We boarded the packet for Lübeck yesterday morning at Malmö. Half the members of our party disembarked at Copenhagen and went on by train, but the wind then abated, the waves died down and the green seas around Denmark became as smooth as the surface of a tray. Islands were scattered as far as the horizon.

May 1st, 1873. Fine.

By four o'clock in the morning we had already sped past the lighthouse on the promontory at Lübeck. From here we went up the river channel, where there was a gentle swell as the waves flowed past. On both sides the land was little more than a foot above sea-level, and the river was wide enough for even the biggest ships to pass one another. For the most part there were no embankments, but here and there we saw humble fishing villages with fires alight for breakfast. There were a few undulations but no sign of any hills. The green grass of spring carpeted the ground and leaves were coming out on the trees; it seemed a different world from Sweden. At half past five we reached the port of Lübeck. Lübeck is situated at the base of the peninsula of Jutland, facing the Baltic Sea. It is one of the three free cities of Germany, and its political system is similar to that of Hamburg, with a republican constitution and a government consisting of a Senate and a house of the citizenry.