prospect of a delightful night on board the ship. There
were, moreover, so many passengers, that we were forced to sit crowded
together; so there we sat with exemplary patience, stared at each other,
and sighed bitterly. Order was entirely out of the question; no one had
time to think of such a thing. Smoking and card-playing were
perseveringly carried on all day and all night; it can easily be imagined
that things did not go so quietly as at an English whist-party. The
incessant rain rendered it impossible to leave the cabin even for a short
time. The only consolation I had was, that I made the acquaintance of
the amiable composer Lorzing, a circumstance which delighted me the more,
as I had always been an admirer of his beautiful original music.

CHAPTER II

Morning dawned at length, and in a short time afterwards we reached the
great commercial city, which, half destroyed by the dreadful
conflagration of 1842, had risen grander and more majestic from its
ashes. {11} I took up my quarters with a cousin, who is married to the
Wurtemburg consul, the merchant Schmidt, in whose house I spent a most
agreeable and happy week. My cousin-in-law was polite enough to escort
me every where himself, and to shew me the lions of Hamburgh.

First of all we visited the Exchange between the hours of one and two,
when it is at the fullest, and therefore best calculated to impress a
stranger with an idea of the extent and importance of the business
transacted there. The building contains a hall of great size, with
arcades and galleries, besides many large rooms, which are partly used
for consultations, partly for the sale of refreshments. The most
interesting thing of all is, however, to sit in the gallery, and looking
downwards, to observe the continually increasing crowd passing and
repassing each other in the immense hall and through the galleries and
chambers, and to listen to the hubbub and noise of the thousands of eager
voices talking at once. At half-past one o'clock the hall is at its
fullest, and the noise becomes absolutely deafening; for now they are
marking up the rates of exchange, by which the merchants regulate their
monetary transactions.

Leaving the Exchange, we bent our steps towards the great harbour, and
entering a small boat, cruised in and about it in all directions. I had
resolved to count only the three-masted ships; but soon gave it up, for
their number seemed overwhelming, even without r