; and
I will now detail my progress. At Mayence you are shifted into a
smaller steamer, with less power, upon the principle that there being
but a few passengers, their comforts do not require so much attention;
for, as the Rhine becomes more rapid as it narrows, upon any other
principle the power of the engine should have been greater. I must
caution the reader not to believe what is told them by the steam-packet
company.

Barbers were once considered liars _par excellence_, but I am inclined
to give the preference to these new associations. The features of the
Rhine change immediately that you leave Mayence; the banks are low, and
the river is studded with numerous islands, all of which, as well as the
greatest proportion of the banks, are covered with osiers. Still, there
is a great beauty in the Rhine even there; the waving of the osiers to
the strong breeze, the rapidity of the current, the windings of the
river, the picturesque spires of the village churches, or the change of
scenery when the river pours through forests, lining each bank as the
vessel slowly claws against the rapid stream, are by no means
uninteresting; of course we did not arrive at Leopoldshaffen at the hour
stated by the people at the office, but we did arrive late at night, and
took up our quarters at a small auberge in the above village, which is
not marked down in the maps, but which has post-horses and diligences to
convey passengers to Carlsruhe. Notwithstanding the assertion at the
packet-office, that we were to be in one day to Leopoldshaffen, in one
day more to Strasburg, we found there was no steamer until the day after
the morrow, and that we must wait one day more if we did not choose to
go to Carlsruhe. The females, being fatigued, preferred remaining where
they were. We sauntered about and amused ourselves quietly. The next
day, we found the steamer had arrived, and that instead of her ascending
in one day to Strasburg, it would take a day and a half, and that we
must pass the night aboard without the least accommodation--not very
pleasant, with a carriage full of young children. We embarked on board
the steamer, which was a miserable small vessel, with an engine of bad
construction, and very small power; and with this we were to oppose the
most rapid part of the Rhine. In every other point the vessel was
equally ill found: they had a very small stock of provisions, bad wine,
and none of those comforts provided for the pa