io8 The Naturalist of Cumbrac. 



had become milder, but, independently of that, a 

 sensitive man might well feel rather uncomfortably 

 warm with shame at the contrast between the good 

 manners of the foreigner and our insular incivility. 



Another peculiarity struck his attention, that when 

 they halted to take refreshment, never anything hot 

 was offered to them. He was led to suppose that 

 this was from want of fire, as he had not seen a fire 

 at any of the stopping places. Upon inquiry, how- 

 ever, he was informed that fuel was indeed very ex- 

 pensive, and that they chiefly used a long spindly 

 grass, chopped small, in a stove for cooking, but that 

 also they believed that cold was not felt so much 

 after cold meat or drink as after hot. 



On the way Mr. Robertson had heard of an 

 Englishman who kept a good hotel in Hamburg. This 

 on arriving he readily found. The landlord was very 

 obliging, and gave him all the information he could. 

 Not knowing anything of the language except the 

 names of the coins, Robertson thought it best to take 

 an interpreter about with him. But he noticed that 

 this man, before introducing him in places of business, 

 would have a long talk with the principals, which 

 seemed not altogether pleasant to them. He suspected 

 that the fellow was first making arrangements for his 

 own benefit, and as it presently appeared that the 

 merchant himself could speak very good English, he 

 at once put the question whether his interpreter was 

 acting as he suspected. The merchant frankly 

 answered that it was so, and that he had himself 

 intended to mention it. The interpreter being thus 

 found untrustworthy was paid and dismissed. There 



