Before I take leave of Munich I must relate a funny incident that occurred one evening on my leaving the theatre. I did not know my way well, and begged a good dame, who came walking past with a gentleman, to set me right. As they were walking in the same direction, they invited me to go with them. On the way she inquired if I had been to the Artists’ Festival, and if I had seen the “great traveler,” Ida Pfeiffer, there. My questioner added that she had been with her husband, but only in the evening, and had not seen the person in question. I replied that the “great traveler” was a quiet little woman, and that I knew her well enough; if I wanted to see her I had only to look in a glass. The good people seemed very glad to see me, and insisted on accompanying me to my door.
On the 1st of June I proceeded, by way of Hof, to Berlin (ninety-five miles), and, arriving on the following day, was received with their wonted hearty kindness by my dear friends, Professor Weisz and his wife.
The journey from Munich to Berlin offers few points of interest: the views are sometimes pretty, but nowhere striking; the country around Plauen is the most agreeable. Before we got to Hof, the last Bavarian station, something broke down in the engine; we thus lost a whole hour, and missed the corresponding train. At the Prussian frontier my passport was demanded, but the official scarcely glanced at it, and the inspection of my luggage was also entirely formal; in a few moments the whole ceremony was over.
In Berlin a great and joyful surprise awaited me. I received from Alexander von Humboldt an open letter of recommendation to all his friends in the wide world.
The celebrated geographer, Carl Ritter, also did me a great honor by inviting me to a sitting of the Geographical Society. In March last I had been received as an honorary member of that body, and was the first woman to whom such a distinction had been accorded.
I only staid a week in Berlin, and proceeded thence to Hamburg (a distance of thirty-eight German miles), taking up my quarters again with the worthy Schulz family. But in Hamburg also there was no long tarrying for me. I wanted to husband my time for Holland, a country with which I was unacquainted, and accordingly, on the 14th of June, I embarked on board the steamer “Stoomward,” Captain C. Bruns, for Amsterdam, distant three hundred and twelve sea-miles from this port.
This was the first passage I made in Europe on a Dutch steamer, and here I experienced the same kindness I had met with from the proprietors of Dutch steamers in India during my second journey round the world; not only did they give me a free passage, but refused to accept payment for table expenses, etc. How much more easily would my journeys have been accomplished had I met with similar consideration from English steam-boat companies! but unfortunately, till now, such has not been my good fortune. The English directors, agents, and managers have shown far greater appreciation for my dollars than for my journeyings, and always made me pay my passage, alike for long and short distances.
CHAPTER II.
Arrival in Holland.—Amsterdam.—Dutch Architecture.—Picture Galleries.—Mr. Costa’s Diamond-cutting Works.—The Haarlem Lake.—A Dutch Cattle-stable.—Utrecht.—The Students’ Festival.
I arrived in Amsterdam at midday on the 16th of June. My worthy friend, Colonel Steuerwald, was waiting for me in the harbor. This gentleman is one of my oldest traveling acquaintances. I first met him on my journey from Gothenburg to Stockholm, afterward encountered him again at Batavia, and here again in his own native land, where he welcomed me in the heartiest manner, and introduced me at once to his family circle.