| Author(s) | Friedrich Engels |
|---|---|
| Written | 27 September 1888 |
ENGELS TO HERMAN ENGELS
IN ENGELSKIRCHEN
S.S. City of New York Thursday, 27-28 September 1888
Dear Hermann,
I am writing to you under difficult circumstances as our ship is rolling abominably and half the people on board are still sea-sick. We have had a very agreeable, interesting and instructive trip. After a good crossing— only one really nice storm—we arrived in New York on 17 August, stayed there about 8 days, then spent 7 days in Boston, 5 days at the Niagara Falls, then, via the Lake of Ontario to the St Lawrence River, down which a steamboat took us to Montreal, thence back to the States and Plattsburg, whence we diverted to the Adirondacks, which are very lovely, then on by steamer via Lake Champlain and Lake George (like parts of Lake Como, but smaller and quite untamed) to Albany and, finally, down the Hudson and back to New York by steamboat. As ill- luck would have it, we had booked a passage aboard the new vessel City of New York, the largest passenger ship afloat, 10,500 tons and said to be capable of 500 sea miles a day. But this is only her fourth voyage, the engines tend to fail, one is ailing and is operating at barely half power, while the other is put to considerable strain and is constantly having to be tinkered with. Luckily we have reached this spot, latitude 51 degrees north, longitude roughly 21 degrees west of Greenwich, without any particular mishap to the engines, and hope to be at Queenstown[1] tomorrow afternoon, and in London on Saturday[2] evening. The crossing has been pretty rough, two whopping great storms and high seas all the time except for the first two days. No one in our small company has been in the least affected by sea-sickness, we have eaten, drunk and smoked incessantly and I have just this moment—11 o'clock in the morning— been summoned to take my morning Tipple.
The voyage has done me a tremendous amount of good; I feel at least 5 years younger, all my little infirmities have faded into the background, even my eyes have improved, and I would advise anyone who is feeling decrepit and under the weather to cross the Atlantic and spend a fort- night or 3 weeks at Niagara and a similar period in the Adirondacks 2,000 feet above sea level. The air there is quite excellent, while the August sunshine of Lombardy is combined with the fresh breeze of our Rhenish October. I already feel an urge to go out there again next year, if I can get someone to go with me. You ought to consider it; you and Rudolf[3] could, I am sure, do with a tonic of this kind. The tour isn't at all fatiguing; everywhere, in the better hotels, the food is first-rate and the German beer, i.e. brewed after the German fashion, quite excellent, only wine being dear, though a good bottle of Rhine wine is to be had anywhere for 1 dollar or 1 dollar and 50 cents, nor is American wine at all bad, though unfortunately not as a rule obtainable in the hotels. We have got 24 bottles on board, which we are drinking with gusto—Ohio wine (Reisling and sparkling wine) and Californian Riesling with a very good flavour but no bouquet.
Much love to Emma[4] and the children, ditto to all our relations.
Your old brother
Friedrich
Friday morning 10 o'clock
Have been off the Irish coast since early morning, due in Queenstown at 12—where I shall post this letter—in Liverpool tomorrow morning and in London that same evening.
Again much love.