Arrived at Dresden, at nine o'clock a.m. After getting breakfast, I immediately proceeded to the house of Professor Hughes, who was then engaged, but Mrs. Hughes asked Mr. West to accompany me to the principal gardens; this gentleman, a school colleague of Lord Cosmo Russell, and an admirer of plants, very cheerfully accompanied me to several of the gardens in the vicinity of the town. We first proceeded to the Botanic Garden, belonging to the University, which is very limited in extent. I was however much pleased with the fine collection of Cacteæ that are grown in this establishment, as well as a large collection of Cape, and other green house plants. The number of species of hardy perennial plants in this small space of ground is truly astonishing; there is also a great variety of Cape bulbs and Gramineæ. The extent of glass is confined to a very long conservatory, stove, and several pits for Cacteæ.
Having been introduced by Mr. West to M. Lehman, the superintendant of the garden, he accompanied us to the gardens of Lieut. Weber, situated at a short distance from the town, and considered the most extensive for glass and space, of any about Dresden. I should imagine by its appearance there could not be above seven or eight English acres of ground under nursery culture. The collection of plants for sale comprises chiefly Camellias, young orange trees, Cape and new Holland plants, many of the scarcer sorts of which I observed had been lately introduced to that establishment, from Mr. Low's nursery at Clapton. A fine specimen of the Uhria speciosa was in great vigour of health. A great variety of dahlias, and dwarf China roses in full flower were in these grounds.
I was much pleased by the simple mode of grafting the Camellia and orange trees, which appeared to be very successful, and is generally practised by M. Liebig the gardener, which method is what we term in this country crown grafting; by this mode the shoot or graft, after insertion in the stock, is only tied neatly to the stock, with a bit of worsted thread, and then sealed over as well as the top of the stock, by a little bees-wax, (without clay as practised here); when this operation is completed, the plants are put into a frame or pit, with a little moist heat, until the graft and stock begin to coalesce, when they are shortly afterwards gradually exposed to the air of the greenhouse. In this establishment there are several very good hothouses for plants. In one of the ranges is placed a circular shaped conservatory, heated by hot water, on rather a novel construction; these hot water pipes being formed into perpendicular columns, rising from the floor to the height of from ten to twelve feet. These pipes, thus constructed, gave out a great command of heat, and answered the original intention very satisfactorily. The plants in this nursery garden were very well grown, and all in a healthy state.
I next visited the nursery of M. Hofrath Kreyssig, which is only a short distance from the Botanic garden. I saw likewise some good kinds of greenhouse plants, as well as many rare species of the Rhododendron tribe; the Rhododendron campanulatum, a fine specimen; a collection of orchideous plants is also forming in this nursery garden. There are several small hothouses for the growth of Cape and tropical plants, which are also cultivated for sale; but the space of ground is much too limited, as well as confined by houses to do justice to a collection of hardy species. After visiting these gardens and grounds, I took my leave of Mr. West, to whom I was much indebted for the kind interest he took in the object I had in view, and who appears devotedly attached to plants and gardening. Professor Hughes having recommended me to see the chateau erected on the banks of the Elbe by the late Lord Findlater, an English nobleman, I expected to have found some fine gardens, or collection of plants, but, to my surprise, on my arrival, I found it now occupied as a tea garden; it is much frequented by the inhabitants of Dresden, in consequence of its romantic situation on the banks of the Elbe, commanding a prospect of the country, studded with small villages situated in the valleys between the hills, or rather eminences; but these are not to be compared with our Scotch mountains. Along the Elbe is a great extent of vineyard, which did not appear to be in a very prolific state, the soil being of a poor sandy texture. Many pretty villas were also situated along these banks, which had very pleasant prospects from them.
September 2nd. Having agreed to meet Mr. Lehman early this morning, we proceeded to the Catholic church, which belongs to the court, and is certainly a magnificent building, the interior richly ornamented, and well worth the stranger's notice; we next visited the Protestant church, which is likewise a splendid erection. The museum and post office are also very magnificent buildings. I was however surprised at the appearance of the royal palace, which consists of a dark gloomy looking old fashioned residence, and with little in its exterior appearance, calculated to give a stranger the idea of its being the seat of royalty. Through the assistance of Mr. Lehman, who procured tickets of admittance to the gallery of paintings, I was favoured with a sight of this celebrated collection, which is considered to be amongst the finest in Europe, and is said to contain one thousand five hundred pictures; among so many there are undoubtedly some very splendid ones. On our return from the gallery, we passed through his majesty's coach-house, which must at least have contained no less than sixty different carriages; a very splendid one lately presented to the king by Prince Metternich, was pointed out to us. From hence we proceeded to the museum or repository of minerals, birds and animals. The collection of the feathered tribe in this establishment is particularly extensive; some very large blocks of petrified wood, that were much prized, were pointed out as remarkable curiosities. In one of the departments was a table four feet in diameter, of a solitary piece of wood of the Tamarindus indicus, (tamarind tree.) In front of the building various orange trees are arranged along the edge of the walks. What is called Bruehl's garden is also deserving of notice; it forms a public promenade for the inhabitants, and is pleasantly situated, containing a picture gallery, which is denominated the gallery of duplicates.
Dresden is said to contain about 80,000 inhabitants, and is much admired for its fine houses and streets. It is considered by many as one of the finest towns in Europe; but I must confess that in my opinion it is inferior to either Berlin, Munich, or Brussels. It is situated on a flat spot of ground with the river Elbe running through it; the bridge over which is said to be 1450 feet long. The Arsenal is a large building, but I had no time to see it, as the diligence left this day at twelve o'clock for Munich, and as these conveyances only go twice or three times a week at most from the principal towns throughout Germany, the losing of an hour to see an object might detain one for two or three days. Having taken my leave of Mr. Lehman, I seated myself in the diligence for Munich, a journey which occupied us three days and three nights. The road winds along the river side from Dresden to the first stage on our way to Munich, and is very beautiful, the scenery much diversified, and resembling that of some of our Scotch mountains; the plantations of forest trees comprise a mixture of silver fir, beech and Scotch-fir. The hill and dale that continued for a considerable way along this line of road rendered the scenery very interesting and picturesque, and which appeared so to continue until it became quite dark, when all view of the country was lost.
We passed through Freyberg, a small town situated on the river Mulde, and is said to be 1179 feet above the level of the sea. The next town or village that we came to was Chimnitz, where we stopped for supper.
September 3rd. Arrived at one o'clock in the morning at Zwickau, at which town the road from Leipsic joins the one from Dresden, where the diligences from both towns meet, and the passengers are transferred from the Leipsic diligence to the one from Dresden. Whilst waiting for the vehicle getting ready to start, I was agreeably surprised to find Mr. Parker, seated at the same inn; he had arrived from Leipsic by that diligence: when we parted at Berlin we had no expectation of again meeting each other so soon.
One of my fellow travellers from Dresden was a Frenchman, but he was evidently as awkwardly situated whilst travelling for want of a knowledge of the German language as I was myself; consequently we both kept Mr. Parker pretty busy in acting as an intermediate interpreter whilst we were together.
The scenery about Zwickau is beautifully varied with hill and dale, and woods, with a small river called the Mulde running along by the bottom of the rocks. The houses are neatly built, and of considerable number, containing a population of from seven to eight thousand. The roads in the vicinity of this town are rather mountainous, but not so much so as in the preceding stages. The next small village that we passed through was Plauen, where we arrived about seven o'clock in the morning: it is said to contain about 700 inhabitants.