stward, ho, for the
prairie territories of the great empire of the New World!

"More than six thousand vessels enter the harbor of Hamburg in a year.
The flags of all nations float there, but the British red is
everywhere seen.

"We visited the church of St. Michael, and ascended the steeple, which
is four hundred and thirty-two feet high, or one hundred feet higher
than the spire of St. Paul's in London. We looked down on the city,
the harbor, the canals. Our eye followed the Elbe on its way to the
sea. On the north was Holstein; on the south, Hanover.

[Illustration: CANAL IN HAMBURG.]

"From Hamburg we made a zigzag to Berlin and Potsdam. The railroad
between the great German port and the brilliant capital is across a
level country, the distance being about one hundred and seventy-five
miles, or seven hours' ride.

"Berlin, capital of Prussia and of the German Empire, the residence of
the German Emperor, is situated in the midst of a vast plain; 'an
oasis of stone and brick in a Sahara of sand.' It is about the size of
New York, and it greatly resembles an American city, for the reason
that everything there seems new.

"It has been called a city of palaces, and so it is, for many of the
private residences would be fitting abodes for kings. The architecture
is everywhere beautiful; all the elegances of Greek art meet the eye
wherever it may turn. Ruins there are none; old quarters, none; quaint
Gothic or mediaeval buildings, none. The streets are so regular, the
public squares so artistic, and the buildings such models of art, that
the whole becomes monotonous.

"'This is America over again,' said an American traveller, who had
joined our party. 'Let us return.'

"Many of the buildings might remind one of the hanging gardens of old,
so full are the balconies of flowers. The fronts of some of the
private residences are flower gardens from the ground to the roofs.

"The emperor's palace is the crowning architectural glory of the city.
It is four hundred feet long.

"We visited the Zoological Gardens and the National Gallery of
Pictures, the entrance to which makes a beautiful picture.

"We rode to Potsdam, a distance of some twenty miles. Potsdam is the
Versailles of Germany. The road to Potsdam is a continuous avenue of
trees, like the roads near Boston.

"Of course our object in visiting the town was to see the palace and
gardens of Sans-Souci, the favorite residence of Frederick the Great.

[