Innspruck—Tyrol and the Tyrolese—From Innspruck to Munich—Monuments and churches—Theatricals—Journey from Munich to Vienna on a floss—Trouble with a passport—Complicated system of Austrian money—Description of Vienna—The Prater—The theatres—Schiller's Joan of Arc—A Kinderballet—The young Napoleon at Schoenbrunn—Journey from Vienna to Prague.

INNSPRUCK, 15th July.

I had engaged with a vetturino to convey me from Verona to Innspruck for four louis d'or and to be spesato. A Roman gentleman and his lady were my fellow travellers; they were going to pass the summer months at a small campagne they possess in the Tyrol. We stopped the first night at Roveredo. The road from Verona to Roveredo is on the banks of the Adige (called in German the Etsch) in a narrow and deep valley, shut up on both sides by mountains, almost immediately on leaving Verona. We found the weather extremely hot in this valley. Roveredo seems to be a very neat clean little city, and the Adige flows with astonishing rapidity along this narrow valley. The women of Roveredo have the reputation of being very beautiful; and I recollect having seen two Roveredo girls at Venice, who were models of female beauty. They have a happy mixture of German and Italian blood and manners, but Italian is the language of the country. The second morning of our journey we arrived and stopped to dinner at the venerable and celebrated city of Trent. The country we passed thro' is much the same as that between Verona and Roveredo, the Adige being on our left. Trent lies also in the valley of the Adige, shut up between the Alps. The whole valley appears in high cultivation. The streets of Trent are broad; the Cathedral is a remarkably fine Gothic building. In the church of Sta Maria Maggiore was held the famous council of Trent. There are a great many silk mills in Trent. German as well as Italian is spoken; indeed the two languages are equally familiar to most of the inhabitants. In the evening we arrived at Sabern after passing thro' Lavis. One description will serve for these towns and indeed for most of the towns in the Tyrol, viz., that of being neat, clean and solidly built. The inns are excellent and the inhabitants very civil. The Adige runs close to the road and parallel to it, nearly the whole way to Bolsano or Botzen, where Italian ceases to be spoken and German is the national tongue. Botzen is a large and flourishing place.

One general description will serve for the Tyrol, regarding the towns, adjacent country, customs, inns, inhabitants, dress and manners.

First the towns are fully as neat, clean and well built as those in Switzerland; the country too is very similar, tho' not quite on so grand a scale of sublimity; but you have fully as much variety in mountain and valley, glacier and cascade. The climate is exactly the same as that of Switzerland, being very hot in the valleys in summer. The inns are clean and good, the provisions excellent and well cooked, the wines much better than those of Switzerland; there is good attendance by females and all at a far cheaper rate than in Switzerland. The Tyroleans are much more courteous in their manners than the Swiss; they have not that boorishness and are of more elegant figure than their Helvetic neighbours. The women of the Tyrol are in general remarkably beautiful, exceedingly well shaped and of fine complexions.

In the towns the bourgeoises dress well, something in the French style, and it is their custom to salute travellers who pass by kissing their hands to them. The dress of the female peasantry, however, is unpleasing to the eye and so uncouth, that it would make the most beautiful women appear homely. In the first place I will speak of their head dress, of which there are three different kinds, two of which are as bizarre as can be imagined. The first sort is a cap of sheepskin, the fleece of which is as white as snow, and the cap is of conical shape, the base being exceeding large in proportion to its height, and resembles much the sugar loaves made in Egypt. The second is a black scull cap, with the three pieces of stiff black gaze, sticking out like the vanes of a windmill; so that when put on the head, one vane stands upright from the forehead and the other two from each ear. The third head dress is a broad straw hat, and I wish they would stick to this coiffure, and discard the two others. Then the waist of their dress is as long as

…du pole antarctique an dÉtroit de Davis.[121]

Their petticoats are exceedingly short, scarcely reaching the calf of the legs, which are enveloped in a pair of flaming red stockings. Who the devil could invent such an ungraceful dress for a female?

The costume of the men on the contrary is becoming and graceful. It resembles very much the costume of the Andalusians. The hat is exactly the same, the crown being small and the rim very broad.

The Tyroleans are a fine gallant race of men and are excellent marksmen. They were formerly much attached to the House of Austria; but that attachment is now entirely changed to dislike, from the ingratitude they have met with, since they have been replaced under that scepter.

The only fault I find in the Tyroleans, is that they are rather too devout and consequently too much under the influence of the clergy. Yet in their devotion there is not the smallest tinge of hypocrisy and they are esteemed a highly moral people.

If you arrive at an inn in the evening, while the family are at prayer, neither master nor servants will come to wait on you, till prayers are over; and then you will be served with sufficient alacrity; but the prayers are rather long.

I believe the priests extort a good deal of money from these good people.
The road thro' the Tyrol was made by the Romans, in the time of Septimus
Severus. An immense number of Crucifixes on the road attest and command the
devotion of the people.

How Kotzebue can call Innspruck a dirty town I am at a loss to conceive. He must have visited it during very rainy weather; for to me it appears one of the cleanest and most chearful towns I have ever seen. There are several very fine buildings, for instance the Jesuits' College, and the Franciscan monastery; Nothing can be more picturesque than the situation of this city in the valley of the Inn and its romantic windings. The suburbs are very extensive and can boast several fine houses. The cupola of the Government House is gilded, which gives it a splendid appearance. In the Hofkirche or church of the court there are a number of statues, large as life, in bronze; among which my guide pointed out to me those of Clovis, Godfrey of Bouillon, Albert the Wise, Charles V, Philip II of Spain, Rudolph of Hapsburgh, and to my great astonishment the British King Arthur; there were twenty-eight statues altogether. But on my return to my inn, I found that my guide had made a great error respecting King Arthur, and that the said statue represented Prince Arthur, son of Henry VII, King of England, and not the old Hero of Romance; and my hostess' book further informed me that these statues were those of the Kings and Princes belonging to families connected by descent and blood with Maximilian I. In the same Hofkirche is a fine monument erected to Maximilian and a statue of bronze of this Emperor is figured kneeling between four bronze figures representing four Virtues. In the gardens of the Palace of the Archduke Ferdinand in this city is a fine equestrian statue which rests entirely on the hind feet of the horse. From Innspruck there is a water passage by the river Inn all the way to Vienna, as the Inn flows into the Danube at Passau. The banks of the Inn are so romantic and picturesque that I would willingly prolong my sÉjour at Innspruck, but as I mean to take the journey from Mittenwald to Munich by the river Isar, I must take advantage of the raft which starts from that place the day after to-morrow.

MUNICH, 20th July.

I left Innspruck in a chaise de poste on the 16th, and arrived the same evening at five o'clock at Mittenwald. At a short distance before I arrived at Mittenwald, I entered the Bavarian territory, which announces itself by a turnpike gate painted white and blue, the colours and Feldzeichen of Bavaria. In the Austrian territory the barriers are painted black and yellow, these being the characteristic colors of Austria.

Mittenwald is a small neat town, offering nothing remarkable but a church yard or Ruhe-garten (garden of repose) as it is called, where there are a number of quaint inscriptions on the tombstones. At Mittenwald I had some trouble about my passport, as it was not visÉ by a Bavarian authority; but I explained to the officer that I had never fallen in with any Bavarian authority since I left Rome, and that, while at Rome, I had no intention of going thro' Bavaria; that at Milan the Austrian authorities had visÉ my passport for Vienna and that I should only pass thro' Munich, without making a longer stay than one week. He acquiesced in my argument, but inserted my explanation on the passport. At half a quarter of a mile beyond Mittenwald I met the raft just about to get under weigh at eleven o'clock a.m. This raft is about as long as the length of a thirty-six gun frigate, and formed of spars fastened together; on this is a platform about one and a half feet high. The Isar begins its course close to Mittenwald, and the place on which the raft stood, previous to departure, was very shallow; but water was quickly let in from sluices to float the raft, and off we set with a cargo of peasants, male and female, and merchandise bound for Munich. As the river Isar rushes between immense mountains, and forms a continual descent until the plains of Bavaria open to view, you may conceive with what rapidity we went. We encountered several falls of water of two, three, four and sometimes five feet which we had to shoot, which no boat could possibly do without being upset. The lower part of the raft was frequently under water in making these shoots and we were obliged to hold on fast to our seats to prevent being jerked off. Nothing can be more romantic and picturesque than this journey, and there is something aweful in shooting these falls; these rafts are, however, so solidly constructed that there is no danger whatever. They can neither sink nor upset. We arrived and halted the evening at TÖlz, a large village or town on the right bank of the Isar. What gives to TÖlz a remarkably singular appearance is, that on a height at a short distance from the town, and hanging abruptly over the river, you perceive several figures in wood, larger than the life, which figures form groups, representing the whole history of the passion of Jesus Christ. At a short distance, if you are not prepared for this, you suppose that they are real men, and that a procession or execution is going forward. On landing I immediately ascended this hill in order to observe this curiosity, and there I beheld the following groups, first: Christ in the midst of his disciples preaching; secondly: the disciples asleep in a cave, and Christ watching and praying; next was Judas betraying Christ to the soldiery; then the judgment of Christ before Pilate; then Christ bearing his cross to the place of execution; and lastly the crucifixion on Mount Calvary. The ground is curiously laid out so as to represent, as much as possible, the ground in the environs of Jerusalem. TÖlz is a pretty village, but contains nothing more remarkable than the above groups.

The next day at twelve o'clock we perceived the spires of Munich, and at two anchored close to one of the bridges from whence, having hired a wheelbarrow to trundle my portmanteau, I repaired to the inn called the Golden Cross—Zum goldenen Kreutz. At TÖlz the Rhetian Alps recede from the view; the landscape then presents a sloping plain which is perfectly level within four miles of Munich. The river widens immediately on issuing from the gorges of the Tyrol and for the last five miles we were followed by boys on the banks of the river, begging for wood, with which our raft was laden, and we threw to them many a faggot. Wood is the great export from the Tyrol to Bavaria, as the latter is a flat country and has not much wood, with which on the contrary the Tyrol abounds. A sensible difference of climate is now felt and the air is keener than in the Tyrol. The price of a place on the raft from Mittenwald to Munich cost only one florin, and at TÖlz an excellent supper, bed and coffee in the morning cost me only one florin.

MUNICH, 23rd July.

Munich, the capital of Bavaria, is an ancient Gothic city of venerable appearance. The houses are very solid in structure, and the streets sufficiently broad to give to the city a cheerful appearance. There are some suburbs added to it, built in the modern taste, which embellish it greatly. A large Place outside the old town, called the Carolinen-Platz, presents a number of villas disposed in the form of a circus. In these suburbs the people assemble on holidays and Sundays, to smoke and drink beer, of which a great quantity is consumed, it being the favorite and national beverage. From the lively scene of the lower class of the bourgeoisie, male and female, meeting here in the Biersschanks and Tanzsaale I was reminded of the lines in Faust:

Gewiss man findet hier
Die schÖnsten MÄdchen, und das beste Bier,

which may be thus rendered:

Here let us halt! 'tis here we're sure to find
Beer of the best and maidens fair and kind!

There are other very agreeable promenades outside the town, laid out as jardins anglais, the garden of Ostenwald for instance; and should you wish to extend your walk further, there is Nymphenburg, a royal Palace and gardens, just one league distant from the city.

The Residenz-schloss or Palace of the King is a solid building. The interior is well worth seeing. There is a superb saloon with a vast number of valuable miniatures appended to the wainscoating. An enormously heavy bed, groaning with gold and silver embroidery and pearls and which is said to weigh a ton, is to be seen here. There is a very good collection of pictures, chiefly portraits, of the Electoral, now Royal family. There is a fine chapel too belonging to this palace; a superb staircase of marble, and some fine old tapestry representing the actions of Otto von Wittelsbach. There is likewise a curious miniature copy of Trajan's column in gold and incrusted with precious stones, besides a variety of other things of value.

There are two theatres in Munich; one called the Hof or Court theatre, where there is a company of comedians for tragedy and comedy, the expences of which are defrayed principally by the King. The boxes are generally let to the nobility and the parterre is open to every body on payment. I witnessed the representation of Mozart's Nozze di Figaro. The King was present and was greeted with much affection. He has a very benignant expression of countenance. He is much beloved by his subjects, for he has governed them paternally. He has given to them a constitution unasked; for they were so contented with the old Government, that they desired no change; but he, with his usual good sense, saw the propriety of consulting and complying with the spirit of the age. A German writer of some eminence at the time of the French Revolution, when the aristocrats and alarmists of all countries were crying out against it, and proposing harsh measures to arrest its progress, said: "Sovereigns of Europe, do you wish to set bounds to the progress of French principles? Nothing can be more simple; you have only to govern your people like Maximilian of Bavaria and Frederick of Saxony, and your subjects will never desire a change."

At the German (national) theatre which is a fair sized one, I saw a tragedy performed called Der Wald bey Herman-stadt (the Forest near Hermanstadt),[122] It was an interesting piece taken from a feudal legend. The part of Elisene was performed by Mlle Vohs, a very good actress. I missed very much one thing in Munich, and that is the want of cafÉs like those in France and Italy, which have so brilliant an appearance. They make coffee here at the inns; and there are two or three dull places up one pair of stairs, where they play at billiards, and make as indifferent coffee as is made in England. The hour of dining at Munich is in general one o'clock. A slice of ham or sausage with beer form the goÛter, usually taken at five or six o'clock; and at nine follows a supper as solid as the dinner. The Germans are not loungers as the French and Italians, who, for the most part, spend all their spare time in coffee-houses. When I mentioned to a Bavarian that I could find no cafÉs in Munich resembling those in France and Italy, he said with emphasis! Gott bewahre (God forbid)! I could not help thinking he was in the right; for those splendid cafÉs are very seducing to young people and tend to encourage a life of idleness and to keep them from their studies. The lower bourgeoisie and StubenmÄdchen (maidservants) wear a singular head dress. It is made of stuff worked with silver or gold and resembles two horns sticking out one at each ear. This head dress must be costly. This class of women wear also on fÊte days gold crosses, collars and earrings.

The Bavarians seem a frank, honest set of people, tho' sometimes a little rough, in their exterior deportment. The character of Otto of Wittelsbach, in the tragedy of that name, gives the best idea of the Bavarian character.

I have made acquaintance here with a Mr F——-, an Austrian gentleman, and two Polish gentlemen, the one an officer and the other a medical man. They are brothers and had both served in the French army. We have agreed to travel to Vienna together on board of the raft which starts every week from Munich to Vienna. This raft brings to every day between twelve o'clock and two near some town or village on the banks of the river, in order to allow the passengers to dine, and anchors every evening at seven o'clock near some town or village to sup and sleep. You have only to tell the Flossmeister, or Master of the Raft, at what inn you mean to put up, or if you have no preference, he will recommend you one; and at five the next morning he goes his rounds to the different inns to collect his passengers, and at six gets under weigh.

VIENNA, 2nd August.

I left Munich on the 25th July and arrived on the 6th day of our journey, 30th July, at Vienna, The Floss, or raft, on board of which we embarked, is about as long as the main deck of an eighty-four gun ship and about forty feet in breadth. It is constructed of strong spars lashed together. On the spars is constructed a large platform and on the platform several cabins, containing tables and chairs. Mr F——, the Poles and myself hired a cabin to ourselves. On the raft was a great deal of merchandize going to Vienna. At Vienna the Flossmeister, after landing his passengers and merchandize, sells his raft and returns on horseback to Munich. A raft is constructed weekly at Munich from wood felled in the Tyrol and floated on the Isar down to Munich. We arrived the first evening at Freysingen, but it was nearly dark when we arrived; it seemed however as far as we could observe to be a neat village; at any rate, we met with a very comfortable inn there with good fare and good beds. We met with a very pleasant family on board the raft, bound to Landshut; M. and Mme S. were extremely well-informed people and their two daughters very fine girls.

We arrived the following day at twelve o'clock at Landshut, which is a very fine town. There is an immense Gothic tower or steeple to the Church of St Martin, about 450 feet in height. At Deckendorf, where the Isar flows into the Danube, I saluted for the first time that noble river. We stopped the night at Pillshofen and arrived the following day at twelve o'clock at Passau. Passau is a large, well built and handsome city, and is situated on the confluent of three rivers, the Inn, the Illst and the Danube; for here the two former flow into the latter, one on each side. Each of these rivers just before the point of juncture seem to be of different colors; for example the Danube appears blue, the Inn white, and the Illst black. At Passau we put up at the Wild Man (Zum Wilden Mann), a favorite sign for inns in these parts.

The Cathedral and Residenz-Schloss are striking buildings, and the city has a lively and grand appearance. The women appear to be in general handsome and well dressed. We brought to the evening at Engelhardtzell, where the barrier, painted black and yellow, announced our return to the Austrian territory. We underwent at the Customs house a rigid search for tobacco: they even took away the tobacco that some passengers had in their pouches. They were likewise very rigid about our passports. The English passports do not please them at all, on account of the features of the bearer not being specified therein, and as I answered their questions in German, they supposed me to be a native of that country and asked me what business I had with a British passport. I replied: Weil ich ein EnglÄnder bin.—Sie ein EnglÄnder? Sie 'sind gewiss aus Nord Deutschland. Sie sprechen recht gut Deutsch.—Meine Herren, ich bin ein EnglÄnder: viele EnglÄnder studieren und sprechen Deutsch, und wenn SiÈmit mir eine langeUnterredung gehalten hÄtten, so hÄtten Sie bald ausgefunden durch meine Sprachfehler, dass ich kein geborner Deutscher bin.—Aber Sie haben unsere Fragen vollkommen gut beantwortet.—Warum nicht? man hat mir die nehmlichen Fragen so wiederholten Malen gestellt, dass ich die dazu gehÖrigen Antworte auswendig habe, wie em Katechismus.[123] The officer laughed, took up a pen, visÉd and gave me back my passport.

The whole of the country on the banks of this noble river the Danube is picturesque and presents much variety. There cannot be a more delightful summer tour than a descent down this river. The next town of consequence that we arrived at was Linz, a large, populous and beautifully built city and capital of Upper Austria. The circumjacent country is in part mountainous. The Danube is very broad here, and there is an immensely long wooden bridge. We put up at the inn Zum goldenen Kreutz (golden cross). Here it became indispensably necessary to change our money for Austrian paper, for that sort of it called Wiener WÄhrung (Vienna security), since neither foreign coin nor another description of Austrian paper, called Conventions-MÜnze (conventional currency), are current for ordinary purposes; and it is necessary to get them changed for the current paper _Wiener WÄhrung._To explain this matter more fully and clearly: there are two sorts of paper money in the Austrian Dominions. One is called Conventions-MÜnze (conventional currency), which is fully equivalent to gold and sliver and cannot be refused as such throughout the whole of the Austrian dominions; the other, called Wiener WÄhrung (Vienna security) is current and payable in Austria proper only, and bears a loss, out of the Archduchy. The value of the Wiener WÄhrung fluctuates considerably, but the usual par of exchange is as 2 to 1: that means, two hundred florins Wiener WÄhrung are equal to one hundred Convenzions-MÜnze or gold and silver money. Even the Convenzions-MÜnze bears a loss, tho' trifling, out of the Imperial Dominions. The exchange has been known to have been at 400 per cent; that is, four hundred florins Wiener WÄhrung were only worth one hundred florins gold and silver; but just now it may be reckoned a little beyond par, fluctuating from 200 to 220. In fact, the value of a florin Wiener WÄhrung may be calculated at a frank in French money. All this is exceedingly troublesome to travellers, particularly to those who do not understand the German language; for as they cannot read the inscription, it would be difficult for them to know the difference between one sort of paper money and the other and they might be seriously imposed upon. I advise therefore all travellers, before they arrive at the Austrian frontier, whether coming from Bavaria, Saxony, or Italy, to buy up the Wiener WÄhrung notes they may meet with, and which may be purchased at great profit, probably, beyond the frontier, whereas if they defer purchasing till they arrive within the Austrian frontier, they can only procure the Wiener WÄhrung at the common rate of exchange current.

At Linz we find ourselves again in a wine country. Linz is renowned for the beauty of its women, and we had a most favorable specimen in our landlord's daughter, one of the most beautiful girls I ever beheld. We talked to her a great deal, and a scene ridiculous enough occurred. She has very beautiful arms which we all seemed to admire; and all at once, by instinct as it were, the two Poles lifted up one arm and I the other, and our respective lips were fastened on either arm at the same moment as if by word of command. We apologized for the liberty we took, saying that her arms were perfectly irresistible and that we had never seen such fine ones before. She accepted our excuse with the utmost good nature, and laughed very heartily. Her father is a man of information and a good classical scholar, a thing which is by no means uncommon among the inn-keepers of Germany. We stopped here that night, and the ensuing forenoon. We had an excellent supper, very good wine, and we drank to the health of the fair Amalia, the host's daughter. Our host, who was a friend of Mr F——'s, gave us the best of every thing, and our expences did not amount to more than seven florins Wiener WÄhrung, for supper, bed, breakfast and dinner. We passed the forenoon in visiting the different parts of the city and we were struck with the appearance of opulence and industry that prevails.

Before we arrived at MÖlk, which is the next important place, we passed the town of Ens and beyond that the famous Strudel or Whirlpool which is dangerous at times for boats. Our raft was completely whirled round. This whirlpool is caused by rocks rising abruptly out of the water. The popular tradition is that this whirlpool is the abode of a very malicious and spiteful Wassernixe, Undine or Water Goblin, who delighted in drowning passengers. The scenery hereabouts is more wild and romantic than what we have hitherto passed and bears a great resemblance to the landscape on the Rhine between Mayence and Coblentz. MÖlk is an Abbey and a very magnificent edifice it is, situated on an eminence which forms the angle with the river and rises quite À pio from the water's edge; it lies quite en face to those who approach it, descending the stream, so that the river seems to be terminated by it. It commands a noble prospect. I had only time to inspect hastily the church. Beyond MÖlk is a range of rocks that bear a great resemblance to a wall, and jut out a great deal towards the river. It is called the Devil's wall from the tradition of the Devil having endeavoured to make a wall to dam up the river. Above this wall is the famous castle and vineyard called Spitz am Platz, and further on is the castle of Dierenstein, situated on a mountain on the left bank of the Danube. The ascent is very steep; this castle, now in ruins, was the place where Richard Coeur de Lion was confined. The walls only of the castle and part of the chapel are all that remain; we did not fail to visit a place of such celebrity. A convent lies below it.

We brought to the night at a large village where there is an excellent inn; and the next day, the Leopoldsberg, bursting forth to view, announced to us the approach to Vienna. We anchored at Nussdorf, where there is a Custom house, and from whence the distance to Vienna is about one and half mile English. After having my trunk examined, I hired a hackney coach and drove into Vienna. The barriers beyond the suburb are called Lines, and between the Suburbs and the old town is an Esplanade. We entered the Suburbs by the WÄhringer Linie, and the old town by the Rothes Thor (Red gate); and from thence I repaired to the inn Zum weissen Wolf (white Wolf) in the Altem Fleischmarkt (old meat-market).

VIENNA, Augt. 4.

The old town of Vienna is not very large, since you can walk round its circumference on the ramparts in two hours. It was formerly fortified, but the French blew up the fortifications, leaving only the rampart; and by so doing they did a thing of great utility for the Viennese, and gave to the Austrian government an excellent opportunity of joining the old town to the magnificent faubourgs, by filling up the esplanade which separates them with streets and squares, which would prevent the unpleasant effects of dust in dry, and the mud in wet weather, for this dust and mud renders the esplanade almost at all times a disagreeable promenade, there being a sharp wind prevalent almost the whole year at Vienna, which blows about the dust en tourbillons. Here then was an excellent opportunity, afforded by the blowing up of the fortifications, of paving the whole of the esplanade and filling it up with streets. But no! the Austrian government seem determined upon restoring the fortifications, and a considerable number of workmen are employed. This is very silly, for these fortifications are not of the least use against a foreign enemy, inasmuch as the enemy can always erect his batteries among the faubourgs and need only make one parallel, the protection and cover afforded to him by the faubourgs rendering the other two superfluous. The faubourgs are by far the finest part of the city, and the garrison of the old town, in endeavouring to defend it, would destroy by every shot they should fire the fine buildings on the faubourgs. Of the folly of making such a defence they were made fully sensible in 1809. One of the Archdukes threw himself into the old town of Vienna, with an intention of defending it to the last and refused to surrender. Napoleon caused batteries to be erected on the Rennweg or Corso covered by the church of St Charles, the Manege and Palace of the Hungarian noble guard, all magnificent buildings in the faubourgs. He then summoned the garrison of the old town again to surrender saying: "Every shot fired against the besiegers destroys your own most valuable property and finest edifices." This argument, backed by the entreaties of the citizens, had its effect and the capitulation was signed. This shows the perfect inutility of fortifying the old town of Vienna against a foreign enemy. Indeed a capital city should never be fortified; it generally contains too many things of value, ever to be exposed to the risk of a bombardment. It would seem, however, that the object of the Austrian government in reconstructing these works were to keep its own subjects at Vienna in check. But in this case it would be much more advisable to construct a fortress on the heights of Kahlenberg or of Leopoldsberg, both of which command the city and the whole expanse below. The Turks were encamped on the Kahlenberg at the famous siege of Vienna.

Vienna proper, the old town, is a Gothic city, but a very handsome one. The streets are in general broad and well paved; but the Places or Squares are small. With the exception of the Herrengasse, where the nobility reside, the rest of Vienna is inhabited by shopkeepers and wholesale dealers; and the shops are brilliant and well fitted up. The KÄrnthner Strasse, a long and tolerably broad street, and the Kohlmarkt present the greatest display of wealth. Indeed the KÄrnthner Strasse may be considered as the principal street; this street and the Kohlmarkt have a great resemblance to the finest parts of Holborn. The Graben also present a fine display of shops and may be termed the Bond Street of Vienna. The Sanct Stephans Platz where the Cathedral church of Vienna, called St Stephans Kirche, stands, is the largest Place in Vienna. The Cathedral is a very ancient and curious Gothic edifice, and the steeple is nearly 450 feet high. I happened to enter the Cathedral one day on the occasion of a solemn requiem celebrated for the soul of Prince Metternich's father. Had it been for the son, instead of the father, many an honorable man persecuted at the instigation of that most machiavelic of all ministers, might exclaim in making a slight alteration in a well known epitaph:

Cy-gÎt M—— ah! qu'il est bien
Pour son repos et pour le mien!

Among the other striking buildings in the old town is the Hofburg or Imperial Palace, a very extensive quadrangular building, with a large court in its centre. A Guard mounts here every day at eleven o'clock. It was in one of the saloons of this palace that the celebrated Congress of Vienna was held; a Congress whose labours will be long and severely felt by Europe and duly appreciated by posterity, who will feel any other sentiment but that of gratitude for the arrangements entered into there. The Hofburg was built by Leopold VII in 1200. This building, from its being extremely irregular and from its having received additions at intervals in the different styles of architecture, has been aptly enough considered as the type of the Austrian monarchy, and of its growth from a Markgraviate to an Empire; in this, by the continued acquisition of foreign territories differing from each other in manners and hi speech; in that, by the continued addition of various specimens of architecture and style of building in its augmentation.

VIENNA, Aug. 8th.

I am very well content with my abode at the Weisser Wolf, tho' it is not a first-rate hotel. They are very civil people, and I have an excellent and spacious room for two florins Wiener WhÄrung per diem. Lodgings are the only things that are dear in Vienna, every other article is, however, cheaper than in any other city I have yet been in. All kinds of Hungarian wine may be had at the most reasonable prices. I generally breakfast at a neighbouring CafÉ in the Fleischmarkt for the sake of reading the Allgemeine Zeitung which is taken in there, and which is the only journal having a shade of liberality which is permitted in the Austrian dominions. From the hours of twelve to three, dinners À la carte are served at the Weisser Wolf. For two and half florins W.W., I get an excellent dinner with a bottle of Offener wine. The wine of Offen resembles much that of Bordeaux in its quality and flavor. The tariff however of the dinners and wines varies daily a few kreutzers, in consequence of the eternal fluctuation of the W.W., so that every morning a fresh tariff is affixed to the wainscot of the saloon where the dinners are served. Supper, served likewise À la carte, is at its full tide between the hours of eight and ten o'clock; and as Vienna is renowned for the celebrity of its beefsteaks and cutlets, called here Rostbraten, these and a salad seem to be the favourite dish for supper. My mornings I have hitherto passed in lounging about the KÄrnthner Gasse, St Stephen's Platz, Kohlmarkt, etc. For an hour before dinner the fashionable promenade is on the rampart in front of the palace of Duke Albert of Saxe-Teschen; in the evening on the Prater, in a carriage, on horseback, or on foot. The Prater is of immense extent and offers a great variety of amusements and sights. I generally return home at night pretty well fatigued from my rambles.

There is another great inconvenience at Vienna, resulting from the fluctuation of the current money, and this is that a stranger, dwelling at an inn, is sure to be disturbed five or six times in the morning, sometimes as early as five or six o'clock, by Jews who rap at his door to enquire if he wants to exchange gold and silver against currency or vice versÂ. I used to lose all patience at being so disturbed in the morning, and was obliged in self-defence to put an affiche on the door of my room to this effect: "Man kauft und verkauft hier nichts; kein Wechsler darf hereintreten." "Here there is no buying and selling; no money changer is allowed to come in," and I hereby recommend to all strangers not to treat with these Jews, but on their arrival, or at any time they think fit, to go to a banking establishment in this city, where every day after eleven o'clock you can exchange your gold and silver for paper at the just rate of exchange, as published at the Bourse, paying only a very slight premium, and on leaving Vienna to go to the same establishment to change your superfluous Wiener WÄhrung for Convenzions MÜnze or gold and silver money. For when the Jews tell you the rate of exchange is so and so, you conclude probably your bargain with them, and on enquiring at the Bourse you find that the Jew has made a percentage of six or eight per cent, out of you. Louis d'or are the best foreign coin to bring into the Austrian Dominions. Next to them in utility are the Dutch ducats, or Geharnischte MÄnner as they are termed, from the figure of the man in armour upon them. All other corns suffer a loss in proportion. The bankers in Vienna pay the foreign bill of exchange in Convenzions MÜnze, which you must afterwards change for Wiener WÄhrung, the only current money in Vienna and Austria. But what makes it additionally troublesome is that here in Vienna there are particular payments, which must absolutely be paid in gold or silver or Convenzions MÜnze, and not Wiener WÄhrung; for instance the franking of foreign letters at the post office, where they do not take the Wiener WÄhrung. In vain you may intreat them to take the Wiener WÄhrung at any rate they please; no! you must go elsewhere and buy from the first person you can meet with as much gold and silver as is required for the franking of the letters; so bigotted are they in the Austrian dominions to the letter of the law! This happened to me: I wanted to frank three letters for England and I went to the post office with Wiener WÄhrung paper, not being aware of this regulation, and I was obliged to return to my Hotel, to lay hold of a Jew, and to buy from him as much gold and silver as was requisite for the franking of the letters.

At the Wechselbank or Bank of Exchange I have before mentioned, the crowd that attends daily is immense; but the business is carried on without hurry or confusion. You hand in your paper or your gold and silver coin, the clerk who receives it gives you an order on paper for the amount specified, which paper you take into another room and therein receive the amount. This establishment, however, remains open only two hours every day, between eleven and one I believe; so if you are too late for this interval of time, you must apply to the brokers, Christian or Israelite.

VIENNA, August 11th.

We left the old town by the Burg-thor, and crossing the Esplanade, directed our course to the Rennweg, one of the suburbs, in order to view the majestic edifice of St Charles, which is equal in the beauty of its architecture to many of the finest churches in Rome. Its faÇade and cupola render it one of the most striking buildings belonging to Vienna. We next visited the ManÈge and the Palace called the palace of the Hungarian Noble Guard. They are both beautiful edifices. The faubourgs of Vienna are built in the modern style and their buildings, both public and private, excellent in their way and in the best state. The streets of the faubourgs are broad but not paved. The most celebrated of these faubourgs are Maria HÜlf, Leopold-stadt, Landstrasse, the Rennweg, the WÜhringer Gasse; and I am persuaded that if the old town were united to the faubourg by means of streets and squares and the esplanade filled up with buildings, Vienna would perhaps be the handsomest city in Europe and the fourth in size, for the best buildings and palaces are in the faubourgs, viz., the Military College, the Polytechnic School, St Charles' Church, the Porcelain fabric, the Palaces of Esterhazy, Kaunitz, Stahremberg, Schwarzenberg, Palfy, and the beautiful Palace and ground of Belvedere in which last is a noble collection of pictures open to the public. At the Polytechnic school one of the principal professors is a friend of Mr F———'s, and he explained to us the nature of the establishment and the course of studies pursued. The apparatus for every branch of science is on the grandest scale. After dinner we repaired to the Prater, crossing a branch of the Danube which here forms several islands. The Prater requires and deserves particular mention. Part of it is something in the style of the Champs ElysÉes at Paris, and it is fully equal to it in the variety of amusements and enjoyments to be met with there; but it is far larger and more beautiful on account of its landscape and the diversified manner in which the grounds are laid out. The Prater, then, is an immense park, laid out on an island of considerable extent on the Danube. The nearest faubourg to it is the Leopoldstadt, which is also the most fashionable one, and a bridge conducts you from that faubourg direct into the Prater. The Prater presents a mixture of garden, meadow, upland and forest; the lofty trees arranged in avenues or in clumps give a delightful protecting shade. On the road destined for the carriages there is every afternoon a most brilliant display of carriages. Another avenue is destined for equestrians, and two avenues, one on each side of these two, for pedestrians. There are besides winding footpaths, that conduct you all over this vast extent of ground, and circular grass plots surrounded by trees where the pedestrian may repose and eat and drink if he will. Here are restaurants in plenty, cafÉs, Panoramas, exhibitions of wild beasts, swings, tennis courts, places for running at the ring, do for burlesque dramatic performances, farceurs, jugglers, De Bach's Equestrian Amphitheatre in the style of Franconi, Salles de Danse, baths, billiard rooms, gaming tables, and even houses appropriated to gallantry. In fact, the Prater is quite the Paradise of the bourgeoisie of Vienna, who are fond of the pleasures of the table and take every opportunity of making dinner and supper parties. The bourgeois of Vienna are far more sensual than spiritual and not at all disposed to self-denial.

Excellent hams and sausages are to be had here; and the Viennese who dines and sups heartily at his own house never fails, during his evening promenade, to take a tolerable good portion of ham or sausage, with a proportion of Offen wine or Maylander Beer, by way of staying his stomach during the tedious interval between dinner and supper. I need scarce add that smoking is universal, as indeed it is all over Germany, for I scarcely ever see a German without a pipe either in his mouth or fastened to his coat and a bag or pouch of tobacco either in his pocket or attached to his button hole. In the Prater dances often take place in the open air between the grisettes of Vienna, who are in general handsome and well made, and who dress well, and their lovers and admirers. The Prater was first opened to the public by the Emperor Joseph II. The Au-garten is another place of recreation and amusement, but on a smaller and much more tranquil and sober scale, than the Prater. None of the lower classes think of coming here, tho' it is open to every body decently dressed: there is not that profuse eating and drinking going forward. It is more properly speaking a promenade, and forms a garden with alleys of trees where music is often performed and there is a superb saloon where refreshments may be had. The Au-garten is frequented chiefly by the Noblesse and Haute Bourgeoisie. In the morning likewise it is a fashionable resort to drink the mineral waters. It adjoins the Prater, being on the same island. It was the favourite lounge of Joseph II, who opened it to the public by affixing this inscription on one of the gates:

Allen Menschen gewidmete Erlustigung von ihrem SchÄtzer

"Place of recreation open to all Men by their esteemer."

VIENNA, Aug. 13th.

There are a great number of theatres at Vienna. Two are situated in the old town, viz., the Hof-theater and the Burg-theater. The Hof-theater is only open when the Court are at Vienna, and they are now at Baden, ten leagues distant. The Burg-theater is open all the year round, and may be considered as the national theatre. It is much frequented by the bourgeoisie and inhabitants of the old town, who do not chuse to take the trouble to go to the Wieden-theater, which is situated in the faubourgs, and which is more of a classical and fashionable theatre than the other, inasmuch as it is more elegantly and classically built, better fitted up, and has a far better company of comedians. At the Burgtheater I saw Kotzebue's Edelsinn und Armuth performed. The Wieden theatre which is, as I have said, in the faubourgs, is the handsomest theatre perhaps in Europe for its size. It is not large, but it is fitted up with so much taste and you see and hear so well; every ornament is so chaste and there is nothing at all tawdry or superfluous. It is, I really think, a model of what every theatre ought to be. There is a good deal of bronze about it which gives it a classical appearance, and the boxes are supported by Caryatides in bronze. There is a peculiarity in all the theatres at Vienna, which is, that in the parterre you must sit in the place the number of which is marked on your ticket. These places are called Gesperrte Sitze, and each seat resembles an armchair. When not occupied, the seat is folded up and locked to the back of the chair, until the person who holds the ticket corresponding to its number comes to take it; so that no other but the person holding the ticket corresponding to the number can take it, and you are thus never likely to be shoved out of your place, as you are at most of the theatres in Europe. There are men stationed at the doors who follow you into the parterre to unlock and let down a seat for you, and to them you give your ticket with a slight gratification, which is however quite optional; your ticket you previously pay for at the door.

VIENNA, Augt. 20th.

I have been to see SchÖnbrunn, the usual residence of the young Napoleon; but he is now at Baden with the Imperial family, where his mother, who is lately arrived from Italy, is also on a visit. The young Napoleon is said to be a remarkable fine boy, and a great favorite with his grandfather the Emperor. Many are the anecdotes related of him. I shall mention one. He had heard so often talk of his father, that shortly after the arrival of his mother, he wished to see his father also and asked his attendants repeatedly and not in a very patient tone: Wo ist denn mein Vater?[124] This was told to his grandfather the Emperor; and he gave directions that the child should be brought to him, the very next time he should put the question. He then said to him: Du mÖchtestwissen wo dein Vater ist? Er ist in Verhaft. Man hat es mit ihm gut gemeint; weil er aber unruhig war, so hat man ihn in Verhaft gestellt, und Dich wird man auch verhaften, wenn Du unruhig bist.[125]

So much for this anecdote; but I did not hear what was the answer of the young prince. The young Napoleon is, it appears, a great favorite of the soldiers, who quite adore him, and he will sometimes go into the kitchen to get bread and meat to give to the soldiers on Guard at the Palace. A singular event happened lately to Maria Louisa. During her stay at SchÕnbrunn, her chatouille, with several things of value in it, bijouterie, etc., was stolen from her. She caused enquiries to be made, and researches to be set on foot. Nobody has been able to find out who took it; but it was put back in the precise place from whence it was taken, and not a single article of the bijouterie or things of value was missing. It is supposed this theft was made for political purposes, in order to discover the nature of her epistolary correspondence, if any existed. Had it been taken by a vulgar thief, it is not probable that the articles of value would have been restored. Such is the unhappy condition of that Princess to be always an object of suspicion and espionnage.

Journey to Prague.

I left Vienna on the 28th August in a Landkutsche and arrived at Prague on the first of September.

These Landkutsche are on the same plan and footing with the vetture in Italy, and travel in the same manner, with this difference, however; that the Landkutscher do not usually, as the vetturini do, undertake to provide for the supper and bed of their passengers. In a word, you are not spesato; and in Germany there is not the least necessity for it, for there is no such thing as extortion on the part of the German innkeepers, who are by far the most respectable of that profession. Besides, in most places, everything is tariffed, and where it is not, the landlord never makes an unreasonable demand, or attempts to make foreigners pay more than natives; whereas in Italy if you are not spesato there are no bounds to the rapacity of the innkeepers, witness mine host of Terracina. Both Italy and Germany present the greatest convenience for travellers, as the Landkutsche or vetture are continually passing from town to town. There is however this difference between them, that the Italian vetturini will abate their price, if their carriage is full excepting one place, and that they must start, whereas the German Landkutscher never abate their price.

I paid for my journey from Vienna to Prague thirty-five florins Wiener WÄhrung, and we made the journey in five days. Our first day's journey brought us to HÖllabrunn, having stoppd to dinner at Stockeran. The road is excellent and the several towns and villages we past thro' clean and well built. The landscape was either a plain, or gently undulating and extremely well cultivated.

Bohemia resembles Moravia, being an exceedingly rich corn country, generally open; not many trees about the country near the road side, except at the Chateau and farm houses. The language is a dialect of the Sclavonic, mixed with some German; but at the inns there is always one or two servants who speak German. In Bohemia a traveller not speaking German, and who has no interpreter with him, would find himself greatly embarrassed. The Bohemians call themselves in their own language Cherschky, and the Hungarians call themselves Magyar.

[117] Tasso, Gerusalemme liberata, canto XV, ottave 31, 32:

Un uom della Liguria avrÀ ardimento
All' incognito corao esporsi in prima…
Tu spiegherai, Colombo, a un nuovo polo
Lontane si le fortunate antenne…—ED.

[118] Ariosto, Orlando Furioso, XL, 31, 1.—ED.

[119] See reference to Eustace p. 131.

[120] Ariosto, Orlando Furioso, XXVIII, 38, 7.—ED.

[121] Boileau, Satires, XI, v. 117.

[122] The drama, Der Wold bei Hermannstadt, is the work of Johanna Fraenul von Weissenthurn (1773-1847), a celebrated Viennese actress and authoress. An opera was written on the same text by W. Westmeyer, —ED.

[123] Because I am an Englishman—You are an Englishman? you are certainly a North-German; you speak very correct German.—Gentlemen, I tell you I am an Englishman; many English study and speak the German language and if you had held a long conversation with me, you would soon have perceived from my faults in speaking, that I am not a German.—But you have answered our questions so correctly.—Why not, the same questions have been put to me so often that I have all the necessary answers by heart like a catechism.

[124] Where is my father?

[125] "You wish to know where your father is? He is under arrest; people were well disposed to him; but he is placed under arrest, because he was unruly, and if you are unruly you will be placed under arrest likewise."