It was only a short time before my arrival that the passage had once more become free.
In the neighbourhood of the harbour are situated the greater number of the so-called "yards." I had read concerning them that, viewed from the exterior, they look like common houses; but that they constitute separate communities, and contain alleys and streets, serving as the domicile of innumerable families.

I visited several of these places, and can assure the reader that I saw nothing extraordinary in them.

Houses with two large wings, forming an alley of from eighty to a hundred paces in length, are to be met with in every large town; and that a number of families should inhabit such a house is not remarkable, considering that they are all poor, and that each only possesses a single small apartment.
The favourite walk in the town is the "Jungfernstieg" (Maiden's Walk), a broad alley, extending round a spacious and beautiful basin of the Alster.

On one side are splendid hotels, with which Hamburgh is richly provided; on the other, a number of private residences of equal pretensions.

Other walks are, the "Wall," surrounding the town, and the "Botanical Garden," which resembles a fine park.