ourhood presents only widely-extended plains, turf-bogs and
moorlands, sandy places and heaths, interspersed with a little meadow or
arable land. From the nature of the soil, the water in the ditches and
fields looked black as ink.

Near Binneburg we notice a few stunted plantations of trees. From
Eisholm a branch-line leads to Gluckstadt, and another from Neumunster, a
large place with important cloth-factories, to Rendsburg.

From here there is nothing to be seen but a convent, in which many Dukes
of Holstein lie buried, and several unimportant lakes; for instance,
those of Bernsholm, Einfeld, and Schulhof. The little river Eider would
have passed unnoticed by me, had not some of my fellow-passengers made a
great feature of it. In the finest countries I have found the natives
far less enthusiastic about what was really grand and beautiful, than
they were here in praise of what was neither the one nor the other. My
neighbour, a very agreeable lady, was untiring in laudation of her
beautiful native land. In her eyes the crippled wood was a splendid
park, the waste moorland an inexhaustible field for contemplation, and
every trifle a matter of real importance. In my heart I wished her joy
of her fervid imagination; but unfortunately my colder nature would not
catch the infection.

Towards Kiel the plain becomes a region of low hills. Kiel itself is
prettily situated on the Baltic, which, viewed from thence, has the
appearance of a lake of middling size. The harbour is said to be good;
but there were not many ships there. {13} Among these was the steamer
destined to carry me to Copenhagen. Little did I anticipate the good
reason I should have to remember this vessel.

Thanks to the affectionate forethought of my cousin Schmidt, I found one
of his relations, Herr Brauer, waiting for me at the railway. I was
immediately introduced to his family, and passed the few hours of my stay
very agreeably in their company.

Evening approached, and with it the hour of embarkation. My kind friends
the Brauers accompanied me to the steamer, and I took a grateful leave of
them.

I soon discovered the steamer _Christian VIII._, of 180-horse power, to
be a vessel dirtier and more uncomfortable than any with which I had
become acquainted in my maritime excursions. Scrubbing and sweeping
seemed things unknown here. The approach to the cabin was by a flight of
stairs so steep, that great care was requisite to avoid descen