BERLIN TO HAMBURG 39 



above, I shall now proceed to give you a short description 

 of the harbor, where I am a daily visitor. 



Hamburg and the suburb of Saint Paul extend about 

 three English miles along the eastern bank of the "Elbe;" 

 one-half of this distance is generally known as the "In- 

 ner Harbor," where mostly smaller vessels congregate, 

 such as carry freight up and down the river as far as 

 Bodenbach Tetschen-Bohemia., and of which I have made 

 mention in one of my previous letters. The seaport 

 proper is at the mouth of the ' ' Elbe ; " it is about half a 

 mile long and takes in the whole width of the river which 

 measures about seventeen hundred and fifty feet. The 

 so-called "Gate of the Habor," which divides the city 

 line from St. Pauli, is sharp on the bank of the river and 

 about one hundred feet wide, reaching to a small hill, 

 called Stintfang, the top of which is flattened and fenced 

 in by cast-iron railings. I went there last evening for the 

 first time. The weather was beautiful and I ascended the 

 hill with a certain amount of reverence. Do you, my be- 

 loved ones, still remember the beautiful scene which was 

 one of the main attractions of the "Konigsberg" picture 

 gallery: "Hamburg, as seen from the Stintfang?" How 

 often, during my childhood days, did I look admiringly 

 upon that scene, while my thoughts earned me to the 

 Elbe and the many, many ships of all nations and to the 

 immense mass of houses of the old Hansatown. It was 

 one of my favorite dreams. But yesterday, I did not 

 stand admiringly in front of the picture; I stood, behold- 

 ing in fact that ocean of moving vessels on one side, and 

 the innumerable buildings on the other. Really and 

 truly, it was no dream, but rather a more impressive real- 

 ization. My feelings are difficult to explain. I drew all 

 kinds of comparisons between the painting in the Home 

 Gallery and the original, the magnificent living picture 

 now before me; again, I compared the sentiments which 

 enlivened my mind in childhood days to those of early 

 manhood; in other words, between the time when, filled 

 with a child's pure, happy confidence, I dnred to laugh 

 at the future probabilities of life and the present, when, 



