, where we saw about twenty
tents erected. A bustling landlord came up, and offering us some
glasses of bad milk, said that every year a fair is held in the Bush
for three weeks, or rather, on three successive Sundays, for during
the week days the booths are closed. The landlady also came
tripping towards us, and invited us, in a very friendly manner, to
spend the next Sunday with them. She assured us that we should
"amuse ourselves charmingly;" that we elder members of the company
should find entertainment in the wonderful performances of the
tumblers and jugglers, and the younger gentlemen find spruce young
girls for partners in the dance.

We expressed ourselves much pleased at this invitation, promised to
be sure to come, and then extended our walk to Ritzebuttel, where we
admired a small castle and a miniature park.

5th July. Nothing is so changeable as the weather: yesterday we
were revelling in sunshine, and today we were surrounded by a thick,
dark fog; and yet this, bad as it was, we found more agreeable than
the fine weather of the day before, for a slight breeze sprang up,
and at nine o'clock in the morning, we heard the rattling of the
capstan, as the anchor was being weighed. In consequence of this,
the young people were obliged to give up the idea of an excursion to
the Bush, and defer all dancing with pretty girls until their
arrival in another hemisphere, for it was fated that they should not
set foot in Europe again.

The transition from the Elbe to the North Sea is scarcely
perceptible, as the Elbe is not divided into different channels, but
is eight or ten miles broad at its mouth. It almost forms a small
sea of itself, and has even the green hue of one. We were,
consequently, very much surprised, on hearing the captain exclaim,
in a joyful tone, "We are out of the river at last." We imagined
that we had long since been sailing upon the wide ocean.

In the afternoon, we bore in sight of the island of Heligoland,
which belongs to the English, and presented really a magical
appearance, as it rose out from the sea. It is a barren, colossal
rock; and had I not learned, from one of the newest works on
geography, that it was peopled by about 2,500 souls, I should have
supposed the whole island to have been uninhabited. On three sides,
the cliffs rise so precipitously from the waves, that all access is
impossible.

We sailed by the place at a considerable distance, and saw only the
towers