The Statesman.
London, England, 1821-10-05 00:00:00

OBSERVATIONS ON HANOVER.

CST ♦ GENTLEMAN WHO ACCOMPANIED THE QUEEN'S
FUNII,RALTO BRUNSWICK.)
_ _

The stratum of which by far the greater part of the
surface of this country is composed, being a substance
destitute of all power of production, together with
the consequent paucity of the inhabitants, may in some
measure account for the badness of the roads—or ra-
ther the almost total want of them. It did not ap-
pear that materials could be found fit for the formation
of a road; not that, if it were wished to search for
gravel pits and quarries under the immense masses of
sand, a sufficient number of labourers could be found
to enter on such an experiment. In my letter from
Celle, dated the 23d of August, I gave you a descrip-
tion of the wretched mode of travelling in this coun-
try, where, for many miles, the tracks of wheels ars
the only marks by which the drivers of vehicles can
ascertain the direction they are to move in, and where
the wheels are continually dropping into ruts or
sloughs. In some places attempts have been made
to get over this harrassing inconvenience by forming
something like a causeway of large stones, brought
from a rest distance. But whenever a passenger,
conveyed in one of the travelling machines of this
country, gets upon one of these patches of road, his
situation is worse than what the ancient navigators
experienced in passing from Charibdis to Scylla; he
is shaken most dreadfully—his bones seem to rattle
against each other--.-and be longs fur the moment when
the vehicle shall again come into the irregular sand-
ruts, where his suffering is no more than that of being
jolted every two or three minutes from one side to the
other. Such was the deUghtfal land joarney
.which
the long cavalcade composing the funeral of her late

Majesty had to perform, for three days and a half,'
from Stade to Brunswick. Even the great folks, who
travelled in English covered carriages with springs,
felt the pressure so sensibly, that on ascending the
slopes °Mills, many of them got out, and enjoyed the
luxury of a long walk over the soft heath and sand,
by the side bf what was called a road. On those oc-
casions they had no difficulty in keeping up with the
r.chiclres, which moved at the rate of three, and
scarcely ever more than that of four English miles an
hour. Bat the persons who were conveyed in open
meld wages* (heavy clumsy machines, without springs
and reeembling the carts of English farmers) were in
a state oleo:aimed perspiration from the jolting they
suffered, and the excessive heat of the sun, while the
• test enveloiied Am in perpetual clouds. These
thought it would be less oppressive to remain where
they vim, than undergo the additional broiling which
a walk would hay occasioned.
For the Wigton. which the travellers thua suffered,
they were in pisov, degeee eont• penis** by the coo-
. Hale accommodations provided " for them at the
•houses where they stopped in the middle of the day,
and in the evening. The dining places were gene-
rally inns in small villages, of most homely and rustic
appearance. But the interior abounded with all the
necessaries and comforts of life. First of all they
were supplied with bacons o: water and towels ; then
they had large cool rooms on the ground floor to rest
in; and is half an hour after, they were served with
dinners consisting of excellent soup, roast fowls,
stews, and other made dishes, with altandance of
vegetables, white bread, butter, cheese, &c. Besides
there was an abundant supply of French wines; and
the prices, on the whole, were very motterate. After
travelling for so twiny hours over a des:-ft, one would
almost wonder where all these good thin:, came from.
,The Berman villages however, are generally situated
in valleys through which small rivulets flow, and round
wlrich, for the space of near a mile, there are nume-
rous fertile fields and gardens. The different compa-
nies stopped at these dining places each day for about
two hours, until the excessive head was somewhat
abated : then they set out oat their journey, and did
not stop until they arrived at the place where they
were to take up their Rhode fur the night. Here they
sat down about eight o'clock, with fresh app tiles, to
another comfortable repfot, which answered-the double
purpose of dinner anti supper. it is worthy of re•
mark that the persani who waited on the company
at these humble inns were females.
Perhaps this may be the fittest place, to give a de-
scription of; the extraordiaary kind of beds which
Engliaktravellers in ()tern:may are. obliged to put up
with at the inferior inns. Each of these is just large
enough foe one person. The heat) part is raised so
, hiceseaas of aratteesseemei4seets..piliesset-thool
his position when he lies &wit is nearly the same as if
he were reposing in an arts-chair; and, instead of
the blanket and counterpane used in our country, the
covering is a light feather bed, under which it is im-
possible (.4. au Englishman to he placed for ten mi.
mates it i-hout getting- into a violent perspiratio.i.—
Such are the incongruous notions which these people
have of comfort, that, in the very hottest time of the
year, they expect that travellers can endure to sleep
in such beds as these. The English generally throw
' away all the pillows but one, and, when they can make
themselves understood, they call fur some light cover-
ing ; and, if that cannot be obtained, they cover them
selves with their own clothes. The German are dig.
tlnguisherl from the English inns in this respect, that
a traveller may have any sort of refreshment he chooses
to call tor, from live o'clock in the morning until ten
at alight. The breakfast consists of excellent melee,
bread and butter, and well-stnoaked ham or German
Sdusa....em, and eggs; and a loot dimmer. including soup,
is provided during any part of the day, at an hour's
notice. They have their cooking apparatus always in
a state of readiness.