Upon going on deck we were greeted with a warm land breeze, and found it was a sultry morning; our thick clothing and spring overcoats, which we had worn nearly every day in Norway, began to feel uncomfortable, and it was our first experience of real summer weather, although it was then the first day of August. The warmth was an agreeable change from the cool winds of the Arctic Ocean and the Norwegian fjords, and as we sat without our overcoats we enjoyed the transition to summer’s heat, after five months of cool spring weather.
We looked out upon the flat landscape, extending in an unbroken level plain for miles, traversed by long rows of stiff trees, with sleek cattle feeding in green fields divided by narrow canals, with rows of dark windmills lazily turning their gigantic arms in the gentle breeze, and sleepy Dutch villages composed of brick houses with bright red-tiled roofs, with the tower of a distant church standing out distinctly against its background of blue sky. Every foot of land was cultivated, or was covered with grass, and we looked in vain for rock or boulder. Contrast could not be greater than between this scene and the grandeurs of cliff and mountain, waterfall and glacier, fjord and valley, in the land we had just left.
We steamed slowly up the river past the great manufactories along the shores, meeting many outgoing steamers and sailing craft, passing a war-ship anchored in mid stream; then the towers and roofs of Rotterdam appeared on the horizon, ever growing nearer, till we were moored beside a broad quay and landed in Holland. It was just eight weeks since we left Lübeck; we had completed a wide circuit in the North, embracing three countries, a host of enjoyable and novel experiences, and a vast series of grand views of Nature’s sublimest handiwork.
EXPENSES AND PRACTICAL
HINTS.
CHAPTER XIV.
EXPENSES AND PRACTICAL HINTS.
What Did it Cost?—The Route and Time Allowed for the Journey—Clothing and Food—Ladies Travelling Alone—The Result of Politeness and Consideration—Conclusion.