Part 2
Italy has always been celebrated for the beauty of the articles manufactured there; and the things it has sent us now are certainly worthy of its fame. It is one of the loveliest countries in the world, in the spring and autumn, and is ornamented with the richest foliage; vines, mulberry, olive, and orange trees; and with high hills and deep dales, towns, villas, and villages. The soil is extremely fertile, and produces abundance of grain, the finest fruits and vegetables, with flax, saffron, and manna. The climate is delightful, except in summer, when the weather is dreadfully hot, and the winters are so mild, that ice and snow are quite rarities, except in the mountains; I wonder what my little-boy friends would do there, for a skate on the ice, or a merry game of snow-balls?
Rome, the capital of Italy, is a splendid city, full of the remains of ancient temples, pillars, arches, and fountains; but many of them sadly ruinous and decayed. There are a great many Jews in it, who are forced to live in a particular part, called the _ghetto_, which means a place for Jews. The city of Rome and the surrounding country are very unwholesome during summer, in consequence of the land not being properly drained, as it used to be in the times of the ancient Romans, so that it is dangerous to dwell near them at that season of the year. The numerous vineyards in Italy, are not divided by hedges, but by rows of rather fine trees, the vines clinging in graceful festoons from one bough to another. In some parts of the country, there are various picturesque corn fields and meadows, bordered by olive trees.
The Italians are not a very industrious people, but they make silk stockings, soap, snuff-boxes of the lava of Mount Vesuvius, tables of marble, and ornaments of shells, besides gloves and caps of the filaments of a kind of muscle, which they get off the rocks, where it fixes itself by spinning a web from its own body, like the silk-worm or spider. These caps and gloves are actually warmer than those made of wool, and are of a fine glossy green colour.
There are a great many beggars, I am sorry to say, in fair Italy, who are called _Lazzaroni_, and they live on whatever they can get, sleeping under porticos, piazzas, or any place they can find, and are, as you may guess, excessively idle, like all other beggars.
There are also hordes of thieves, who are called _Banditti_, and who rob people in the most daring manner, for there are very few police. But there are also numerous persons who are quite well-behaved, and do all they can to earn their bread honestly. Among these is a set of men called _Improvisatori_, who tell stories, or repeat verses in the streets, and get a good deal of money from those who stop to listen to them. It must be very pleasant, on a cool summer evening, to sit under some magnificent old portico, listening to some interesting poem, or hearing a pretty story related.
Throughout Italy, one of the remarkable customs, is keeping of a grand festival, which begins some weeks before Lent, and is called the "Carnival;" on this occasion, every place is brilliantly adorned, and the people go about singing, dancing, joking, and masquerading. The most splendid Carnival is kept at Venice, a remarkable city of Italy, built upon a several islands, the sea, which runs every where among them, serving the inhabitants for streets.
The Italians are very handsome, and have jet black hair, dark roguish eyes, and fine figures. The dress of the lower orders is even prettier than the pretty Spanish costume. The men wear high-crowned hats, such as you may sometimes have seen on the organ-grinders in the streets of London, velveteen jackets, gaiters, and open shirt-collars, loosely fastened by a silk ribbon; while the women have short scarlet petticoats, and jackets of a darker colour, with exceedingly short sleeves, tied with bright ribbon, and their long black hair decorated with coloured bows of ribbon, and confined by a silk lace net, which falls partly over their shoulders. Instead of sending thieves to prison in Italy, they are sent on board the galleys, a large kind of rowing vessels, where they are chained to the decks, and obliged to endure every species of hardship.
What a number of things the Germans have contributed! Bracelets, articles of straw, beautiful household furniture, toys, wire, and many other manufactures. Here is a splendid tray of polished amber, with a little carriage, made according to a proper model, and a large chandelier of amber, capable of holding several thousand lights. There is a beautiful cabinet made of a collection of pieces of unpolished amber, intended to show the different kinds of that mineral, its various forms, its peculiarities, and its varieties. Here is a bedstead, worth it is said ten thousand pounds; and the most elegant furniture ever seen. And here is a piece of white silk embroidered with portraits of our Queen and the Prince of Wales, done in a thin kind of thread, called "hair thread."
You know a good deal about Germany itself, I dare say, already; but I must tell you something about the Germans themselves. They are grave and thoughtful, but highly romantic and full of enthusiasm. Their love for their country is most remarkable. All classes in Germany are well-educated, and many painters, poets, and musicians, have been born among them. The art of printing was first practiced in that country, and at present the number of books printed there is immense; while every year a book-fair is held at the city of Leipzig. The produce and manufactures of Germany are exceedingly numerous, and you see they are of great variety, such as clocks, watches, woollens, linens, toys, wines, ornamental work in iron and steel, worsteds, and silks. In the public walks and gardens, on Sundays, the people assemble in great crowds, dressed out in their holiday clothes, while ladies and gentlemen walk about without the least restraint among the working people.
The chase is a favourite amusement with the nobles and gentlemen, and is a sport in which they are lustily joined by the peasantry. The immense forests with which the country abounds gives shelter to wild boars, wolves, and many other ferocious animals. On grand occasions there is held what is called a _battue_, when a number of deer are driven into an enclourse, and shot at by the sportsmen. The habits of the peasants are extremely simple, but the people are industrious and ingenious. The villages and cottages are neat and comfortable. The peasants make many pretty toys and ornaments, and bring provisions to market from a great distance, in light roomy wheel-barrows, made for the purpose. The German people are in general fair, with blue eyes, flaxen hair, and full figures; but they do not wear any very peculiar dress.
In models of ships, in rosewood furniture, in silver embroidery, and silver cups,--besides linens, calicoes, and glass beautifully painted for windows; many contributions have been sent in by the Dutch. There are also soft thick blankets with scarlet borders, which make one warm merely to look at them.
The Dutch people are industrious, and cleanly. The women are the most active and nicest house-wives in the world; they scour and brighten, and rub not only the furniture and inside of their houses, but the outside as well; the houses in Holland, by-the-bye, look like painted baby-houses, and are roofed with glossy delft tiles, and the rooms are lined with smooth square tiles of delft, and the floors paved with marble. The people are never idle in Holland, but are always working at a great variety of manufactures, among which are leather, woollen, and linen articles,--also, paper, wax, starch, pottery, and tiles. Large quantities of gin are likewise made, and this liquor is in England called "Hollands" for that reason. Carts are not much used by the Dutch; their goods are carried on sledges, very light waggons, and boats. The reason of this is, that they are afraid lest the wheels of vehicles should injure the foundations of their cities, which are generally built on piles of huge trees, driven like stakes into the bog beneath. The common people are very humane to their cattle; they rub down the cows and oxen, and keep them as clean and sleek as our English horses. Canals run through the principal streets, and in winter they are frozen over for two or three months, when the whole country is like a fair; booths are erected upon the ice, with fires in them. The country people skate to market, with milk and vegetables; and every kind of sport is seen on the frozen canals. Sledges fly from one street to another, gaily decorated, and numberless skaters glide about with astonishing swiftness and dexterity. No people skate so well as the Dutch.
Holland was once a quagmire, almost covered with water; but by making canals higher than the land, and pumping the water out of the fields into them, the land was drained. The bogs are numerous, and supply so much turf that little else is burned. There are no beggars; and the people are in general pretty warmly clothed, and comfortable looking, with ruddy faces. The townspeople are dressed almost like the Londoners, or Parisians; but the costume of the country folks is rather funny. A farmer's wife, when out for a holiday, wears a large kind of gipsy hat, like a small umbrella, lined with damask; a close jacket with long flaps; and full short thick coloured petticoats. Her slippers are yellow, her stockings blue, and her cap is without a border, being made to fit her head exactly, and gaily ornamented with gold filagree clasps; while her costume is finished by a pair of earrings and a necklace. The farmer himself wears a hat without a rim, and huge silver buttons on his coat; and keeps whiffing away at his pipe, which he is seldom without. The Dutch are most excellent gardeners, though they sometimes ruin themselves by their love for flowers.
Among the articles that have been sent here from Switzerland, are several well worth looking at, they are so wonderfully ingenious. Of this kind are two boxes, one of white wood, and the other of brown; the white has a lovely Alpine rose, with garlands of flowers upon the sides, the rose and lid being cut out of one piece of wood, and so beautifully made to imitate nature, that the slightest touch with the point of a knife or a needle, makes the leaves move and quiver without spoiling the flower. This was made by a Swiss peasant. The people of Switzerland are very remarkable for their industry, contentment, and ingenuity.
Among the villagers, their chief occupations are the management of dairies, and the breeding of cattle; and many of the peasantry make a living by hunting the chamois, as the wild goat is called. This is rather a dangerous employment, yet the chamois-hunters delight in it; they carry a long hook pointed with an iron spike, and with the help of this, they leap from rock to rock, over frightful chasms and precipices; yet such is their surprising activity, that they are never killed. Other peasants earn a livelihood by fattening and preparing snails for market; for these creatures are considered a great delicacy in many parts of Switzerland. In another part of the country the inhabitants almost exclusively follow the trade of watch-making, and polishing the crystals and pebbles that are found in the mountains, Geneva, a city of Switzerland, is celebrated for the watches that are made there.
The women are extremely domestic, delighting in their children; and all the Swiss are remarkable for their passionate love of home. In every village there is a school, established by the Government for the instruction of poor children. The Swiss are the most graceful of all peasants, and wear very smart costumes. The men wear large hats, and their dress is generally a brown cloth jacket without sleeves, and puffed breeches of ticking. The women have short blue petticoats, a cherry-coloured boddice, full white sleeves fastened above the elbow, and a muslin kerchief thrown round their necks; while their hair is plaited, and twisted about their heads. They also wear pretty flat straw hats, ornamented with bows of ribbon.
The scenery of Switzerland is of the most charming and romantic description; there are towering mountains, craggy rocks, steep precipices, with foaming torrents dashing down their sides, and dizzy heights, which I should be sorry any of my little friends were looking down. But these are delightfully intermixed with beautiful valleys, adorned with groves of fir, beech, and chestnut trees; clear lakes, rapid rivers, cataracts, and bridges of one arch reaching an immense distance from rock to rock. Portions of the mountains are covered with villages and scattered cottages; and the inside of the dwellings are so neat and look so comfortable, that you could almost wish to live in one of them, if you were not told that there is a perpetual danger of their being buried under one of the enormous masses of snow that frequently roll from the tops of the mountains, and destroy everything in their way. These masses are called Avalanches.
Between the summits of the highest of the mountains are valleys of ice, frozen into many fantastic shapes, formed by one crust of ice growing hard over another; but what is more extraordinary, is that the borders of these glaciers, as they are called, are fertile: strawberries, wild cherries, nuts, barberries, and mulberries, grow there; and goats browse on the most inaccessible parts of the rocks, and bound with the most surprising agility from one cliff to another.
Several contributions have been sent by the Prussians and Austrians; woollens, minerals, linens, china, and other things.
The Prussians are a very polite and well-educated people, and nowhere are there more schools than in their country.
Prussia itself is an extremely pleasant place, and the towns are fine, with wide, regular streets, and high antique-looking houses; the streets are mostly lined with trees, which look pretty enough while their leaves are green, but rather prevent the free circulation of air. The Prussian ladies delight in fine clothes, and would be much vexed if they were obliged to go out without them. The gentry speak French, but the common people talk German. The beautiful Dresden china we see at the Exhibition, cames from the town of Dresden.
Austria is a very fine country, and contains a great variety of people. The principal artizans are tanners, furriers, boot makers, lace workers, and cabinet makers. There are also workers in iron, copper, alum, saltpetre, besides many others. The general habits of the Austrians are like those of the Germans, so I do not think I need tell you anything about them.
The Poles and Hungarians have also sent their industrial productions to the Great Exhibition; cloth, lace, furniture, brooms, linens, woollens, and other articles. I dare say you have heard a good deal lately about the Hungarians, when they were fighting against the Austrians and Russians. The Hungarian peasants are very hard-working; indeed, they cannot help being so, for as the nobility and gentry are not taxed, the poor people are forced to pay all the taxes, besides being obliged to give money and provisions to their masters, the Lords of the Manor, who, I am sorry to say, are excessively tyrannical. They are also compelled to pay tithes to the clergy, the magistrates, and the soldiers, and to work for nothing on the public works; against which bad laws they fought. Agriculture, and the breeding of cattle, are carried on to a considerable extent.
Hungary is occupied by a variety of people, with entirely different habits; it contains Frenchmen, Sclavonians, Turks, Jews, Spaniards, Gipsies, Germans, and Greeks. The Magyar language, the original Hungarian tongue, is spoken by the peasants; but in the cities the people mostly use German and French.
The Poles live in a cold, flat, marshy country, in the north of Europe. The peasantry are in a miserable state, very dirty and frequently drunken; and their land is in a wretched condition.
The Swedish and Danish people have made many things to be exhibited in the World's Fair. Sweden is in the north of Europe, and the climate is very disagreeable, for it is extremely cold in winter, and intolerably hot in summer. The people do not live very luxuriantly; their bread is not only black and coarse, but so hard that they are sometimes obliged to break it with a hatchet; and this, with dried fish, and salt meat, forms the chief part of their food. Yet they are very hardy and contented. At Michaelmas, they kill their cattle and salt them, for the winter and spring. Their favourite drink is beer, and they delight in malt spirits; some of them have tea and coffee. Their houses are generally built of wood, and their cottages are made of rough logs; the roofs are covered with turf, on which the goats browse. The Swedish women do everything that men are employed to do in other countries; they plough, sow, and thresh, and work with the bricklayers; the country women, as well as the ladies, wear veils to shade their faces from the glare of the snow in winter, and from the scorching rays of the sun reflected from the barren rocks in summer.
The iron mines of Sweden are exceedingly useful; they furnish great quantities of metal, to be exported to England, for the use of our steel manufactories. The extensive forests supply numerous pine trees, which are cut down and sent to foreign countries, for ship and house building; while pitch and tar are made from the sap,--a preparation which gives employment to many of the inhabitants.
The Swedes contrive to make things from materials we should throw away as good for nothing; they twist rope from hogs'-bristles, horses' manes, and the bark of trees; and form bridles of eel-skins. The coarse cloth they wear they make themselves, for the women are continually busy spinning or weaving. Sweden is the birth-place of the famous botanist, Linnæus, and the charming singer, Jenny Lind.
Norway is united to Sweden, but it is still colder in winter and hotter in summer. The people live very simply, mostly on milk, cheese, and dried fish; and sometimes they have slices of meat, sprinkled with salt and dried in the wind. In some parts of the country, the people make bread of the bark of the pine tree; and in winter, for want of hay, they are obliged to feed their cattle on dried fish. The houses are built of wood, and many of the roads are made of the same material; while wooden fences are used instead of hedges. The Norwegians send metals, minerals, salt, butter, dried fish, and furs, to other countries.
Denmark is a very fine country, perfectly level, except a single ridge of mountains. Its chief products are grain, tobacco, flax, madder, and hops. There are a great many mines, but few manufactures carried on; though the Danish gloves are much esteemed. The climate is generally rather warm, but very wet. The Danes are mostly well-educated; they are like the Swedes in their manners and customs. They have sent many specimens of their industry to the Great Exhibition.
Why, who would have thought of seeing Persian and Egyptian contributions at the Exhibition?
And such splendid articles as they are! Persia, you know, is a rich and fertile country, near Russia, in Asia; but although it has many beautiful flowers and fruits, yet is there very little timber; owing to which they have no shipping. The Persians delight in fine clothes on which they lavish the greater part of their money, and they are fonder of scarlet, or crimson, than of any other colour. They are very skilful in dyeing, in making silks, shagreen, morocco, gold and silver ornaments; and they form excellent swords and weapons. Their commerce with Turkey, China, Arabia, and other places, is carried on by means of what they call "caravans," which are large companies of merchants, who travel together for the sake of security from thieves, by whom however, they are often robbed; these companies have frequently more than a thousand camels, to carry their luggage and their goods; and in consequence of the excessive heat, they are obliged to journey mostly in the early morning, and rest during the day. The Persians live chiefly on rice, fruit, and coffee, and eat very little meat; they luxuriate in baths, and the poorest amongst them endeavour to have a horse. They use the Turkish language, and are nearly all Mahometans; they used to worship the sun and fire, though very few continue to do so still. The Persian ladies never appear in the streets or any other public place, without having long veils, in order to conceal their faces, as the Turkish ladies do. The Persians are very like the Turks in their manners and customs, which I described to you before.
Egypt was, formerly, a mighty empire, and had rich and haughty kings, who adorned it with magnificent temples and palaces. I dare say you remember what you have read of it in the history of Joseph and his brethren, and in that of Moses. It was here that Solomon built his magnificent and gorgeous Temple. It is now, however, an exceedingly mean country, and is governed by a Turkish Pacha, whose grandfather contrived to make himself master of Egypt, as well as of Syria and Palestine. The climate of Egypt is excessively hot,--in fact, the nights in spring are the only pleasant part of the year. The nights in autumn are also very fine,--even delicious; and the rays of the moon are so bright that the natives, who sleep in the open air, cover their eyes to prevent their being injured by the brilliancy. The greater portion of the land is covered with burning sands; but wherever the waters of the river Nile have been conducted by canals, and allowed to flow over the country, the earth becomes fertile, and fruits thrive luxuriantly. There are but few garden flowers, but roses are extensively cultivated, the attar of roses forming an article of commerce.
There are many valuable minerals found in the earth; and beautiful marble, alabaster, salt, alum, and other useful things. The woods, marshes, plains, and rivers supply a variety of animals, most of them wild and ferocious. It was in Egypt that the Hippopotamus was found. The people devote themselves to agriculture, the rearing of bees, and poultry; they also carry on an important trade with other countries. Most of the Egyptians are strong, of a tawny complexion, and of a gay disposition. They luxuriate in water; and esteem it the height of enjoyment to sit by a fountain, smoking their pipes; they are excessively fond of bathing. Cairo, the capital of Egypt, is a large city, with irregular unpaved streets, and brick houses, with flat roofs. There are a good many small manufactories; and some schools, a printing-office, and a large library. There are numerous magnificent fountains in the city, which are indispensable on account of the intense heat; and more than a thousand shops for selling cups of coffee, of which the Egyptians are very fond; these coffee shops are called _rahwehs_. All along the river Nile the banks show signs of industry; cotton, tobacco, and other produce being grown down to the water's edge. The Pyramids of Egypt, the time of the building of which is not known, are considered one of the wonders of the world.
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