106 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



This noble river, connected with the rivers Spree, the Havel and 

 the Moldau, unites the commerce of Hamburg with Upper and 

 Lower Saxony, Bohemia and Austria, while a canal wliicli con- 

 nects the Spree and the Oder, opens a direct intercourse with 

 Brandenburgh, Silesia, Moravia and Poland. It is the open 

 doorway, as it were, to nearly a hundred and fifty millions of 

 the population of Northern Europe, while it forms one of the 

 principal outlets for the products of busy German industry ; 

 and hence the means of communication to and from it on all 

 sides are numerous and well known. The city containing a little 

 less than 200,000 inhabitants, holds under its jurisdiction about 

 thirty-three square miles of territory mostly, but not wholly, 

 lying contiguous to it. Seventy-two miles from the mouth of 

 the Elbe, which, below the city, separates Holstein from the 

 kingdom of Hanover, the navigation is attended with more or 

 less obstacles, but notwithstanding this, its commerce has long 

 maintained a prosperous position, till it has been asserted on 

 good authority that it is the third town in the extent of its 

 imports and the fourth in exports in the world. 



In 1842, a destructive conflagration swept off a fifth part of 

 the city, with its narrow and dilapidated streets, with many 

 magnificent churches, which, since then, have been rebuilt with 

 increased splendor, so that now the stranger finds the signs of 

 wealth, and taste, and luxury on every hand, in broad and 

 beautiful avenues, in public promenades lined with trees, in 

 the magnificent Alster Basin, an artificial sheet of water, cover- 

 ing many acres in extent, and adorned with the finest residences, 

 or extensive shaded pleasure-walks. 



The spot selected for the great International Exhibition was 

 on the Heiligen Geistfeld, (field of the Holy Ghost,) about a 

 a mile from the centre of the city, easily accessible and well 

 located just outside the Dammthor gate in Holstein. I arrived 

 at Hamburg on Saturday, the 11th of July, and the grand 

 opening of the Fair was to take place on the Tuesday following. 



The main entrance to the grounds was built in the form of a 

 magnificent triple triumphal arch, surmounted by the emblem 

 of the city of Hamburg, the three-turreted castle, around which 

 were elegantly grouped the flags of all nations. The interior of 

 this arch was adorned with the most tasteful panels in fresco. 

 Green wreaths hung in graceful festoons from the angles, while 



