re was a little room opening from the passage, where dwelt the
porter of the mansion. It was his duty to close the door at the
appointed hours; a duty which he scrupulously fulfilled, seeing that the
law empowered him to levy a fine of six kreutzers for his own especial
benefit, upon every inhabitant or stranger seeking egress or ingress
after the authorised hour of closing. The Viennese insist upon it that
this impost is recoverable by law; but, as the porter's whole existence
depends upon the employment of his labour in and about the house, and
therefore upon the good-will of its inhabitants, he takes care in general
not to be too pressing for his toll.

Our dormitory, diminutive as it appeared, still managed to contain two
single bedsteads (French), a wash-hand-stand, wardrobe, used in common by
landlord and lodgers, a table, and two chairs. We paid in rent twelve
florins a month, or barely ten shillings between us; add to this, for
washing, candles, and morning coffee (a tiny cup at six in the morning,
before starting to work), another four florins, and our united expenses
for these necessaries did not exceed thirteen shillings per month. As in
Berlin, we dined at a "restauration," or at the "Fress Madam's" (Mrs.
Gobble's), a jocose term for a private eating-house, well known to the
jewellers. The mid-day meal of the Viennese workman is remarkable for
strength and solidity, but also for its sameness. It always takes the
shape of fresh boiled beef and vegetables, the latter arranged in a thick
porridge of meal and fat. It commences, of course, with soup; is
followed by the "rind-fleisch and gemuse," as above; and, if you can
afford it, is concluded by some such sweet dish as flour puddings stewed
with prunes, a common sort of cake called zwieback, omelette, macaroni,
or a lighter kind of cake, baked and eaten with jam. All solid,
wholesome, and of the best. There is a choice of other more relishing
dishes, and of these we usually partook, with an occasional descent into
the regions of beef and greens. Vienna prides itself upon its baked
chickens and Danube carps, but these were beyond our reach on ordinary
occasions; and our usual delectation was upon Augsburger sausages; bacon
and sour kraut; breaded veal cutlets; ditto lamb's head; and roasted
liver and onions. When we drank the ordinary white wine, we did so much
diluted. To sup at the "restauration" would have entailed too great an
expense; we therefor