Rambles in sunny Spain . er rate than could have been secured later in the year. Just where to begin, in a description of ones voyage and an account of his ex-periences in anewly-visited coun-try, is a difficultthing to deter-mine. Were it anentirely new field,where no travellerhad preceded, thetask would seemc ompa r at i velyeasy; but in acountry that hasbeen visited byAmericans timeout of mind, whatoriginal thing canbe said of it? And as to the voyage across the Atlantic, has it notbeen given a thousand times with details of wearisome fidelity, andthe petty incidents of life aboard ship rel
Rambles in sunny Spain . er rate than could have been secured later in the year. Just where to begin, in a description of ones voyage and an account of his ex-periences in anewly-visited coun-try, is a difficultthing to deter-mine. Were it anentirely new field,where no travellerhad preceded, thetask would seemc ompa r at i velyeasy; but in acountry that hasbeen visited byAmericans timeout of mind, whatoriginal thing canbe said of it? And as to the voyage across the Atlantic, has it notbeen given a thousand times with details of wearisome fidelity, andthe petty incidents of life aboard ship related ad nauseam ? Verily,it is a troublesome task to write a fresh letter on an old subject. Letus state merely that the voyage across occupied nine days; that ourship, the good City of Berlin, carried us safely. To be sure, theboat rolled about considerably, and disgusting old Neptune claimedand got his customary tribute. But, taken all together, it was avery satisfactory voyage, and we were not at all troubled to learn. EN ROUTE. SOMETHING PRELIMINARY. I 5 that the fast Cunarder, the u Umbria, had beaten us by nearly twodays. At Liverpool we passed happily through the hands of the customofficers and escaped without a feather ruffled. In truth, they troubledus far less than their cousins on this side of the water are wont,merely asking us to unlock our trunks, passing their hands over ourgoods in a perfunctory way, and bidding us go on. The only manwho had his luggage at all overhauled was one Israel, a most sus-picious-looking character, upon whom the officials pounced at once asa possible dynamiter, — the very man, in our opinion, the least likelyto prove dangerous. We had heard so much about English extor-tion in the matter of fees from tourists and charges for cab-hire, etc.,that we were prepared to undergo almost anything; and hence thereason, perhaps, that our experience, though short, was not so dis-agreeable as we had expected it to be. Thanks to an English friend,an
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