Fremont journal. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County [Ohio]) 1853-1866, 1857-02-06
Letters from Bayard Taylor.

a WINTER VOYAGE ON THE BALTIC.

Stockholm, Dec. z, 1856.
When we went on board the little iron
Swedish propeller Carl Johaa last Mon.
day morning, we had already paid our pass.
age and chosen our bcrths What was on,
dismay, after climbing over hills of freight
on deck and creeping down narrow com.
panion-way, to find the cabin chock full o
bales of wool and barrels of butter. There
was little pantry adjoining it, with a
friendly stcwardcss therein, who in answer
to my inquiries, assured me that we would
probably be placed in hut After further
search found the captain, who also stated
that he would put us into hut "Let me
see the hut, them" | demanded, and we
were a little relieved when We found it to be
statc-room, containing two Of the narrow
est of hunks. There was another hut op-
positc occupied by two more passengers, all
that the steamer could carry, and all that
we had, except short deck passenger who
disappeared mt the commencement of the
voyage, and was not seen again until its
close.
The day was clear and cold, the low hills
around Lubbock were covered with snow, and
the Trave was already frozen over. We
lcftab noon, slowly breaking our way down
the narrow and winding river, which gradu-
ally widcned and became clearer of ice as
we approached the Baltic The deepening
ofthc channel between Lubec and the Travc-
munde, distance of twelve to fifteen miles,
cost million Of marks (about $3O0,000)
and still the larger steamers which run to
Cronstadt in the Summer are obliged to re-
main at the latter place. When we reached
there it was showing fast, and murky
chaos beyond the sandy bar concealed the
Baltic. The town is a long row of houses
fronting the water. There were few inhab-
itants to be seen, for the bathing guests had
long since flown, and all waterng-places
have a funeral air after the season is over
Our felow-passcngcr, a jovial Pole, insisted
on going ashore to drink last glass of Ba-
varian beer before leaving Germany, but
the beverage had been so rarely called for
that it had grown sharp and sour, and we
hurried back unsatsfed.
A space about siy feet square had been
cleared out among the butter-kegs in the
cabin, and we sat down to dinner by can
delight, Mt 8 o'clock. Swedish customs
already appeared, in preliminary dccanter
of lcmon-colored brandy, thimble-tull of
which was taken with a piece of bread and
sausage, before the soup appeared. The
taste of the liquor was sweet, unctious and
not agreeable. Our party consisted of the
Captain, the chief officer, who was his broth
cr-in-law, the Pole, who was n second cousin
of Kosciusko and had name consisting Of
eight consonants and two vowels, grave
young Swede with fresh Morse complex
ion and our two selves. The steward, Hill
debrand, and the silent stewardess, Marie,
were our attendants and purveyors. The
ships officers were rather slow and Opaque,
and the Swcdo sublimcly self-posessed and
Indifferent; but the Pole, who had been
condemned to death at Cracow and after
wards invented cheap gas, was ono of the
iolliest fellows alive. His German was full
of funny mistakes, ,but he ratified away with
as much assurance as if it had been his ma
tive tongue. Before dinner was over, we
were all perfectly well acquainted with each
other.
Night had already set in on the Baltic
nothing was to be seen but snow; the deck
was hcnped with freight; the storm blew in
our teeth; and the steamer, deeply laden,
moved slowly and laboriously so we stretch
ed ourselves on the narrow hunks in our hut,
and preserved delicate regard for our equi-
librium, even in sleep In the morn
ing the steep cliffs of Moen, Danish
island, were visible on our left. We looked
for Rugen, the last stronghold of the wor-
ship of Odin in the Middle Ages, but a
raw mist rolled down upon the sea, and left
us advancing blindly as before. The wind
was strong and cold, blowing the vapory
water-smoke in long trails across the sur
face of the waves. Ii was not long how
ever, before some dim white CLEANS through
the mist were pointed out as the shores of
Sweden, and the Carl Johan slackened her
speed TO snail's pace, snuffing at headland
after hcadhand, like dog off the scent, in
order to find her way into Ystad.
A lift of the fog favored us at last, and
we ran into the little harbor. Iwaked the
contracted hurricane deck at o'clock, with
the sunset already flushing the west, looked
on the town and land, and thought of Dir.
Kane, The mercury had fallen to 100, a
foot Of snow covered the house-roofs, the
low, undulting hills all wore the same mo-
no-color and the yelIow-haired
people on the pier were buttoned up close,
mittened and fur capped. Tho captain tel
egraphed TO Calmar, our next port, and re-
ceived an answer that tho sound was full of
a l. 4 e