In Such Railways It Is Not Advisable For
Travellers To Leave Their Seats; For Before They Can Pass From One
End of the carriage to the other, through the narrow door and down
the steep steps, the horn is sounded,
And at the same time the train
moves on; the sound being the signal for the engine-driver, the
passengers having none.
In these states there was also not the least trouble with the
passport and the intolerable pass-tickets. No officious police-
soldier comes to the carriage, and prevents the passengers alighting
before they have answered all his questions. If passports had to be
inspected on this journey, it would take a few days, for they must
always be taken to the passport-office, as they are never examined
on the spot.
Such annoying interruptions often occur several times in the same
state. And one need not even come from abroad to experience them,
as a journey from a provincial to a capital town affords enough
scope for annoyance.
I had no reason to complain of such annoyances in any of the
countries through which I had hitherto passed. My passport was only
demanded in my hotel in the capitals of the countries, if I intended
to remain several days. In Stockholm, however, I found a curious
arrangement; every foreigner there is obliged to procure a Swedish
passport, and pay half-a-crown for it, if he only remains a few
hours in the town. This is, in reality, only a polite way of taking
half-a-crown from the strangers, as they probably do not like to
charge so much for a simple vise!
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