76 EAST PRUSSIA TO THE GOLDEN GATE 



I shall endeavor to send you one more message of love 

 and good cheer. 



Sunday, June 8th, 1851. 



We are still in the same place exactly where we an- 

 chored the day before yesterday, i. e., between the Han- 

 overian town Fryburg and the Holstein village Brook- 

 dorf. Yesterday I had the misfortune to break the rim 

 of my spectacles. While washing myself I had laid them 

 in what I considered a safe place, but one of our cabin 

 boys managed to break them, unintentionally, of course. 

 I have succeeded, however, in fixing them after a fash- 

 ion, so that they will probably stand the trip. 



While the river did not show much life yesterday, 

 there was more of it on board. We had our first day of 

 " distribution," which means the laying in of the weekly 

 supply of bread, butter and sugar, which necessarily 

 caused much noise and racket, which was increased by 

 the carpenter's task of the day of driving nails through 

 the strap iron bands of the boxes; this is done in order to 

 fasten them together for the purpose of preventing the 

 otherwise unavoidable swinging and breaking when out 

 on the open sea. These were really the first intimations 

 that we had not merely gone on a pleasure trip, but on a 

 serious sea voyage. Other preparations, such as the secure 

 corking of the water barrels, fastening of life-boats, while 

 new to most of us, were nevertheless very tiresome and 

 noisy, thus making the day one of the dreariest we have 

 so far spent on board of the "Victoria." Toward evening 

 we rested from the annoyances of the day. Absolute calm 

 set in toward seven o'clock, and as a consequence the 

 river became as smooth as a mirror, while the shores 

 seemed to float in a mist of fog. The tolling of bells from 

 the Fryburg church could be plainly heard on board, and 

 they reminded us of the approaching Feast of Pentecost.* 



*This feast of the Holy Ghost is much more observed in Luth- 

 eran countries than elsewhere and has become the herald of a 

 season of excursions and summer festivities, particularly in 

 northern climes. The approach of the "summer vacation," called 



