ilARCH 3. 
tlie dift'erent samples of grain ; this grain is brought down 
the Vistula. lYlien the distance is not great, it arrives in 
covered barges, containing about 150 quarters, but when it 
starts I’roui the interior of Poland, it is placed in uncovered 
hats, these are about seventy-hve feet long, twenty feet 
broad, two-and-a-half-feet deep, draw six inches of water, 
are rudely constructed, and hold from hOO to 350 quarters; 
they are generally navigated by four or six men. The corn 
is ridged up like the roof of a house, and being exposed to 
the weather, soon vegetates, and the shooting fibres form a 
felt, which protects the mass. In this state the raft moves 
along, like a heating green island, and is often weeks, if not 
months, on its voyage. When it reaches the wharf it is 
unloaded by women, assisted by one or two men to direct 
the operation. These women work in gangs, from ten to 
fifteen in each. The outside or matted covering of the 
heap is hrst peeled off, a huge sail cloth is then brought to 
the side of the raft, and the women placing themselves in 
rows upon it, throw the grain, by means of shovels, from one 
to the other, taking care to separate the kernels as much as 
possible. At night, and during showers, it is ridged-up and 
covered with a cloth. Thousands of quarters of the finest 
wheat may often be seen undergoing this process. When 
sufficiently dried it is taken to the warehouse ; these ware¬ 
houses form a line of lofty brick buildings, with their gable 
ends facing the quay; they are seven stories high, three of 
which are in the roof; two rows of pillars support each door, 
running down the centre, and form a passage, boarded 
about four feet up the sides, the space between the pillars 
and the walls is divided into compartments or bins for the 
dill'erent kinds of grain, and each floor will hold 400 quarters. 
When a vessel is to be loaded, six or eight porters advance 
with long bags, similar to a bolster-case; two fillers stand, 
one on each side of the heap, holding in their hands an 
oval wooden scuppit, like a butcher’s meat-tray with the 
corners cut off; one end of this scuppit is inserted into the 
corn, and the other is tilted into the mouth of the bag held 
by the porter to receive its contents; in half-a-minute the 
hag is filled, and by a simultaneous jerk is placed on his 
shoulder, one-half hanging down before him, and the other 
behind. He gives place to the next, and by this method a 
vessel carrying ,500 (juarters is loaded in from three-and-a- 
half to four hours. 
To return to the raft; when clear of its cargo, it proceeds 
to a lofty brick tower, which has a projection overhanging 
the river; here the top of its tall mast is secimed to a pulley, 
wiiich gradually lowers it over the stern, and finally it 
reaches the timber-yard, where it is broken up and sold for 
i firing, or the dunnaging of ships. The men who navigate 
! these rafts (and there is often a woman among them), are a 
! peculiar race, with long black hair, dark featm’es, and sun¬ 
burnt skins; their dress is little more than an inverted sack, 
! with holes to admit the head and arms drawn over them, 
j short wide sleeves, a pair of trowsers, and a girdle of the 
same hempen material; they wear also a felt cap of the 
■ form and colour of our Stilton cheeses, and happy would it 
! be for the poor creatures if they were cheeses. They appear 
to have no under garments, and tlieir chests, legs, and feet 
' are bare. 'I’he women dress like the men, save that they 
wear a short petticoat of the same course fabric, instead of 
trowsers, and a handkerchief round the head in the place 
of a cap. 
There is not a single garden in the town of Dantzic that 
1 am aware of; at least not one worthy of the name; this is 
owing, probably, to the density of the population, and the 
limited space afforded by the fortifications. But there are 
public gardens outside the city walls, and these are much 
freciuented, though floriculture does not appear to have 
entered into the taste of the inhabitants. It was in a small 
lake near one of these gardens that I met with the beautiful 
little Ttrina esculenta, or Edible Erog; it abounds also in the 
fosse «liich surrounds the rampai'ts. They are very difficult 
to capture, and when caught, require some compre.ssion of 
the hand to retain them, and if relaxed they shoot from it 
j like a pellet from a pop-gun. These frogs are about half 
! the size of our English ones, far more elastic, and will 
spring from six to eight feet at a bound. They have a high 
l)rotuberance on the back, rising to an angle between the 
shoulders; their colour is bright amber, with rows of black 
I spots from the head to the rump, others are of an^olive- 
429 
green colour; they appear to live in colonies, and on a signal 
being given, the clatter and din of their voices in full chorus 
is deafening, this lasts for about a minute, and these out¬ 
breaks may be heard at half-a-mile distant. They might 
servo to ornament our parlour aquariums, provided, how¬ 
ever, that the latter were wired in. 
The environs of Dantzic are interesting, from the circum¬ 
stance of a hill rising to the north of the town, and the 
approach of the noble Berlin road, sixty feet wide, and bor¬ 
dered with rows of lofty trees. The. country round is not 
highly cultivated, and is destitute of improved agricultural 
implements and farm buildings. IVomen may be seen 
working on the roads, filling muck-carts, and driving the 
plough. Prussian policy, which requires men for the army, 
checks industry, and retards the advances of civilisation. 
The landlady at my hotel was a notable personage, with 
a large bunch of keys at her girdle ; she appeared like the 
sun in the centre of her attendants—around her they traced 
their circle, and from her they borrowed their light. She 
spoke nme languages ; and it was a great treat every day at 
our table d'hote, which was usually frequented by the captains 
of vessels from various foreign parts, to hear her conversing 
wth each in his own tongue, though seven or eight lan¬ 
guages during dinner were not unfrequently spoken. On 
my asking her how she acquired such versatility of speech, ' 
she said—not by books, for she rarely opened one, hut by 
talhlmj : a grammar, according to her notions, should come 
last, and only to finish off with. She had two fine sons, 
about seventeen and eighteen years of age. “IVhat trade do 
they follow,” I enquired ? “ They have been six months on 
my hands, expecting every day to be culled into the anny or 
navy : our Prussian conscription law requires every male to 
serve for two or three years; and who will take lads to 
teach them a trade, when they are to leave at a week’s 
notice. That law destroys our liberties under the jfiea of 
protecting them; it deprives us of our children when they 
most need our care; and too often returns them upon our 
hands idle and demoralised, and unfit to settle down to any 
industrious pursuit. Our evil is in having too m.any de¬ 
fences ; defiance begets hostility, and no town has suffered 
more from the ravages of war than Dantzic.” IVar is cer¬ 
tainly a monster ; it creates war, and then devours its 
victims. •“ How is it,” asks a celebrated writer, “ that the 
greatest crime, and the greatest glory, should be the shed¬ 
ding of human blood ? ” 
I had spent eight days in Dantzic when the captain in¬ 
formed me that he was ready to return. To show the 
cheapness of living, my breakfast, with French rolls and 
coffee, dinner of five or six courses, tea or coffee in the 
evening, ale and liquors at pleasure, and lodging included, 
was 3s. a day ! 
On our liomeward voyage we were detained by adverse 
winds among the islands of the Baltic, and had an oppor¬ 
tunity of trading with the natives, who came off to the ships 
with provisions, and offer them in barter; we also brought- 
to at Copenhagen, and reached the Schaw, or northernmost 
point of Denmark, when our troubles began ; for on round¬ 
ing this point, a strong head wind, blowing in squalls, with 
rain, and a heavy sea meeting us from the German ocean, 
threatened to detain us; but the captain grew restless, and i 
knowing, as he said, what his vessel could do, he would | 
work his way down the Skager Back; accordingly, every- | 
thing on deck was made fast, the hatchways battened down, 
and tai’pauled over, and the men put on their oil-skin | 
dresses. Orders were then given to tack, when the little > 
vessel tilted on one side, and whistled through the waves | 
and spray. I fixed myself on the cabin stairs, and looked | 
over the partition which encloses them, like a man peeping 
out of a chimney pot. “You’ll not stand there long,” said 
the captain. He had scarcely spoken, when a wave cas¬ 
caded over me, and flooded the cabin-floor. Not liking to 
be baffled, I procured a waterproof dress, and was lashed to 
the railing on the upperside of the deck. IVbat a wild and 
tumultuous commingling of the elements ! The lee-side of 
the deck, together with the bulwarks, were for the most 
part under water; and when the vessel pitched, the waves 
came over the bows, and rolled from stem to stern ; during 
these moments, the man at the helm stood up to his breeches- 
pockets in water, and everybody and everything was com¬ 
pletely drenched. To me it was a scene of grandeur—a pic- 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
