Leaving The Exchange, We Bent Our Steps Towards The Great Harbour,
And Entering A Small Boat, Cruised In And About It In All
Directions.
I had resolved to count only the three-masted ships;
but soon gave it up, for their number seemed overwhelming, even
without reckoning the splendid steamers, brigs, sloops, and craft.
In short, I could only gaze and wonder, for at least 900 ships lay
before me.
Let any one fancy an excursion amidst 900 ships, great and small,
which lined both shores of the Elbe in tiers of three deep or more;
the passing to and fro of countless boats busily employed in loading
or unloading these vessels; these things, together with the shouting
and singing of the sailors, the rattling of anchors which are being
weighed, and the rush and swell of passing steamers, combine to
constitute a picture not to be surpassed in any city except in that
metropolis of the world, London. {12}
The reason of this unusual activity in the harbour lay in the
severity of the past winter. Such a winter had not been experienced
for seventy years: the Elbe and the Baltic lay for months in icy
chains, and not a ship could traverse the frozen river, not an
anchor could be weighed or lowered. It was only a short time before
my arrival that the passage had once more become free.
In the neighbourhood of the harbour are situated the greater number
of the so-called "yards." I had read concerning them that, viewed
from the exterior, they look like common houses; but that they
constitute separate communities, and contain alleys and streets,
serving as the domicile of innumerable families.
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