At length they reached the post-house.  Madame Pfeiffer was shown into a room, at the door of which the Cossack stationed himself with his musket.  She was detained all night; but the next morning, having fetched her portmanteau, they examined her passport, and were then pleased to dismiss her—­without, however, offering any apology for their shameful treatment of her.  Such are the incivilities to which travellers in the Russian dominions are too constantly exposed.  It is surprising that a powerful government should condescend to so much petty fear and mean suspicion.

[Odessa:  page127.jpg]

From Tiflis our traveller proceeded across Georgia to Redutkali; whence she made her way to Kertsch, on the shore of the Sea of Azov; and thence to Sebastopol, destined a few years later to become the scene of an historic struggle.  She afterwards reached Odessa, one of the great granaries of Europe, situated at the mouth of the Dniester and the Dnieper.  From Odessa to Constantinople the distance by sea is four hundred and twenty miles.  She made but a short stay in the Turkish capital; and then proceeded by steamer to Smyrna, passing through the maze of the beautiful isles of Greece; and from Smyrna to Athens.  Here she trod on hallowed ground.  Every temple, every ruin, recalled to her some brave deed of old, or some illustrious name of philosopher, warrior, statesman, poet, that the world will not willingly let die.  A rush of stirring glorious memories swept over her mind as she gazed on the lofty summit of the Acropolis, covered with memorials of the ancient art, and associated with the great events of Athenian history.  The Parthenon, or Temple of Pallas; the Temple of Theseus; that of Olympian Jove; the Tower of the Winds, or so-called Lantern of Demosthenes; and the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates,—­all these she saw, and wondered at.  But they have been so frequently described, that we may pass them here with this slight reference.

From Corinth our traveller crossed to Corfu, and from Corfu ascended the Adriatic to Trieste.  A day or two afterwards she was received by her friends at Vienna,—­having accomplished the most extraordinary journey ever undertaken by a woman, and made the complete circuit of the world.  In the most remarkable scenes, and in the most critical positions, she had preserved a composure, a calmness of courage, and a simplicity of conduct, that must always command our admiration.

CHAPTER III.—­NORTHWARD.

In giving to the world a narrative of her journey to Iceland, and her wanderings through Norway and Sweden, Madame Pfeiffer anticipated certain objections that would be advanced by the over-refined.  “Another journey !” she supposed them to exclaim; “and that to regions far more likely to repel than attract the general traveller!  What object could this woman have had in visiting them, but a desire to excite