214 TRAVELS OF A NATURALIST 



I crossed the Channel from Dover to Ostend, and for 

 the second time in my life suffered a little from mal de 

 mer. My train spun over the flat land of Belgium, with 

 its small clumps or rows of tall poplars or lines of pollarded 

 willows, its white or yellow and red-tiled farmhouses, its 

 narrow frozen ditches and canals ; and I arrived at Cologne 

 at 11.35 p.m. 



Here Seebohm met me as arranged, and by the 

 judicious assistance of an official we had no difficulty 

 with our 2 cwt. 1 Ib. of luggage. This custom house 

 being cleared, we shall now have no trouble to expect all 

 the way to St. Petersbourg. As I had had only a cup of 

 coffee and slice of bread at starting this morning, a bit of 

 bread and cheese at Ostend, and a sandwich at Nervier, 

 I was able to do ample justice to-night to cold meat, etc., 

 and a bottle of Hockheimer. 



March 4. 



On Thursday, the 4th of March, we left Cologne at 

 7.5 a.m., and arrived at Hanover at 1.52 p.m. Here we 

 stayed a couple of hours, and dined with Dieckstahl at 

 his house. So we had an opportunity of thanking Mrs. 

 Dieckstahl for her kind assistance with letters to her 

 cousin, Count Schouvaloff, and to her cousin at the 

 Russian frontier, the chief of the custom house, M. de 

 Pisanko. 



All the country from near Ostend, as far as we have 

 gone, is hard frozen, but there is little snow. We saw 

 various parties skating on the overflowings of the rivers 

 and shallow rain ponds. 



At Berlin we drove to the Hotel Victoria, where, 

 according to appointment, we met Dr. Peters, introduced 

 to me by Dr. P. L. Sclater. He gave us a letter to M. 

 Brandt, of St. Petersbourg. We dined, and left Berlin 

 at 10.45 p.m. 



Up to Berlin the railway carriages were heated with 



