the convenience, comfort, and
enjoyment of a royal party has ever been seen in Europe. The main
carriage--for there are several in the suite--called, _par excellence_,
the emperor's own, is eighty-five feet long, and something over the
usual width. It rests upon two undivided sleepers of such elastic and
well-grained wood that they would bear the entire weight of the
carriage, without the necessity of a support in the middle, forming a
single stretch or arch, from axle to axle, of about seventy feet. The
springs, wheels, brakes, and various kinds of iron-work, are of the
finest and most select material, and highly finished in every detail,
combining strength and durability with artistic beauty. The interior of
the main or imperial carriage is a masterpiece of sumptuous
ornamentation. Here are the richest of carvings; the most gorgeous
hangings of embroidered velvet; mirrors and pictures in profusion;
carpets and rugs that seem coaxing the feet to linger upon them;
tables, cushioned sofas, and luxurious arm-chairs; divans and lounges
of rare designs, covered with the richest damask; exquisite Pompeian
vases and brilliant chandeliers--all, in short, that ingenuity could
devise and wealth procure to charm the senses, and render this a
traveling palace worthy the imperial presence. Connected with the main
saloon is the royal bedchamber, with adjoining bathing and dressing
rooms, equally sumptuous in all their appointments. Besides which,
there are smoking-rooms, private offices, magnificent chambers for the
camarilla, the secretaries, and body-guard of the emperor. The whole
is admirably arranged for convenience and comfort; and it is said that
the motion, when the convoy is under way, is so soft and dreamy that it
is scarcely possible to feel a vibration, the effect being as if the
cars were floating through the air, or drawn over tracks of down. Fully
equal to this, yet more subdued and delicate in the drapery and
coloring, are the apartments of the empress. Here it may truly be said
is "the poetry of motion" realized--saloons fit for the angels that
flit through them, of whom the chiefest ornament is the empress
herself--the beautiful and beloved Maria Alexandrina, the charm of
whose presence is felt like a pleasant glow of sunshine wherever she
goes. Here are drawing-rooms, boudoirs, apartments for the beautiful
maids of honor, reading-rooms, and even a dancing-saloon, from which it
may well be inferred that the royal pa