The
walls of the houses are of wood filled in with bricks.
After passing Arensburg, we saw the steeples of Wandsbeck and
Hamburgh in the distance; the two towns seem to be one, and are, in
fact, only separated by pretty country-houses. But Wandsbeck
compared to Hamburgh is a village, not a town.
I arrived in Hamburgh about two o'clock in the afternoon; and my
relatives were so astonished at my arrival, that they almost took me
for a ghost. I was at first startled by their reception, but soon
understood the reason of it.
At the time I left Iceland another vessel went to Altona, by which I
sent a box of minerals and curiosities to my cousin in Hamburgh.
The sailor who brought the box gave such a description of the
wretched vessel in which I had gone to Copenhagen, that, after
having heard nothing of me for two months, he thought I must have
gone to the bottom of the sea with the ship. I had indeed written
from Copenhagen, but the letter had been lost; and hence their
surprise and delight at my arrival.
CHAPTER XI
I had not much time to spare, so that I could only stay a few days
with my relatives in Hamburgh; on the 26th September, I went in a
little steamer from Hamburgh to Harburg, where we arrived in three
quarters of an hour. From thence I proceeded in a stage-carriage to
Celle, about sixty-five miles.
The country is not very interesting; it consists for the most part
of plains, which degenerate into heaths and marshes; but there are a
few fertile spots peeping out here and there.
September 27th.
We arrived at Celle in the night. From here to Lehrte, a distance
of about seven miles, I had to hire a private conveyance, but from
Lehrte the railway goes direct to Berlin. {57} Many larger and
smaller towns are passed on this road; but we saw little of them, as
the stations all lie at some distance, and the railway-train only
stops a few minutes.
The first town we passed was Brunswick. Immediately beyond the town
lies the pretty ducal palace, built in the Gothic style, in the
centre of a fine park. Wolfenbuttel seems to be a considerable
town, judging by the quantity of houses and church-steeples. A
pretty wooden bridge, with an elegantly-made iron balustrade, is
built here across the Ocker. From the town, a beautiful lane leads
to a gentle hill, on whose top stands a lovely building, used as a
coffee-house.
As soon as one has passed the Hanoverian domains the country, though
it is not richer in natural curiosities, is less abundant in marshes
and heaths, and is very well-cultivated land.
