352 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



The railway to Dresden lies through the Saxon Switzerland, 

 as it is called, down the beautiful scenery along the Elbe. It 

 is a rough and picturesque country, capable of cultivation but 

 little of the way, and therefore not by any means agricultural 

 in its character. Dresden has been called the Florence of 

 Germany, and if there is any city that deserves the comparison, 

 this may as well claim it as any other, for in beauty of 

 situation and in the richness of its collections of art, it probably 

 comes nearer to it than any other. It is the capital of the 

 kingdom of Saxony, lying on both sides of the Elbe, and 

 containing something like a hundred and thirty thousand 

 inhabitants. I stopped here nearly a week, at one of the 

 cosiest little inns. Das Kleine Ranch Haus, and as I had come 

 with high references from Vienna, they gave me the nicest 

 room in the house, and enough to eat and drink. 



The first step in the morning was a visit to the Griine Gewolbe, 

 or Greqn Vaults, a wonderful collection of the precious stones 

 and works of art of the Saxon kings, under the royal palace. 

 These rare jewels and exquisite carvings are worth many 

 millions of dollars. The old Saxon princes were among the 

 richest in Europe, as well as the most powerful, and these 

 costly and valuable treasures remain as an evidence both of 

 their wealth and taste. The collection is the richest to be 

 found anywhere in Europe. Indeed, it is said that neither 

 the gorgeous, dazzling magnificence of oriental despots, nor the 

 magic productions of Aladdin's lamp in the eastern tale, could 

 surpass it. The collection consists of exquisite bronzes, carvings 

 in ivory, Florentine mosaics, gold and silver plate and carvings, 

 agates, crystals, cut gems, carvings in wood and enamel. One 

 single piece, representing the Court of the Great 3Iog-nl, 

 consists of one hundred and thirty-two figures, all in pure gold 

 enamelled, and cost the artist eight years of labor, and eighty- 

 five thousand dollars. Two goblets of cut gems, are valued at 

 six thousand dollars each, and every thing else in proportion. 

 There were two rings which had belonged to Martin Luther — 

 one a cornelian bearing a rose, the other his enamelled seal 

 ring, with a death's head. The largest sardonyx in the world, 

 probably, is licrc. It is oval, and beautifully regular. Tiic 

 largest sapi)hirc, uncut, was the gift of Peter the Great. Then 

 there were emeralds, rubies, pearls, diamonds, &o. The 



