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au fait," but when we come to the German he gets a bit puzzled. You would be much amused, as well as pleased, to visit the public gardens and cafes. There is at the latter a handsomely ornamented builded with a large room, with tables and seats placed around them; then there is an orchestra, from which you always hear good music. At the public gardens you sit around tables under the trees, the band having a handsome temple-like music-stand, which they occupy. At these places, all the town it would seem come to take their tea-parents with their children, where they meet their acquaintances, and seem very happy and sociable. All the ladies bring their knitting-work, and "are as busy as bees," for they do not stop for any thing but to eat. They keep their bonnets on, but here they all wear short sleeves, and most of them display very handsome arms. To hear them all chatting so merrily in an unknown tongue is very amusing, though it makes one feel somewhat sad to see so many happy together, and feel that there is none among them that care for you, or with whom you can exchange a word of kind feeling, and it was with somewhat of this feeling that I left Berlin. I was much pleased with the princely magnificence and beauty of the city, and we were leaving behind those in this strange land who had been as friends, and thus it has happened before; for we meet with much kindness and civility, which we know how to appreciate, and though the friendship and intercourse is short and transitory, we cannot part with our only friends without regret We had formed high anticipations of Leipsic, but after Berlin it looked decidedly shabby. The reputation it has from its fairs and books had excited too high expectations. The only object that interested us was the battle field, which in 1813 contained 136,000 French troops under Napoleon, and 230,000 Russian, Austrian and Prussian troops against him, and where, after a conflict of three days, Bonaparte

was obliged to retreat. We saw the bridge which was blown up by Napoleon's order, and the river which was choked with the bodies of those who were fording it at the time.

We are now at Dresden, from whence we send this. From here we go to Prague and thence to Vienna, where we hope to find letters from home, and if they contain nothing unfavorable, shall turn our faces eastward to Constantinople. Dresden is the capital of the King of Saxony, and thanks to our lucky star, we had the pleasure of seeing the king and queen in an open carriage on our way to the picture gallery, and they both returned our salutations, the king taking off his hat very politely to us republicans. The collection of paintings here is large and valuable. They are nearly 2000 in number, and all either originals of the "great masters," or copies by their pupils, or other nearly as celebrated painters. We spent about two hours there to-day, and saw only about a third of them. To-morrow we go again at ten, A. M. and stay till three, P. M., when the exhibition closes, and then we visit the green vaults, where is a collection of jewels and precious stones exceeding any in Europe. The queen wore a necklace yesterday, worth more than a million dollars. We saw among the curiosities at Dresden, a little city as large as a tea-table, made of silver and gold, which it took thirteen men seven years to make, and cost between sixty and seventy thousand dollars. The diamonds and precious stones in the collection here, exceed all conception, unless aided by Aladdin's wonderful lamp-diamonds in profusion, and other precious stones, made into every variety of beautiful as well as uncouth shapes.

How you would enjoy these works of art. I spent three hours again to-day at the picture gallery, where I never tire of gazing. There is one drawback upon one's satisfaction,

and that is the desecration of the Sabbath. One does not feel quite satisfied, brought up as we all were in the “land of steady habits," to spend it as we are in fact compelled to here. If we go to church we cannot understand the preacher, though we might tolerate the form, while that of the Catholic church here is so much more a matter of form than with us, that you cannot be pleased. Then the custom here of devoting part of the day to amusement, prevails not only in Catholic countries, but even where Lutheran and Greek are the established churches. Goods are displayed in their shops, and they spend the day and evening as I have described at the cafés, with their knitting and music. It seems to me nothing will give me a more joyful feeling on my return to America than the "sound of the church going bell." I was last night at one of the cafés, where all seemed so sociable and happy, that it made me feel very sad that I had not my friends around to chat to. To be sure we are five, but being always together, our topics are generally exhausted, and there is none of the novelty and excitement that there is attendant upon the meeting of one's friends and acquaintances. I sometimes feel that my letters afford you little satisfaction, and hardly repay you for reading through such intricate and puzzling writing-the descriptions I give, written in such haste, when ready to fall asleep with fatigue, fall so far short of the reality. It is now a month since we have had any letters, and we are anxious to reach Vienna, where they are awaiting us, and I trust with nought but good news; but there are always very anxious feelings among us antecedent to the receipt of our letters.

KONIGSTEIN-PRAGUE--BOHEMIA-SMOKERS-NOVEL RAILROAD-LINTZ-ISCHL-FETE DAY AT GMUNDEN-DRESS OF THE PEASANTRY-THE SALTSKAMMERGAT-LIFE AT THE BATHS-MARIA LOUISA-PRISON OF RICHARD CŒUR DE LION-STRAUSS AND LANNA-NAVIGATION OF THE DA

NUBE.

WE purpose on leaving here to go to Munich through some beautiful mountain scenery, that of Salzburg and the Styrian Alps, and after seeing Switzerland, direct our course through the northeastern part of Italy to Trieste, when we shall take passage for Greece, and after making some stay there, proceed to Constantinople. We left Dresden in a steamer up the Elbe; the scenery all the way is most enchanting, exceeding in beauty any river upon which we have sailed. The captain says he thinks it exceeds even that of the Rhine. After leaving Dresden, the Elbe passes through Saxon Switzerland, the high and rocky banks of which are celebrated for the quantity of half precious stones they contain. About two hours' sail brought us to an exceeding high mountain, Konigstein, or King's Rock, on whose summit is a natural fortification called the "Virgin Fortress," from its having never been taken. Even the walls at the top and the round and square towers at the angles are all natural, as if hewn out of the solid rock. It is capable of sustaining a very long siege the ground within the enclosure is sufficient to produce a vast quantity of provisions, and the vaults underneath are capacious enough to contain, and deep and cool enough to preserve a supply for a great length of time. At present they are living on provisions placed there in 1831.

BOHEMIA-BEAUTIES OF THE ELBE.

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It is here that in troublesome times, the king sends all his regalia, pictures and other valuables. The banks of the Elbe are truly grand and magnificent; the time-worn rocks seem as if broken and indented by many a flood and deluge, and formed by them into all sorts of fantastic shapes-fortresses and castles high in air. Villages are planted in the gorges of the mountains, dark ravines extend farther than the eye can reach, while richly cultivated upland glades stretch far in the distance to the sky. After leaving Saxon Switzerland, we enter Bohemia, and see thickly scattered around the villages many a cross and shrine, the latter standing high upon some lofty mound, or almost hidden in some green and shady dell. The women, too, who are busy in the fields, are dressed very neat and gay, contrasting well with the rich bright green of the fields and trees, and adding much to the beauty of the landscape, while some are trudg. ing along under the loaded baskets they carry on their backs. And such delicious fruits as we were tempted to buy at the landing, bright red apples and yellow apricots, purple and yellow plums of a delicious flavor! On our way, we passed some fine old castles, ruined and deserted, (save by some peasant or shepherd who tills the ground or watches his fold hard by,) perched upon some apparently inaccessi ble mountain, having an entire command of the river, which in some parts is very rapid. In one place there is such a descent as to cause a fall of some ten feet, which makes the upward navigation of the river very tedious. The crosses and crucifixes thickened as we proceeded farther into this Catholic country, (Bohemia.) Many of them are placed upon the highest peak of the mountains, and now and then a little chapel, and sometimes a small church, with its tapering spire, surmounted by a glittering cross, and low brown huts clustering around it, like chickens under the wing of the mother hen. We arrived at our place