ter London and New York, the third in
the world.

From Hamburg the train goes on through Hanover and Westphalia, across
the majestic Rhine, through South Holland, not far north of the Belgian
frontier, to the port of Flushing, which is situated on one of the
islands in the delta of the Scheldt. Here another steamer is ready for
us, and after a passage of a few hours we glide into the broad
trumpet-shaped mouth of the Thames and land at Queenborough. There again
we take a train which carries us through the thickly-peopled,
well-cultivated country of Kent into the heart of London, the greatest
city of the world.

[Illustration: MAP SHOWING JOURNEY FROM STOCKHOLM TO PARIS.]

After a few days' stay in London we go on to Paris--by train to Dover,
across the Channel at its narrowest part in a swift turbine steamer, and
again by rail from Calais to Paris, through one of the most fruitful
districts of France, vying with the valleys of the Rhone and Garonne in
fertility. In a little over seven hours after leaving London we arrive
at the great city (Plate XXIV.) where the Seine, crossed by thirty
bridges, describes a bend, afterwards continuing in the most capricious
meanderings to Rouen and Havre.

[Illustration: PLATE XXIV. PARIS.

Looking eastwards from Notre Dame.]

The first thing the stranger notices in Paris is the boulevards--broad,
handsome streets, with alleys of leafy trees between rows of large
palatial houses, theatres, cafes, and shops. The oldest, the boulevards
proper, were formerly the fortifications of the town with towers and
walls; "boulevard" is, then, the same word as the English "bulwark."
Louis XIII., who enlarged and beautified Paris, had these bulwarks
pulled down, and the first boulevards laid out on their site. They are
situated on the north side of the Seine, and form a continuous line
under different names, Madeleine, des Capuchines, des Italiens, and
Montmartre. This line of boulevards is one of the sights of Paris. In
later times boulevards were also laid out where there had been no
fortifications before. Under Louis XIV. and his successors Paris grew
and increased in splendour and greatness; then it was the scene of the
great Revolution and its horrors; then under Napoleon it became the
heart of the mightiest empire of that time. With the fall of Napoleon
Paris was twice entered by the forces of the Allies, and in 1871 it was
besieged and captured by the Prussians. Since then Paris has been