a rapid river, or mountain torrent, a pleasant town of Russian creation, the residence of the officials of the district, civil and military, containing the barracks, hospitals, &c. The houses are built of stone, wood, and unburnt bricks, many covered with iron roofs, painted green, as indeed are almost all the Russian churches, which produces a cheering effect after seeing nothing but straw roofs in the interior.

We could here renew our supplies, as it must be remembered nothing can be obtained to eat or drink on the road in these wild countries. The stations are furnished with a few chairs, or wooden sofas, to pass the night upon, and a Semivar, or tea machine for hot water, with which to prepare your own tea, can always be obtained. All other appliances for sleeping, and to support life, you must carry with you, or starve.

At the place named we were detained one day waiting for horses, as the commanding officer had ordered all the post horses for the use of Cossacks, who were in hot pursuit of the enemy, who had committed some depredations.

We were glad to have passed the seat of difficulty in good time. We were not allowed to travel at night, and the whole line upon the steppes, some two hundred wersts, was occupied, up to our arrival at this place, by Cossack sentinels at intervals of a few wersts, generally three together, mounted upon a platform erected upon four poles adjoining their cabins. Each is furnished with a ladder to ascend by, and a straw cover to protect the men from wind and rain. Mounds of earth are also often thrown up as observatories, and their horses are always saddled and bridled ready to pursue the enemy.

Huge stone crucifixes point out the spots where the unfortunate Cossack peasants, sent down for colonization and cultivation of the soil, have been killed.

Some of the Circassians have submitted to Russian rule, and occupy their villages unmolested. A few reside in the Russian towns, consequently they know all that is occurring, and act as spies when necessary. They are a fine-looking race of people, and their costume is picturesque. I have heard Russian officers who have known them personally say, that if they had their way they would not wage war against them, while others go for extermination.

Circassia is to Russia, what Algeria is to France--a military school, a means of patronage for officials, and a source for decorations and honors, at the expense of the empire in general.

On the main road towards Staverpool, at the little town of Gorgiesk, fairs are held twice a year for general supplies.

A detour of thirty-four wersts brought me to this place. Within a circuit of forty wersts are found hot and cold, sulphur, iron, salt and soda springs. I design visiting all of them, and will speak of their qualities in my next. This place derives its name, Piatigorsk, from five small picturesque mountains within sight. It is romantically situated, and may be made a lovely spot.

There are six sources of hot and cold sulphur water, and the government has expended large sums in erecting baths and laying out the grounds in imitation of the Germans; but the distances are so immense, the bad roads and want of accommodations so great, that the Russians prefer going to Germany, now they can have passports. There are some four hundred here, where two thousand might be accommodated with private lodgings. I am the only foreigner here. The military band plays morning and evening, and the little Russian boys and girls, profit in waltzing and dancing upon the gravelled walks under the shade trees, to the delight of mothers and governesses.

CXXXIX.

STAVERPOOL, NORTHERN CIRCASSIA, _June 22, 1858_.

In my last from Piatigorsk I stated my intention of visiting the other mineral sources. Of these Gelesnovodski furnishes hot iron water, and is one of the few in the world of the hot ferruginous kind. It is romantically situated some twenty wersts from the place above named. It is a village of Cossack peasants, who were whitewashing and brushing up their rude cabins, built of branches of trees trellised or woven together, with a mud coating on both sides, and a coat of white for appearance. The roofs are entirely of straw, and of the most primitive style. A few decent houses have been erected, and the government has built some ordinary baths, and the woods and grounds have some walks and drives cut through. I went out in company with the Director of the Baths at Piatigorsk, which was fortunate, as the season had fairly commenced and no hotels were open, but being introduced to a certain baroness just established in her own house, we had a very respectable dinner.

Some thirty wersts in another direction is the most remarkable soda fountain I have ever seen in any country, called Kissnovodski. Here the crown has expended considerable sums in the erection of bathing buildings of massive masonry. The promenades through the woods are in good order for visitors. The source is about ten feet in diameter and throws out four hundred gallons per minute, bubbling up like soda water or sparkling champagne, being highly charged with carbonic acid gas. It is slightly charged with iron, and is delicious either with or without wine. It is used at the close of the season for bathing and drinking, giving extraordinary strength to the muscles of the body. Such a spring in a civilized and settled country, where there were facilities to get to it, would be a mine of wealth. Salt springs are also found about midway in going out.

A Tartar village lies to the right on the way to the springs first named, and also a village of German colonists about midway, which I visited a few days since in company with a party of Russian officers and their wives. I learned from an old German that the government gave them the use of lands in common, with certain immunities. I also found here an old Scotchman who had nearly forgotten English, having come out with the first missionaries, of whom none now exist. Both these old people had friends in the United States, and you can well imagine their joy and surprise at seeing an American for the first time.

I have had occasion to pass nights in Cossack houses, when horses were wanting at the stations, or it was unsafe travelling after dark, and when the only room in the post station was occupied, and I found the contrast between the tidy, comfortable cottages of the German settlers, and the filthy dwellings and habits of the Cossacks, Tartars, and Kalmucks, most striking.

Their villages are generally from twenty to twenty-six wersts apart, and are about a mile square, with a mud wall or brush fence and embankment all round, and sentinels at the gates. The houses, barns, and sheds are thatched with straw, and sufficiently remote from each other to guard against fire. The streets or roads are one hundred feet in width, and many are planted with trees.

The plains are used for pasture and tillage, and at nightfall the oxen, sheep, goats, and hogs are driven in by the shepherds, when all the boys and girls of the village turn out to drive their respective animals into the fold. They cultivate the ground, and harvest their crops at great distances from the villages, and always go armed.

They are the pioneers of Russian civilization, accustomed to border warfare like our squatters with the Indians. The government sends down villages of them from the river Don, granting them certain privileges, for which they are obliged to keep the Circassians at bay and furnish certain numbers of guards or sentinels, who change about, and are ever ready to pursue the enemy. As fast as portions of Circassian territory are acquired, fortresses and troops advance, and the Cossacks follow up and settle upon the lands. It is a sort of semi-barbarous civilization.

For a distance of some two hundred wersts we have seen no wood of any consequence, the whole country consisting of immense steppes or plains. The small water courses furnish brush for making wicker fences and frames of houses. Artificial turf is made from the straw, hay, and deposit of the barnyards, dried in the sun, and cut in brick form in summer for winter fuel. The ox-carts and wagons are entirely of wood, not a nail being used in their construction. I have counted from fifty to eighty loaded carts at a time, and not a particle of iron could I discover. The wood must be brought long distances from the mountains. The timber for building at this place is brought some six hundred wersts, or four hundred and fifty miles, by land. This is one of the best countries in the world for railroads, and if occupied by Americans the enemy would be conquered by the locomotive.

I passed a couple of days with a Russian nobleman at his village, making a detour of some thirty wersts, on a side route upon the banks of a little river where was quite a forest. As the question of the emancipation of the serfs in Russia is now the absorbing topic, I availed myself of the invitation. In many particulars it reminded me of the plantations in our southern country. Two years ago the village of cottages was burned down, when the proprietor immediately built brick kilns, having materials and wood on the spot, and reconstructed the houses better than before. He is one of the few Russian nobles who attends personally to his estate, and has much of the American in his composition for contrivance. He has three hundred and eighty-four serfs. They work three days in the week for their lord, and three for themselves. He had erected a flouring mill of very rude construction, with several run of stones. Little iron was made use of, as such supplies come from Moscow, and are very expensive. He also had an undershot wheel in the little creek or river for supplying his large garden and fruit trees with water by irrigation, as the steppes or plains suffer much at times from drought. The little girls of the village were busying themselves with gathering mulberry leaves for feeding silkworms, as he had erected a building for the purpose. The women and men were employed in all kinds of agricultural work. He has his overseers, but is quite practical himself. His family was absent, but his home was comfortable, and I was treated most hospitably.

He was willing to join in the manumission of the serfs, now the commands of the government fall upon him. If the serfs are liberated, he can rent his land to them, also sell or rent horses, oxen, &c., and if he employs them, pay wages. His domain is about ten miles square.

Staverpool is the seat of government for northern Circassia. It is a town of fourteen thousand inhabitants, built upon a pretty site in the midst of a picturesque country, and surrounded by hills, and valleys, and groups of forest trees. It is pretty well built, and contains a cathedral, and churches, with domes, spires, and roofs painted green, as usual, presenting a fine appearance. In all Russian towns the churches are the most striking ornaments.

I was presented to the governor, dined with generals and colonels in the service, and passed an evening at a re-union of the citizens in a beautiful woody grove, with a building for dancing and supper, at which figured the glittering uniforms of officers in all the different branches of government employ, and some pretty ladies, handsomely dressed. Paris modes and fineries find their way to the most remote parts. Two Circassian princes, in full costume, were among the number for their first time in civilized society; but like our Indians, did not express surprise at the giddy waltz, or the music of the military band.

CXL.

TAGANROG, RUSSIA, _June 28, 1858_.

From Staverpool I had five hundred wersts to travel in order to strike the waters of the river Don, at Rastoff, a town which thrives through the increasing grain trade. From thence I came in a tug steamer to this city, on the head waters of the Sea of Azoff.

The scenery on the route is little varied, consisting of vast steppes, or plains, with seldom any timber to be seen, and Cossack villages every twenty wersts and upwards. Immense droves of cattle, sheep, goats, and horses are frequently observed grazing, and cultivation is somewhat better and more general than in the country I had passed through before.

The natural roads over the prairies are easy for horses and for travellers, but quite monotonous. Posting is less difficult, and less dangerous, from the attacks of freebooters, being out of the district of the Circassians, but it is almost as difficult to obtain supplies on the road.

When horses were obtainable, we kept on until late at night, as my companion assured me there was no danger. He was familiar with the roads, and, notwithstanding others lay by through apprehension, and postmasters would not furnish horses after dark, he said at the point where we were, the Circassians could not seize us, and get across the line of sentinels by daylight; besides which, at this season they had their engagements, and can also be traced through the grass. As I was anxious to get on to catch the weekly steamer, I allowed myself to be convinced, and can now rejoice at being out of the reach of the Abassiens, Mingraliens, Georgians, Circassians, and Cossacks.

A few evenings since, at one of the rude stations where we passed the night, a pleasing rencontre for my friend was the meeting of a general en route for his post on the shores of the Caspian. They had not met since they were cadets together, some fifteen years before. He was provided with some choice sherry and some old Havanas, which gave additional zest to an evening in a barbarous country.

This pretty, well-built town, occupied in part by Greeks, who have made fortunes in the grain trade, was sadly mutilated by the fleets of the allies. Many of the ruined houses and magazines have been restored. I counted thirteen cannon shot in the front of the house of an eccentric individual, who had made his repairs, and stuccoed the balls, mosaic like, in the front. The lower part of the city, under the bluff, was entirely destroyed, and the upper part, on the hill, badly damaged.

There are some two hundred vessels, of different nations, in the roadstead, waiting for cargoes of flint wheat, or the lighters loaded with the ordinary kinds, brought from Rastoff, or higher up in the Don. Large quantities are transported from the river Wolga to the Don, and floated down. The fisheries of the river are also important, and quantities of caviar are made from the eggs of the sturgeon, for exportation. The hide, wool, and tallow traffic is also considerable.

A monument to the Emperor Alexander, who died here after his visit to the Crimea, is erected upon the public square. The so-called palace, a large mansion house, where he died, is visited generally by Russian travellers. The room he died in has an altar in it, and the priest who was with him in his last hours still lives, and presides on festive occasions. I noticed here, also, that a few stray shots of the enemy had done their work.

I found one village near Rastoff almost exclusively occupied by Armenians. Their churches are handsome edifices, and will compare favorably with the Russian churches for beauty of architecture, and the towers and cupolas painted white, with green roofs, have a pretty effect. The interior decorations are not unlike the Russian Greek churches, which, in paintings, images, crucifixes, lamps, and candles, are more overloaded than the Latin Catholics.

The Armenians are generally a money-getting race, and surpass the Jews in financiering.

Among the different races which I have found in this country, the Kalmucks must not be forgotten. They remind me of the Chinese as far as traits of feature are concerned. They are mostly employed as shepherds. Their huts are made of a sort of felt, under which husband, wife, and children are grouped together. They use for covering the skins of sheep, and live upon black bread and loppered milk. They kill no animal for food, it being contrary to religious prejudice; but when one dies, I notice the great iron pot is partly filled with water, and placed over the fire in the middle of the tent. The intestines of the beast are boiled with slices of pressed common tea, which comes overland in the shape of cakes, and a soup is prepared for the whole family.

Russia comprises such an infinity of races, some half-civilized, and some barbarian, that it is not surprising, notwithstanding the upper classes are educated, and have the surface, or gloss, of high civilization, that one often discovers the traces of barbarism when least expected. They are hospitable in general, and I have received many civilities at their hands; but nevertheless the proverb, “Scratch the Russian a little, and under the surface you find the Tartar,” in many instances is not incorrect. They are trying to improve their condition, but what can be done by a people who rely upon the will of one man, whose word is law?

The routine of Bureaucracy is fearful. The laws are a mass of ukases issued by the different emperors, and many remain dead letters. For instance the Emperor Nicholas, hearing of a great conflagration from the use of lucifer matches, issued an edict prohibiting their introduction, which does not prevent the general use of them; still the ukase is not countermanded. The abuses of officials are also startling. The government was robbed to a great extent during the war by persons who are now living in splendor. Many were detected who had sent their ill-gotten gains to the bank on interest; these sums were confiscated.

The crown has now reduced the rate of interest from four to three per cent. on bank deposits, hoping to induce the people to invest in railroads, but they say they would rather have three per cent. certain than risk their money in new undertakings. There is no spirit of public enterprise among the people, and if there was, every possible obstacle would be thrown in the way by the officers and employees of the government.

The circulation is mostly the Government Bank paper, which is prohibited from coming in if once taken out, and when one leaves the country, to buy gold and silver he must pay a handsome advance, as both of the precious metals bear a premium, and the bank can only be called upon for small sums. The natural consequence of such a state of things in any country is advanced prices for all articles of consumption.

If the last emperor had employed one half the vast sums expended in keeping up a gigantic military force, in improvements to the roads and rivers, and in railways, he would have been a great benefactor to his people.

Much is hoped and expected from the present emperor, who is willing to be guided and advised, while Nicholas was obstinate, and his will was law. I find more liberty of speech and action among the people now than when I first visited Russia, ten years ago, when every one felt as if his neighbor was a spy.

CXLI.

ODESSA, _July 6, 1858_.

At this season of the year Odessa is only livable and visible after a rain storm, such as we have just had. It then appears to advantage, as the houses are of stone, well built, with metal roofs painted green. The soil is clayey, and the streets broad and unpaved, so that the hundreds of ox carts loaded with grain and the immense numbers of droskies produce a perfect cloud of dust, exceeding anything of the kind in the world. In winter it is very muddy, but at this period of heat without rain, it is a sort of purgatory. In twenty-four hours it will be dusty again, notwithstanding the heavy fall of rain we have just had, rendering the streets extremely difficult to cross. There are magazines or stores in the city for fifteen million bushels of grain.

A great annoyance to travellers leaving Russia is the procuring of passports. All the necessary measures must be taken at the police in person, and the intention of departure must be advertised three times in the Russian Journal, which appears only every other day, making a delay of a week, if fortunately no holiday or festival intervenes. At every point you are taxed for stamp paper, advertising fees, and other items, to sustain the hordes of officers. Your pass for interior travel is taken from you, and a new one has to be made out. Your original pass must be visé by the minister or consul of the country you design visiting, and another is not forthcoming until the chief of the police certifies there are no civil or criminal charges alleged, and then, perhaps, it is too late for the weekly steamer, thereby detaining the stranger against his will for perhaps a fortnight. I am now only in possession of my books and maps, which were seized by the Censor when I entered Russia. The obstacles thrown in the way of travellers should be noticed by enlightened Governments. Through the assistance of the Governor, to whom I went in person, I shall get through with less difficulty. The last act signed is by the Quarantine Officer, without whose visé one cannot get on board of the steamer. Is it any wonder that the progress of this great nation should be retarded? Where would the United States be if our system was as contracted as the European?

I came from Taganrog to Kertch, stopping at Esck, a new town just growing up, at Mariopol, and at Berdiansk, the latter a little city of commercial importance, but whose trade may now fall off, its privileges having expired.

In order to build up a new city, as is the case with Esck, which reminds me of one of our new towns in the West, the commercial tax upon a merchant is taken off for ten years, if he will erect a store at a certain cost in the new city. Large dealers in Moscow, or other cities, find it to their advantage to make the outlay, without ever seeing the property. The system strikes me as a forced one, and after the term expires the town may decline.

The ex-governor of Kertch and myself were the only persons landed at Esck, and the governor drove us around in his drosky, and to his house for refreshments.

I passed a day at Kertch, where I met the newly appointed consul for Soukum Kale, whose family I knew at Tripoli. We visited the governor actual of the city, and dined with the English consul, where were present Spanish, Neapolitan, Sardinian, French, English, and Tuscan ministers and consuls, and I found myself the only non-official at the table, which, however, did not prevent our great nation from having a representative.

I next embarked for Odessa, touching at Theodosie, Yalta, Sebastopol, and Eupatoria, all of which places I had visited before. A telegraphic dispatch had been received announcing the plague on the Barbary coast, where I was last winter, and to which I gave little credence. The alarm, however, was great, and it looked as if we should have to make a quarantine of fifteen days, as the steamer had come from Trebisond, in Turkey. The whole thing was ridiculous; but the passengers at Theodosie were not allowed to land at first, and the excitement among the ladies was quite intense. Having made two quarantines formerly, after crossing the desert to Jerusalem, and from Egypt to Malta, I was also glad to escape.

At Sebastopol I found our countrymen had recently raised a Turkish steamer taken by the Russians during the war. I examined her hull, and found it sound. The engines and boilers were in good order. The upper wood-work of pine was much eaten by the worms, but the painted work was not touched. They have heretofore had every difficulty to contend with, and have divided the property raised, or exploded and fished up, equally with the government; but the crown is now disposed to be more liberal, and the company are to have all they save, giving half the chains and anchors to the government, and are to raise the frigate Vladimir gratis. The wharves are covered with old copper, iron bolts, fragments of wood, water tanks, &c., &c.; altogether, it is a curious collection. It is to be hoped they will succeed, particularly as the English Times has indulged in a side thrust at both Americans and Russians, by announcing the failure of the Americans, and that the harbor must remain blocked up until the worms destroy the wrecks.

Our anniversary was not forgotten by our consul, Mr. Ralli, a wealthy Greek merchant, who has had the honor and little pay for the last twenty-four years. He drove me to his country-seat, where a sumptuous dinner and fine old wines were provided, and toasts heartily drank to the memory of the father of our great country. As the writer was the only native born present, of course a few words were expected from him.

Whether it was by accident or design I know not, but a later invitation was offered from Mr. Matthew, the late English consul at Philadelphia, now consul general here, to dine the same day, but deferred for a subsequent one.

He protests his innocence in the affair of the recruits, which caused his removal, and looks back with pleasure upon his sojourn in the States, where he left many warm friends.

The terminus of a railway in all countries awakes a spirit of speculation, which I was struck with at Theodosie, the projected terminus of a railroad from Moscow, which may be a long time yet in construction. The people were brushing up and making repairs in the dull-looking town, and property was already out of the reach of buyers.

In the suburbs is a Tartar village of mud huts and thatched roofs. While strolling through the Musselman district with my map in my hand, and tourist glass directed to the chain of hills, with their line of windmills, I was surrounded by men, women, and children, whose curiosity was excited to know, either from motives of interest, or dread of having their houses torn down, where the iron horse was to come in, they having of course an indefinite idea of a railroad.

The Russian steamers on the Azof and Black Seas are of English or French construction, and are now manned by Russian officers. Three of the steamers among the number I have sailed in had none but Russian servants, speaking their language only, which is awkward for such strangers as have no knowledge of the same, particularly as the passage tickets include dinner only, and all other meals and refreshments are extra, so that at the end of the voyage the items for the traveller increase the expense from a third to a half. The English and American system is the best for sea steamers, where all is included and payable in advance. For the information of those who desire, it may be remarked that Russia is one of the most expensive countries in Europe to obtain the comforts and luxuries of life in.

CXLII.

BADEN, AUSTRIA, _July 28, 1858_.

Our steamer left Odessa at six P. M., and the next morning at sunrise we found ourselves at the entrance of one of the mouths of the Danube, with Sulina, the Turkish port, at our left, a small ill-built wooden town, its position reminding me of the Balize at the mouth of the Mississippi, with low banks and marshy soil, covered with reeds and rank vegetation. Large numbers of vessels lie straggling along the wooden wharves, waiting for a favorable wind, and tug boats to tow them up to their destined ports for cargoes of grain.

We had but few passengers; among the number was a Georgian Princess, the grand-daughter of the last King, whom I had met with her husband, a Russian colonel, in their own country. This lady is the sister of the Princesses taken captive by Schamyl, who were ransomed by the Russian government, as mentioned in a former letter. The meeting was the more agreeable, because quite unexpected. The society of a young and beautiful Georgian woman, with all the simplicity and amiability of the lady, speaking the English and French language fluently, as well as her husband, a man of large experience in Circassia, was calculated to make a long trip less irksome than it would otherwise have been.

At four P. M. we arrived at Galatz, in Moldavia, a city of some forty thousand inhabitants, where we changed steamers, remaining there thirty-six hours, awaiting the arrival of the passengers from Constantinople.

A larger boat was now furnished, constructed after the manner of our American river boats, with a saloon on the main deck, abaft the wheels, an upper promenade deck, and a number of cabins upon the forward deck. Our numbers being considerably augmented, the heat was oppressive, and mosquitoes brought back reminiscences of the Alabama and Apalachicola in the spring time.

We landed at Giurgevo, in Wallachia, a small town, the port of Bucharest. Both Galatz and the place named lie upon the river bank, but the principal parts are upon bluffs above. Galatz has a mixed population of all races. As the Principalities are subject to Turkey, the coin of that country is in use, as well as that of all the neighboring states, and the numbers of money-changers installed at short intervals upon the sidewalks, present a curious spectacle.

The language has much of the old Roman in its composition, and one is struck with the names of streets and persons upon signboards bearing analogy to the Italian. The dresses of the peasants also struck me as resembling those worn in Italy. The original inhabitants were evidently Romans. Their sympathies are, however, more Russian, as they profess most generally the Greek faith.

The river is quite serpentine in its course, and the scenery as we advanced became more varied, groups of forest trees and better cultivation being seen. Turkish villages lie along the left banks with their mosques and minarets, and Wallachian and Moldavian villages on the right.

We passed Silistria, celebrated for its defence by the Turks and defeat of the Russians with a loss of twelve thousand men; landed and received passengers at Mikopol, and at the strongly fortified town of Widdin, and arrived at the Eisernen Thor, or Iron Gate, where the low stage of water obliged the landing of passengers, and we took wagons for the distance of a few miles and found a small steamer of light draught of water, which conveyed us through the pass between high mountains of the boldest and most romantic scenery, a miniature Switzerland, to the town of Orsova, the frontier line of Hungary. Here all the luggage was discharged and carried to the Austrian Custom House for examination. Tobacco, sealed letters, and playing cards were handled without mercy, and some of the passengers had to pay heavily.

We made a halt at Belgrade, the last point in Turkey, and at Semlen near the mouth of the Save. The Hungarian shores were alive with cattle, horses, and sheep grazing.

At Widdin we took on board its Governor, Ismet Pacha, and suite. I found him an intelligent and liberal-minded man. Our sleeping apartments being contiguous we had frequent interviews, and I found he entertained a high opinion of American character and enterprise. He has occupied many important positions, and tells me he has always protected the Christians.

An unpleasant affair has just occurred at Belgrade in the attack on the English consul by a Turkish soldier; he escaped without serious injury. This, however, with the recent massacre at Jiddah, and the murder of the Greeks and attack of the Christians in Candia, have produced a painful impression throughout Europe.

The voyage up the Danube, although offering much of interest, is rather monotonous, occupying seven days from Odessa to Pesth, in Hungary, where the railroad can be taken for Vienna. The distance probably does not equal that from New Orleans to Louisville, which occupies less time, and our steamers afford better accommodations to passengers at one-third the cost.

The Danube Steamship Company have one hundred and five steamers in all, besides barges for towing. The capital employed is very large. Last year, with the outlays for wharves, new boats, etc., they were deficient over a million of guilders. With the further extension of the railways, and the probable free navigation for all flags, the success formerly obtained is questionable.

I spent a couple of days in the capital city of Hungary, which I formerly described to you. It is a fine, well-built, and well-paved city, offering many objects of attraction. Near Orsova the spot was pointed out to us where the crown of Hungary, secreted as it is said by Kossuth, was discovered. A small chapel is erected on the spot.

From Pesth I took the railroad to this celebrated Austrian watering-place. It is abundantly supplied with hot and cold sulphur baths, and swimming schools for ladies and gentlemen. A most charming, romantic, and picturesque country lies about it. The town has a population of four thousand, and there is about an equal number of guests. It is only an hour’s ride by rail from Vienna, and consequently much frequented. The bath houses are well built structures, with comfortable quarters for families or private individuals; the ladies and gentlemen have separate entrances and dressing rooms, but generally bathe together in deep square baths, surrounded by a gallery for the use of friends or spectators. They use bathing dresses, which are numbered. It is rather startling at first when one enters, to find a party of gentlemen and ladies walking about, their heads only above water, and engaged in cheerful conversation. Private baths may be obtained, but the masses prefer passing the hour in society, talking over the affairs of the day and making arrangements for excursions and dinner parties.

CXLIII.

BATHS OF TÖPLITZ, BOHEMIA, _Aug. 21, 1858_.

From the baths of Baden, in Austria, I came to the old capital, Vienna, which I found dull as usual at this season of the year, as all who can get into the country make their escape. A grand work of improvement is in progress here. The old Bastei, or walls which fortified and surrounded the city, are being torn away and levelled. The concentration of business and residences in the city had increased the average occupancy of houses to seventy persons each, or double the number of any city in Europe, and the want of room for extension had caused the building up of some twenty-five suburbs, towns and villages. The admission of light and air will lessen the mortality, which was in greater proportion to the population than in other well-regulated cities.

We came from Vienna to Prague in one day, by rail. Having visited this city repeatedly, and, I think, described the same, I will not hazard a repetition.

Four hours by rail brought me to this celebrated watering-place, which has been used for the last thousand years. The distance now traversed by the locomotive within a day, cost me more than five days’ travel, by the posts of the country, before these conveyances were introduced.

I found Töplitz much changed since my last visit, years ago. The railroad now connects it with Dresden, the Saxon capital, within a few hours. The town has about six thousand inhabitants, and the number of guests throughout the season equals that amount. Besides numerous hotels, almost every private house furnishes lodgings, and has a particular name, which one would suppose would exhaust the whole vocabulary of words. There are some eighty bathing establishments of all kinds, capable of accommodating four thousand four hundred persons daily with warm baths.

The many romantic walks and drives, the park grounds of the chateau of Prince Clary, to whom the buildings, bath, and spacious garden where I have taken up my abode belong, all afford an infinite variety for the stranger. The majority of the visitors, however, being here ostensibly for health, there is less life and animation than at the watering-places on the Rhine. The character of the guests is less varied. Russians, Germans, and Poles predominate. Only a few French, Italians, English, or Americans are here this season. Indeed the baths generally are less frequented since the late crisis, and the complaint is general in cities as well as places of summer resort, of the falling off of travel.

In the Austrian dominions gaming is not allowed, which pays all the expenses of the great bathing establishments in the little German Duchies, and attracts a different class of society. Here a tax is levied upon every visitor, called Kur-und Musik Taxe, which I hold the receipt for in Baden and here, and as I design visiting Karlsbad and Marienbad, I shall not be forgotten by the collector or by the Barmherzige Brüder, who presents himself as soon as one gets comfortably quartered in his hotel, for a subscription for the infirm poor of all nations, who are received and treated gratis.

We rise at six A.M.; drink of the mineral waters agreeably to medical advice; walk until eight; partake of coffee, milk, and plain bread, without the accompaniment of fresh butter; bathe at ten; repose, without sleeping, in warm clothing, and avoid stimulants, fruits, acids, and fat or greasy food, as long as under treatment.

This place is indebted to Frederick William III., king of Prussia, who visited it annually for nearly a quarter of a century, thereby prolonging his life, and expended yearly about the same sum our President receives for his full term. Consequently the citizens, as well they could, have erected a monument upon what is called King’s Hill, to the memory of their lamented guest.

There is, as usual, a theatre, concert rooms, a shooting house for target exercise, coffee saloons, and music in the open air, all calculated to sustain the drooping spirits of sufferers. I find more persons in little wagons, and chairs upon wheels, drawn or pushed about by servants, than at other baths. I have met with many paralytic cases, but the waters are used for such a variety of diseases, that it would be difficult to enumerate them. Many finish the cure here, after making use of other springs in the early part of the season. It is interesting to hear the counting up of so many more baths, and so much more water to be drunk, before they can escape the exactions of the physicians, and can set their faces towards home, or upon intended travels.

For now nearly a month the friends of monarchy have been expecting the birth of a prince or princess to the crown of Austria. If the former, one hundred and one guns would announce the happy event; but if the latter, the news will fall upon them like a cold shower bath, as I observed two years since in Milan, where the authorities had the great cathedral decorations prepared for the occasion; when the tidings came of another female heir, twenty-one guns only hailed the news, and the celebration was a failure. Amid the expectations of the interested, I notice in the public journal that the empress’s health continues good. I also translate literally an article of court news from the same journal, as follows:

“_The Little Wagon of Princess Gisella._--In Laxenburg the little Princess rides often in a little wagon, to which is attached a little donkey. The governess rides upon a similar animal by her side. The sight is extremely delightful, and excites the most intense interest among the park visitors.” Comment is unnecessary.

The birthday of the emperor has just been celebrated by the firing of cannon, ringing of bells, high mass in the church, and music by the band, all of which it is incumbent upon the officials and employees to perform. In order to be conversant with the affair, I attended the dinner given in commemoration, but it struck me that it went off with little enthusiasm, and without that spontaneous effusion of patriotism so marked on public occasions in our country.

Since my last visit, two years since, I find the currency somewhat better. The shinplasters for ten kreutzers, or eight cents, are supplanted by an alloy, and the national bank, on the 13th of October, will make an effort to resume specie payments. It has three hundred and eighty millions of paper guilders afloat, equal to one hundred and ninety millions of dollars. The government of Austria has a debt of two billions of guilders, or one billion dollars, and it is every year increasing the debt. The interest is equal to fifty millions of dollars yearly. What would we think in our country of such a load upon its shoulders? The resources of the country, it is true, are great; but the whole territory does not equal in superficial area the state of Texas. Every source of income is squeezed and pressed out, while the farm laborer obtains only twenty-four kreutzers, or twenty cents per day, not enough to keep body and soul together.

CXLIV.

MARIENBAD, BOHEMIA, _August 29, 1858_.

Karlsbad lies thirteen hundred and seventy feet above the level of the sea, in a deep narrow valley between steep projecting granite rocks and hills, upon the margin of a little serpentine stream, and from the many points of look-out reached by circuitous paths, gives enchanting views and panoramas. Upon one of the ragged jutting points stands a bronze deer, indicating the Hirschsprung. As the story goes, the discoverer of the Sprudel, or hot bubbling spring, which throws out forty-five buckets of water per minute, was the Emperor Karl the Fourth, in the year 1379, while in pursuit of a deer, which leaped over the precipice, pursued by the dogs, and when found was in a cooked condition in the boiling element.

The town has about three thousand inhabitants, and the Kurliste calls for about four thousand visitors during the season. What is called the wiese, or meadow, is formed of two long rows of houses built against the rocks fronting on the little stream Tepel, spanned by bridges, promenades bordered with shade trees, a quantity of little shops filled with wares and ornaments of every variety, offering a lounge for the ladies. Both sexes sit in the open air and take coffee and refreshments, and the parties are more thrown together, making it more like a family circle than in many other bathing places.

The different springs are so arranged with galleries as to protect from the sun and rainy weather. The walks and ascents are of the most wild and romantic character. Savage scenery and deep woods of thick forest trees, affording exercise and protecting from heat, abound. Altogether the natural attractions are almost unsurpassed on the continent. Baden-Baden and Karlsbad are two of the watering-places of Europe, where within a few minutes’ time one may escape the noise and excitement of the multitude, and find himself solitary and alone, admiring the works of nature.

The heat of the spring is 165° Fahrenheit. Objects encrusted with the deposit of this water are polished and prepared in different forms, the colors resembling the lava of Vesuvius, and are quite an article of commerce. Here is seen the crucifix upon Kreuz Berg. Now one stumbles upon a monument to the memory of a benefactor who has built a new walk, or extended balconies or iron railings; then one imagines, in a narrow defile in the rocks, he is entering a graveyard, with slabs to the memory of the deceased, but on reading the engravings in different languages, he finds they are tributes and songs of praise from invalids to the waters for restored health.

After a halt of a few days at this agreeable place, I proceeded to Marienbad. It is also a lovely spot, with newer arrangements than Karlsbad, better bath houses, and larger and better hotels. It lies one thousand nine hundred and thirty-two feet above the level of the North Sea, and contains only about one hundred and twenty private houses. Nearly six hundred thousand jugs of this water are sent out, and it finds its way to all parts of Europe. The entire spring grounds form an English park, with trout brooks running through, and are particularly adapted for those who wish to escape the bustle of the world to take care of their health while here in this quiet valley surrounded by hills and pleasant walks. Nature and art together offer everything for the recovery of the lost blessing.

The sources here, as well as at Karlsbad, are various, and the springs are built over. The Krews Brunnen has a colonnade of seventy-two Ionic columns, with a long hall connecting for bad weather. Before the same is the promenade, under the shade of lofty trees, with music morning and evening. Every guest has his vari-colored Bohemian glass, and takes his turn at the fountain of health, at intervals of a quarter of an hour, with a walk in the meantime.

A bright Sunday morning at Karlsbad announced the long expected birth of an heir to the Hapsburg dynasty. The bulletins gave the information that it was a crown prince, and accordingly a hundred and one guns were fired, all the church bells were rung, a Te Deum was performed, and the officers military and civil, with their trappings and orders, paraded through the streets much to the edification of the peasants, in their picturesque costumes, who were attracted to the town by the holiday. At night the hills were illuminated with the lights representing the double-headed eagle, with the letters F. J., a twinkling star, and E., signifying Francis Joseph and Elizabeth.

The great achievement of the submarine telegraph strikes all with amazement, and the masses begin to comprehend that America is considerable of a country. The peasants have heard that grain in our country is sowed, harvested, threshed, and cleaned by machines, instead of manual labor, and the inquiry is, how is it possible?

Our failure in commercial affairs, through extended enterprise, improvements, and fast living, made Europe feel our importance, and from which it still suffers. We retrenched, stopped buying goods, and economized in public and private outlays, which cannot be done here with their standing armies and expensive court charges; and now I remark our banks are loaded down with specie, new gold discoveries are added to the stock, and only the movement of commerce is needed to put the wheels again in motion.

What would our farmers say if every head of cattle sold, paid a tax of two dollars for slaughtering privilege, and smaller animals in proportion; and every sale of houses and land from five to ten per cent. to the crown.

Hotelkeepers and owners of private houses, for neglect in announcing to the police the harboring a friend or stranger over night, have to pay from five to ten guilders.

CXLV.

COPENHAGEN, DENMARK, _Sept 12, 1858_.

I had not the remotest idea of revisiting this northern region when I wrote you last; but such are the extraordinary facilities of locomotion in this age, that one finds himself within a few days transported hundreds and thousands of miles. I was on my way to Swinemunde, on the Baltic, for sea bathing, when I heard that my old friend Captain Irminger, with whom I visited Caraccas, La Guayra, and Porto Cabello in Venezuela, and the Island of Curaçoa, and who landed me on the small island of Beati, south of Hayti, many years since, from the brig-of-war Örnen, was now residing in this city as admiral of the Danish fleet, and I felt that I could not resist the desire of seeing him again.

I can scarcely realize the fact that at this time last year I had just returned home for a visit, and have since passed over so much ground in Europe, Asia, and Africa. It seems but yesterday that I was climbing the mountains of Circassia, or travelling rapidly over the steppes of Southern Russia, or wandering through the ruins of Sebastopol, passing in review within the year Arabs, Egyptians, Turks, Circassians, Georgians, Greeks, Hungarians, Moldavians, and a host of other races; but when I reflect that space is now almost annihilated, I must be reconciled to the fact, and turn my attention to the quiet and peaceful Dane, and mark the changes, if any, since I saw him for the first time.

From Marienbad I came twenty miles to Franzensbad, not remarkable for its position, but somewhat for the healing qualities of its waters, of which about two hundred thousand jugs are sent away, and about two hundred invalids visit it annually.

What struck me as most singular are the Schlambäder, or Turf Baths, charged with alkali, salt, and iron. One large bath house is adapted to this use. A number of men are employed digging and wheeling in turf, which is broken and ground in a mill, not unlike the breaking of clay for brickmaking. A steam engine of sixteen horse power is employed for this use, as also for pumping and for the heating of the water reservoirs. The bath tubs are mounted on wheels, filled with the black mixture, like thick mud, and rolled through the inner courtyard and in the outer door of the bath rooms. The patient takes his bath and then jumps into another of equally hot water, for washing and cleansing himself. The cost of such a bath is only half a dollar. They are said to be extremely strengthening after the use of other baths and water drinking, and particularly useful in rheumatic and paralytic afflictions. A couple of days was quite sufficient to familiarize one’s self with the springs, grounds, advantages, and disadvantages of the locality.

A ride of thirty-five miles by post, and one bids adieu to Bohemia, in Austria, and strikes the frontier of Saxony on the railroad to Leipzig, a city celebrated for its fairs. It has seventy thousand inhabitants, and is surrounded with pretty garden suburbs. Among the number is Gerhard’s, where is the monument to Prince Poniatowski, who lost his life in jumping his horse across the little stream Elster, which runs through the city. This was at the famous battle of Leipzig, of 1813.

I arrived on a Saturday evening. The next morning service commenced in the Protestant churches at half-past eight, and continued till half-past ten. Numerous congregations attended, and listened to earnest, faithful preaching. During the exercises all places of entertainment are closed, but opened afterwards for necessary purposes.

The beautiful walks of Rosenthal, and oak woods, that extended to the village of Gohlis where Schiller wrote his Don Carlos, were fully occupied with promenaders after dinner, and the many public gardens filled with the multitudes partaking of their coffee and lager beer, the men smoking their pipes and cigars, women embroidering and listening to the bands of music, and children with their nurses amusing themselves upon the grass. All seemed happy and quiet, and as the evening approached some wended their way to the summer theatre, in an open garden, others to their homes. Such are the customs, and such the force of education even in the land of Luther’s reformation.

I made a halt of two days at Leipzig by way of reviving my recollections, and spent a day at Halle, on the river Saale, noted for its university--a very old city, of thirty thousand inhabitants, offering nothing of particular interest. The railroad passes through Gotha, Dessau, and Wittenburg, all of which places I had formerly seen in detail before this mode of conveyance existed here. As I partook of some refreshment at Wittenburg, which I once described to you, I inquired if the old town was as much a place of pilgrimage as formerly. The reply was to the contrary, since the railroad passed through the people had no time to stop. It had once cost me a long journey to visit the houses where Luther and Melancthon lived and wrote, and where they lie buried.

I also looked in upon friends at Berlin, whom I had left eighteen months before, a picnic party in the country being the result, and made a visit to the grounds of Baron Humboldt, where the remains of the illustrious traveller’s parents are entombed.

Governor Wright drove us to Charlottenburg, the royal residence. At the opera in the evening the young crown prince of Prussia was present with his new bride, young Victoria. A sojourn of three days in a city which I had visited so repeatedly, and in which I had almost gained a residence, was brief, but I was _en route_ for the salt breezes of the sea, and two days later found myself walking ashore from the good steamer Geiser in the well known port of Copenhagen.