BERLIN TO HAMBURG 33 



Wednesday, the thirtieth of April, found me an early 

 riser. Olias preferred to stay a few more days in Ber- 

 lin, but he and I had already sent the heavier baggage to 

 the station the day before, so that it could be forwarded 

 by freight and still reach Hamburg in time. Each of us 

 kept about fifty pounds which are allowed every passen- 

 ger on the railroad. My fare— third class— amounted to 

 four thaler and five Silbergroschen (about three dollars). 

 The train pulled out of Berlin at 7:30 a. m. Our first 

 stop occurred at Spandau, the well-known and much- 

 dreaded fortress, where many a brave man serves time 

 for political offenses, for having a mind of his own and 

 the courage to express it. The road leads along the banks 

 of the Havel with its little inlets, bridges and miniature 

 bays. The picturesque changes of water, fields, hidden 

 villages, now and then a farm house or fisherman's hut, 

 were materially heightened by a fabulous number of 

 boats, large lumber boats, boats carrying grain and other 

 field products to the larger cities and seaports, or return- 

 ing home with merchandise of every description, such as 

 coffee, rice, staple goods of every kind, dry goods, furni- 

 ture, etc. The shining white sails of these boats which 

 by the way are the floating homes of their owners, in- 

 crease the attractiveness of the pretty scenery under the 

 mild rays of the early morning sun. Everything looked 

 charmingly fresh. x\fter leaving Spandau, there was a 

 decided change for the worse. As far as the eye could 

 see, there were fields and fields and nothing but fields 

 and prairie-like monotony. The crops, too, looked poor- 

 ly, as the soil is too sandy to give much encouragement. 

 The low hills here and there resemble the stretches of the 

 far-away ocean so much that I was tempted more than 

 once to look round for the missing waves. Notwithstand- 

 ing the apparent scarcity of vegetation, the neighborhood 



soul, filled with the love of Freedom, which caused him to leave 

 an unsympathizing country in order to seek liberty of body and 

 mind in free America. — Transl. 



