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OCR Rendition - approximate
Lehrjahre and Wanderjahre 133 hair, because I had only a penknife to cut it with, though she said had I had a pair of scissors it would have been different." Ratisbon and Walhalla followed, the sketchbook showing various details of buildings, rafts, and country folk. At Passau the steamer is found to be injured and on Aug. 6 Galton set out with Major Parry in a boat with one rower to go down the Danube to Vienna, which was reached on the 7th. In Vienna there was sightseeing, opera and gaiety. Then down the Danube to Buda-Pest and on to Semlin, reached on August 13th. "The natives beastly dirty, sheepskin clothes, wide full trousers, long greasy hair, turned-up hat. Passed Peterwardein, anything but picturesque. Slept at Semlin having first walked about the dirty town and up to the cemetery, whence is a very good view of junction of the Save and Danube. It was too dark to see Belgrade well. [There is a picture of Belgrade from Semlin by moonlight, Aug. 13.] Sang ' God save the Queen' and went to bed loyal." Then by way of Sistova, Kustendje, Castle of Europa to Constantinople, reached on August 22nd. There is little in the diary here but a youthful traveller's impressions, a long description of the first Turkish bath, the slave-market and the mosques, only seen from outside. From this first section of Galton's tour three home letters remain. The first is from Vienna VIENNA, Hurrah!!! Aug. 7, 1840. STADT FRANKFORT HOTEL. MY DEAR PATER. It has just' struck me (i.e. after having taken my place to Constantinople-not before) that this expedition of mine is about the coolest and most impudent thing that I have done for a long time. But I remember when about 6 yrs old you telling Darwin and Erasmus of an exploit of yours in kindly offering to escort some young lady (I forget whom) from Birmingham for a mile or two, and somehow or other when once in the carriage you thought it better to go on to Bromsgrove merely as a protection to her ; at Bromsgrove of course the same reason held good and so on to Worcester. I thought it then a very naughty thing. Now from Birmingham to Worcester is at least 40 miles and from Franfort to Constantinople is only 2075 (I have carefully counted them) a leetle more certainly, but not enough to matter, so please be lenient. How I shall get scolded when I return ! But there is one consolation, viz. that I go too fast for any letter to overtake me and disturb my serenity, when once started from here on Monday next the 10th. Now for my diary [Then follows the account of the flight from Giessen and the journey to Linz.] Splendid scenery, dark lovely pine-wood forests, many rapids and boiling sun. Here you feel that it is the sun, it puts life into one and warms one quite into the sublime. ' Bye the bye I am as nearly mad in that way as a person can possibly be imagined to be, who does not actually turn down his shirt collar and go about without his cravat. On arriving at Linz found that the steamboat was, as a waiter who tried to
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