This water, although of a dirty and thick
appearance, is said to possess the valuable quality of resisting
putridity for years.
We did not reach Gluckstadt (37 miles from Hamburgh) before the
morning of the 30th. As there was not now a breath of wind, we were
entirely at the mercy of the stream, and began drifting back. The
captain, therefore, ordered the men to cast anchor, and profited by
the leisure thus forced upon him to have the chests and boxes made
fast on the deck and in the hold. We idlers had permission granted
us to land and visit the town, in which, however, we found but
little to admire.
There were eight passengers on board. The four cabin places were
taken by Count B - , myself, and two young people who hoped to make
their fortune sooner in the Brazils than in Europe. The price of a
passage in the first cabin was 100 dollars (20 pounds 16s. 8d.), and
in the steerage 50 dollars (10 pounds 8s. 4d.).
In the steerage, besides two worthy tradesmen, was a poor old woman
who was going, in compliance with the wish of her only son, who had
settled in the Brazils, to join him there, and a married woman whose
husband had been working as a tailor for the last six years in Rio
Janeiro.
