For a long time the steamers on the Rhine were of the model already described, and the accommodations for passengers were decidedly limited. But with the increase of travel there has been a great improvement, and now there is a line of "American steamboats" plying the river so famous for its crumbling castles and historic associations. The steamers of the American rivers have been taken as models for these boats, and some of them are finely fitted up and contain many features of real comfort. They are fast winning the favor of the Germans, and, of course, are patronized by Americans and English to the neglect of the old boats. The traveler should make sure of the name and character of a boat before buying his ticket and embarking, or he may find himself delegated to an antiquated tub, with limited accommodations and snail-like speed, when he had expected to be on a floating palace.
The tariff of fares is carefully arranged, and is posted at the window of each ticket-office, so that there can be no doubt as to the proper sum to be paid. In most instances tickets are sold at the offices on the docks, but it is well not to purchase at an intermediate landing until the boat is in sight; boats are liable to detention from various causes, and, if a tourist is in a hurry, he can take the railway, which follows the bank of the Rhine, or very near it, all the way from Dusseldorf to Mayence.
On the Rhine steamers meals are served a la carte and at fixed prices, but there has been a tendency of late years to abolish the fixed-price system and serve only a la carte. On most of the boats there is a table d'hote breakfast or dinner at certain hours, and a notice thereof is given by the ringing of a bell. The waiters are fond of delaying the collection of a passenger's bill till just as he is going on shore; by so doing they have a better chance of imposing on him than when his memory is quite fresh as to the items with which he can be properly charged.
Baggage is not checked unless an extra price is paid, but there is a free allowance of one hundred pounds for each passenger. The charge for guaranteeing the safety of baggage varies from two to ten cents a parcel, according to its size and estimated value; when this amount is paid the company is responsible for loss, and will indemnify the owner according to a fixed tariff. Everything goes by tariff on the Rhine, except the fees to the waiters, and the current of the river, and the wind.
On the Upper Danube, from Ulm to Linz, and from Linz to Vienna, the steamers are small and the accommodations limited, but on the lower part of the stream there is a different state of affairs. The Danube Steam Navigation Company has some large boats elegantly fitted up, and though they are deficient in several things they remind the American of home. The sleeping accommodations are rather limited, as there is only a common cabin with two or three tiers of berths, unless a high price extra is paid for a private room. The dining-saloon is airy and well lighted, and the table generally excellent. There are two, and sometimes three, classes of steamers; the fastest is the "Accelerated," which makes only the few principal landings, and leaves the other boats to perform the details of the service. On the "Accelerated" boats meals are included in the fare, and the payment for them is compulsory, while on the other steamers the traveler pays only his passage, and the meals are an extra that he may take or leave alone. There is a Hungarian line with its headquarters at Pesth, and on the lower part of the Danube there is a Turkish line that has periodical fits of suspension, and once in a while disappears for months at a time. There is a considerable amount of travel between Central Europe and Constantinople by the Danube route; a traveler from Vienna goes as far as Rustchuk by the river, and then proceeds (in about eight hours) to Varna by rail. From Varna is a run of fourteen hours by steamship through the Black Sea, and down the Bosphorus, till the domes of Saint Sophia's Mosque rise to view.
The steamers on the Russian inland waters leave much to be desired in the way of personal comforts, and the most that can be said of them is that they are better than no steamers at all. On some of the rivers, especially on the Volga, there are some boats that are fairly equipped, but the cooking is not the best in the world, and the passenger must expect to do a good deal of roughing it. The first-class travel is not sufficient to pay for anything like a good service and liberal table, and if one is on the hunt for luxuries he will keep away from the steamboat service in the land of the Czar.
On the Siberian lakes and rivers there is a steamboat service of very limited character. The great rivers, with the exception of the Amoor, flow into the Arctic Ocean, and consequently their only business is a local one. There are only two or three steamers on the Obi, and the same number on the Yenesei; the commerce of the Amoor maintains from twenty to twenty-five steamboats, and there are less than half a dozen on Lake Baikal and its outlet, the Angara. All these steamers are small, compared with American boats, and their accommodations leave much to be desired. The first cabin is usually an open room, with wide sofas running all around it, and on these sofas the traveler makes his couch with his own bed-clothing, none being provided by the boat. The ticket does not include food, and the table is supplied by the captain, at an expense of about a dollar a day for each passenger. A traveler across Siberia must expect hard fare and poor accommodations, and find the compensation for his privations in the novel scenes the journey affords.
CHAPTER XIV.
SEA-GOING STEAMERS IN EUROPEAN WATERS.
The name of steam lines in the waters adjacent to Europe is more than legion, and the enumeration of them would occupy several pages of this volume. Bradshaw's Continental Railway and Steamboat Guide contains a list of these lines, corrected from month to month, according to the changes that have occurred; the information is conveyed in skeleton form something like the following:
"Malta to Tripoli.—By a French steamer, three times a month. Twenty-two hours. First-class (including food), £2, 8s."