At Passau We Put Up At The Wild Man (Zum Wilden Mann), A Favorite Sign For Inns In These Parts.

The Cathedral and Residenz-Schloss are striking buildings, and the city has a lively and grand appearance.

The women appear to be in general handsome and well dressed. We brought to the evening at Engelhardtzell, where the barrier, painted black and yellow, announced our return to the Austrian territory. We underwent at the Customs house a rigid search for tobacco: they even took away the tobacco that some passengers had in their pouches. They were likewise very rigid about our passports. The English passports do not please them at all, on account of the features of the bearer not being specified therein, and as I answered their questions in German, they supposed me to be a native of that country and asked me what business I had with a British passport. I replied: Weil ich ein Englaender bin. - Sie ein Englaender? Sie 'sind gewiss aus Nord Deutschland. Sie sprechen recht gut Deutsch. - Meine Herren, ich bin ein Englaender: viele Englaender studieren und sprechen Deutsch, und wenn Siemit mir eine langeUnterredung gehalten haetten, so haetten Sie bald ausgefunden durch meine Sprachfehler, dass ich kein geborner Deutscher bin. - Aber Sie haben unsere Fragen vollkommen gut beantwortet. - Warum nicht? man hat mir die nehmlichen Fragen so wiederholten Malen gestellt, dass ich die dazu gehoerigen Antworte auswendig habe, wie em Katechismus.[123] The officer laughed, took up a pen, vised and gave me back my passport.

The whole of the country on the banks of this noble river the Danube is picturesque and presents much variety. There cannot be a more delightful summer tour than a descent down this river. The next town of consequence that we arrived at was Linz, a large, populous and beautifully built city and capital of Upper Austria. The circumjacent country is in part mountainous. The Danube is very broad here, and there is an immensely long wooden bridge. We put up at the inn Zum goldenen Kreutz (golden cross). Here it became indispensably necessary to change our money for Austrian paper, for that sort of it called Wiener Waehrung (Vienna security), since neither foreign coin nor another description of Austrian paper, called Conventions-Muenze (conventional currency), are current for ordinary purposes; and it is necessary to get them changed for the current paper Wiener Waehrung.To explain this matter more fully and clearly: there are two sorts of paper money in the Austrian Dominions. One is called Conventions-Muenze (conventional currency), which is fully equivalent to gold and sliver and cannot be refused as such throughout the whole of the Austrian dominions; the other, called Wiener Waehrung (Vienna security) is current and payable in Austria proper only, and bears a loss, out of the Archduchy. The value of the Wiener Waehrung fluctuates considerably, but the usual par of exchange is as 2 to 1: that means, two hundred florins Wiener Waehrung are equal to one hundred Convenzions-Muenze or gold and silver money. Even the Convenzions-Muenze bears a loss, tho' trifling, out of the Imperial Dominions. The exchange has been known to have been at 400 per cent; that is, four hundred florins Wiener Waehrung were only worth one hundred florins gold and silver; but just now it may be reckoned a little beyond par, fluctuating from 200 to 220. In fact, the value of a florin Wiener Waehrung may be calculated at a frank in French money. All this is exceedingly troublesome to travellers, particularly to those who do not understand the German language; for as they cannot read the inscription, it would be difficult for them to know the difference between one sort of paper money and the other and they might be seriously imposed upon. I advise therefore all travellers, before they arrive at the Austrian frontier, whether coming from Bavaria, Saxony, or Italy, to buy up the Wiener Waehrung notes they may meet with, and which may be purchased at great profit, probably, beyond the frontier, whereas if they defer purchasing till they arrive within the Austrian frontier, they can only procure the Wiener Waehrung at the common rate of exchange current.

At Linz we find ourselves again in a wine country. Linz is renowned for the beauty of its women, and we had a most favorable specimen in our landlord's daughter, one of the most beautiful girls I ever beheld. We talked to her a great deal, and a scene ridiculous enough occurred. She has very beautiful arms which we all seemed to admire; and all at once, by instinct as it were, the two Poles lifted up one arm and I the other, and our respective lips were fastened on either arm at the same moment as if by word of command. We apologized for the liberty we took, saying that her arms were perfectly irresistible and that we had never seen such fine ones before. She accepted our excuse with the utmost good nature, and laughed very heartily. Her father is a man of information and a good classical scholar, a thing which is by no means uncommon among the inn-keepers of Germany. We stopped here that night, and the ensuing forenoon. We had an excellent supper, very good wine, and we drank to the health of the fair Amalia, the host's daughter. Our host, who was a friend of Mr F - - 's, gave us the best of every thing, and our expences did not amount to more than seven florins Wiener Waehrung, for supper, bed, breakfast and dinner. We passed the forenoon in visiting the different parts of the city and we were struck with the appearance of opulence and industry that prevails.

Before we arrived at Moelk, which is the next important place, we passed the town of Ens and beyond that the famous Strudel or Whirlpool which is dangerous at times for boats. Our raft was completely whirled round. This whirlpool is caused by rocks rising abruptly out of the water.

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