Foreign Notices ; — Germany. 649 



branches, it measured 3 ells. 1 cannot exactly tell its age, but it must have 

 been between sixty and seventy years old ; because it, and several other large 

 specimens in this garden, and also in the garden at Worlitz, were planted 

 among the very first in Germany by the never to be forgotten Duke Francis, 

 the then wise regent of Anhalt-Dessau. It was a very splendid beautifully 

 grown tree, with a most magnificent head, which made a great resistance 

 against the storm ; and it certainly would have withstood the shock, had its 

 stem not received a severe injury, near the root, some years before. It grew 

 on a small elevation, near a pond, in a strong and productive soil, composed 

 of loam and marly clay. (ilf. Richter, Court Gardener.) 



Extracts from the Epistolary Correspondence of Edward Otto, during his 

 Voltage to Cuba, and his Abode there. (Continued from p, 525.) — On the 5th 

 of January we arrived safe in the harbour of Havanna; and what a delight it 

 is for those who have been floating on the ocean for more than two months 

 again to behold the land ! More particularly so for me, as the treasures of 

 the tropical world here presented themselves ; and, although we could dis- 

 tinguish groups of trees on the coast of St. Domingo and the soutli coast of 

 Cuba, by the help of the telescope, we now saw with the naked eye, and in 

 their native soil, the lofty palm and the flowering agave. All the incon- 

 veniences of a long voyage were now forgotten ; but we were obliged to 

 remain three days on board, till we got permission to land, on account of the 

 necessary investigation into the health of the crew ; and this was delayed one 

 day on account of the intervening Sunday. Who could have found fault 

 with us, if, on presenting the guard with half a dollar, and the promise of 

 returning to the ship before nightfall, we had, without this permission, got our 

 unconquerable desire gratified by setting our foot again on dry land ? The 

 harbour, the view of the city and the hills lying behind it, however splendid 

 they might be, did not please us long; the merchantmen, the French ships of 

 war, which came here with the sick or wounded from St. Juan d'Ulloa, and 

 also our nearest neighbour, the Prince de Joinville, were not sufficient to 

 amuse us : we felt we must, with or without permission from the authorities, 

 get on shore. 



A Spaniard, who spoke both French and English, conducted me, on the 

 8th of Januar}', to the governor of the island. The general received me in 

 the most friendly manner, conversed with me more than half an hour in the 

 French language, and then gave directions to his secretary to write out for us 

 a passport, which would remove all difficLdties during our excursions through- 

 out the island. Permission v/as then given to have our luggage on shore; and 

 it passed with but little trouble at the custom-house, as, of about thirty 

 packages, only three were opened. 



We next began to think of a lodging ; and the room in the inn which we 

 selected had no windows, instead of which there was a hole with a grating, 

 and a shutter to cover it. Glass windows are not in use here, and even cup- 

 boards and chests of drawers seem not to be known, as the apartment only 

 contained a bed, a table, and some chairs. It v/as an agreeable surprise to 

 find that our landlady spoke both French and English, as we were obliged to 

 make our way with these languages ; German being only spoken by a few 

 Germans who had settled here, and the language of the country, a dialect 

 certainly of the Spanish, and which I began with assiduity to study, being, 

 to speak proverbially, really Spanish to me* ; and the negroes only paj' 

 attention to expressive signs and blows, to which I have not yet become 

 accustomed. 



Immediately on entering the town we were struck with the sepulchral 

 monument of Columbus, situated in a beautiful square, where his corpse was 



* When a thing is very difficult, or cannot be understood, it is common in 

 Germany to say, " Es kommt mir Spanisch vor." " It is Spanish to me." — 

 IVanslator. 



