MERICANS intending to visit Europe are not limited in their choice of conveyance. There are no less than twelves lines of steamers plying regularly between the United States and European ports. Among the ships composing them are many of the finest vessels ever constructed. Full information in relation to steamers will be found in the official advertisements of the companies, immediately following the Index at the end of this volume. There is little difference in point of safety and comfort between the ships of the various lines: most of them are of recent construction, are believed to be seaworthy, and are under the command of competent seamen. The dietary leaves little to be desired. Many travellers claim that the ships having state rooms on the main or dining-saloon deck are more comfortable than those having their first-class rooms below. It is certainly very desirable to be able to have the port-holes of one's cabin open every day except in the severest weather; and those who have crossed in winter in ships so constructed, will bear witness to the agreeable temperature of the saloons and state rooms even in the coldest weather. In choosing a berth, the traveller who suffers from sea sickness will find his condition less wretched amidships than at either of the extreme ends of the ship. Prudent travellers generally go on board provided with a comfortable folding chair, and none but the inexperienced wear "stove-pipe " hats at sea. Passengers will find it convenient a to place articles needed on the voyage in a trunk small enough to go underneath the state-room berth, and to allow the bulky baggage go below. to PASSPORTS. A PASSPORT is an essential to the traveller who intends to visit Russia or Portugal. It is not essential elsewhere, in countries described in this work; but the author advises all travellers to be provided therewith. Its exhibition procures its possessor the entrée to many galleries and places of interest, which he could not otherwise see without difficulty or delay. It is useful as a means of identification at post-offices, and at the offices of strange bankers. Its cost is trifling, and it will be seen, from the directions we give, that it is very easily procured. Directions for procuring American Passports. One passport will be sufficient for husband, wife, and minor children; other members of a party, except servants, must have separate passports. The relationship between different members of the same family should be stated in the application. To procure a passport, the applicant has only to transmit the following papers, by mail or otherwise, to the Secretary of State at Washington, requesting that a passport be made out and sent by mail to his address: (1.) Applicant's affidavit of Citizenship, to be sworn to before a justice of the peace or notary public. do swear that I was born at ...... .on or about the day of..... 18......; that I am a (native-born or naturalized) citizen of the United States. cents. (Justice of the Peace, or Notary Public.) If the applicant is a naturalized citizen, his certificate of naturalization must accompany the affidavit. It will be returned to him with the passport. and that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, the declaration above made by said.............. U. S. Rev. 5 cents. is true. (Justice of the Peace, or Notary Public.) It will also be necessary to enclose the following oath of allegiance, sworn to in the same manner as the foregoing affidavits : (3.) I, of ......., do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution and Government of the United States against all enemies, whether domestic or foreign; and that I will bear true faith, allegiance, and loyalty to the same, any ordinance, resolution, or law of any State, Convention, or Legislature to the contrary notwithstanding; and farther, that I do this with a full determination, pledge, and purpose, without any mental reservation or evasion whatsoever; and farther, that I will well and faithfully perform all the duties which may be required of me by law. So help me God. Sworn to and subscribed before me, this......... day the U.S. Rev. 5 cents. of 18...... (Justice of the Peace, or Notary Public.) Annexed to the application should be the following description of person : (4.) Age Stature Eyes Nose Chin Hair Complexion No visa or other formality is necessary, after the passport is procured, until the traveller reaches Europe, when either at London or Paris he will procure the visa of the American Minister (if at London) or Consul (if at Paris), and afterwards that of the Minister of the country he proposes visiting-Russia or Portugal, as the case may be. Directions for procuring British Passports. 1. Applications for Foreign Office Passports must be made in writing, and inclosed in a cover addressed to "The Chief Clerk, Foreign Office, London," with the word "Passport" conspicuously written on the cover. 2. The charge on the issue of a passport, whatever number of persons may be named in it, is 2s.; and if it is desired that the passport should be sent by post, that sum must be forwarded with the application for the passport by a post-office order, made payable at the post-office, Charing Cross, London, to the chief clerk at the Foreign Office. Postage stamps will not be received in payment. 3. Foreign Office passports are granted only to British-born subjects, or to such foreigners as have become naturalized, either by act of Parliament or by a certificate of naturalization granted by the Secretary of State for the Home Department. When the party is a "naturalized British subject " he will be so designated in his passport; and, if his certificate of naturalization be dated subsequently to the 24th of August 1850, and previously to the 1st of August 1858, his passport will be marked as good for one year only; or, should the certificate be dated subsequently to the 1st of August 1858, his passport will in that case be marked as good for six months only, except in cases where a license for a longer period of residence abroad has been granted by the Secretary of State for the Home Department; but this regulation will not preclude any person whom it affects from obtaining at the Foreign Office, at any future time, on his producing his old passport, a new passport in exchange for it for a further limited period, without being required to pay a fresh charge. A Foreign Office Passport granted to a British-born subject, or to a "naturalized British subject" who has been naturalized by act of Parliament, or whose certificate of naturalization is dated previously to the 24th of August 1850, is not limited in point of time, but is available for any time, or for any number of journeys to the Continent. 4. Passports are granted to all persons either known to the Secretary of State or recommended to him by some person who is known to him; or upon the application of any banking firm established in London or in any part of the United Kingdom; or upon the production of a certificate of identity signed by any mayor, magistrate, justice of the peace, minister of religion, physician, surgeon, solicitor, or notary, resident in the United Kingdom. 5. If the applicant for a passport be a naturalized British subject, his certificate of naturalization, with his signature subscribed to the oath printed on the third page of it, must be forwarded to the Foreign Office with the certificate of identity granted on his behalf; and his certificate of naturalization will be returned with the passport to the person who may have granted the certificate of identity, in order that he may cause such naturalized British subject to sign |