more appearance of architectural knowledge than is displayed by the beaver, would conclude that they were entirely excluded from any intercourse with their more refined neighbours. In these simple structures, the whole family, bipeds and quadrupeds, eat, drink, and sleep, while the smoke is left to wander about until it can find its way out! These children of nature chiefly support themselves by fishing and rearing cattle; the latter constitutes the principal employment of the fair sex. The men frequently migrate to wealthier countries, and become seamen; but invariably return when they have acquired a small competency. The women rarely leave home.

Pomerania, of which these islands are a part, was formerly governed by its own dukes; but in consequence of their erbverbrüderung with the Prussian monarchs, it reverted, owing to the failure of male heirs, to that family. With the exception of Rugen, and its islets, the whole country is flat: and, although it possesses a line of coast on the Baltic of sixty German miles, yet it has only three ports, Stralsund, Swinemünde, and Colberg; and even these are almost descrted, owing to the accumulation of sandbanks, and the nearly total absence of commercial activity. Notwithstanding these ports, with Memel, Danzig, &c. and a coast of upwards of two hundred leagues, belong to Prussia, yet she can no more be considered a maritime power than Austria, however zealously her dreaming patriots may endeavour to impress the contrary opinion; and the want of efficient nurseries for her seamen, the shallowness of most of her harbours,

together with the poverty of the country, and consequently the want of enterprise, will probably preclude her from ever becoming so. In fact, the whole eastern coast of the Baltic is not adapted for the navigation of large ships, on account of its want of depth, and the shifting of the sand, which every year causes the wreck of many vessels. Like the Mediterranean, it is tideless; and this, combined with the many rivers that flow into it, is the cause of its being so frequently frozen over: and as these rivers descend from the mountains, and take their course through a country whose soil is principally sand, they carry with them large quantities, which in process of time has accumulated, and continues accumulating, in vast masses, near their mouths; so that future ages may witness the verification of the prophecy of the famous witch of Rugen, who predicted, that the day would come when travellers should pass on dry land from Germany to Sweden and Denmark.

CHAPTER II.

Güstrow-Schwerin-Ratzeburg-Return to Hamburg - Departure for

Berlin-Roads-Lauenburg-Ludwigslust-Mecklenburg-Sovereigns -Inhabitants-Nobility-Climate-Low-German-Prussian Frontier

Obelisks-Perleberg-Fehrbellen-Spandau - Galley-slaves-Charlottenburg-Mausoleum of the late Queen-Arrival at Berlin.,

HAVING hitherto confined my route principally to the shores of the Baltic, I now resolved upon journeying through the interior of the duchy of Mecklenburg to Hamburg. For that purpose I retraced my steps along the coast to Rostock, with the intention of taking Schwerin and its pretty lakes in my way.

The only town worth mentioning between Rostock and the latter is Güstrow; which for interest depends not upon the fame of the living, but the renown of the dead, as it contains the cemetery of the ducal house of Mecklenburg. A fine old building, formerly the palace of the reigning dukes, is now converted into a House of Correction. A republican satirist might be tempted to say, that the class of the inhabitants were changed, but not the character, for that cheats and dissemblers were to be found in the palace and the prison.

Schwerin, without exception the most agreeable town in the north of Germany, is most romantically situated upon a magnificent lake, six leagues in length;

and as we skim along its glassy bosom, there is all that constitutes the beautiful and the picturesque. The town, with its venerable cathedral; the imposing Gothic castle, enthroned on an island; the gently sloping shores and well cultivated fields, intermingled with villages, villas, and cottages; while the charming prospect is every where richly shaded by the finest forest scenery. The town itself, though old and venerable, will attract little beyond a passing glance from the traveller; but being the capital, it is more animated than any other town in Mecklenburg, and a few days in summer may be delightfully spent in visiting its neighbourhood. The surrounding country is beautiful and diversified, and many of the views over the lake enchanting. The angler at least may idle away a few days in pursuing his favourite pastime, for the lake abounds with fish; and he will find, at the village inns on its romantic banks, if not a good dinner, most certainly a hearty welcome.

At Ratzeburg I once more entered the territories of his Danish Majesty. Like Schwerin, it is pleasantly built on the banks of a lake, whose waters unite with the Baltic by means of the river Wakenitz. Here we find a curious collection of antiquities, discovered in an old temple of the Obotritens, among which the statues of Radegast (the god of war), and Sieba (Venus), are interesting specimens of the sculpture of this barbarous tribe. Ratzeburg, with its small territory, was formerly an independent bishopric. In the thirteenth century two of its bishops, ancestors of Prince Blucher, performed miracles of such magnitude as to create a

fame as great as the military renown of their brave descendant. For the edification of my readers I have translated two of them.-It appears that in the year 1256 a dreadful famine reduced the starving inhabitants to utter despair; when, in consequence of the intercession of the holy bishop Ulrich, the empty granaries were filled in one night with a sufficient quantity of corn to supply not alone his own subjects, but the inhabitants of the surrounding country. His successor and nephew, Weipert, was more selfish in the exercise of his miraculous power; for his Holiness the Pope having refused to confirm him in the vacant see, on account of his extreme youth,-behold, the auburn locks of the young saint suddenly changed to a venerable gray! The Pope acknowledged the miracle, and not only confirmed him in the see, but canonized him!

My route between this town and Hamburg did not offer a single point worthy of observation. The soil, for the most part sandy, is nearly destitute of vegetation; and it was only occasionally among the heath and half-starved pines, that I observed a few patches of stunted corn: so that my reconnoitering faculties enjoyed a complete holiday till I once more found myself in the good old city of Hamburg; and having here regained my luggage, and received a few letters from England, I immediately set forward on the great commercial road, to visit Berlin, distant seventy leagues.

So long as the road continued within the territory of Hamburg, it was pleasant and well kept, passing