SHORT TOUR TO THE EAST 49 



was unwilling that my balance should ever run low ; 

 besides, he was always cautious in making ample 

 provision for unexpected contingencies. So to Giessen 

 I went, but soon finding that my chemical knowledge, 

 and indeed my knowledge of German, was by no 

 means sufficiently advanced for me to profit from 

 Liebig's teaching, I determined to throw that plan 

 over, to make a dash and go as far as my money 

 allowed, consistent with returning to England early in 

 October in time for my first term at Cambridge. I 

 had saturated myself since the age of nine with Byron's 

 poetry, which gave me a longing to see the East ; 

 besides, a new route Eastwards had been opened, 

 between Czernavoda and Kustendji, the former lying 

 on that long reach of the Lower Danube where it most 

 nearly approaches the Black Sea, and Kustendji 

 situated on the Black Sea itself. A calculation of the 

 cost showed that my finances would suffice for this 

 and more, so away I went. A steamer ran twice or 

 thrice a week from Linz to Vienna, and once (I think) 

 in a fortnight from Vienna down the Danube, and the 

 times fitted nicely. But on arrival at Linz it proved 

 that the steamer bound for Vienna was disabled and 

 would not run for some days. This serious contretemps 

 threatened to ruin my whole scheme, which required 

 that I should reach Vienna in time for a particular 

 steamer. 



I had made friends with an elderly British officer 

 at the hotel, who was in much the same plight as 

 myself, for it was as important to him as to me, though 

 for other reasons, to reach Vienna without delay. He 

 told me that he had found a boatman who would take 

 us all the way, some seventy miles down stream, for a 

 4 



