The country was pleasant and fruitful, groves of wood, fields of corn, pastures, brooks, and meadows adorning it:  it is an open champaign; few hedges, but some little ones made with dry wood, like our hurdles, for fencing their gardens and dividing their corn-grounds.  The way was exceeding bad, especially for this time of the year, full of deep holes and sloughs in some places and of great stones in others.  This Duchy of Holstein seems to take its name from holt, which, with them and in Sweden and with us, signifies wood, and stein, which is a stone; and this country is very full of wood and stone; yet is it fruitful, and, like England, delightful to the view, but it is not so full of towns, there not being one in the way between Luebeck and this night’s quarter, which is five German, twenty English, miles.  But a few small houses lie scattered by the way; and about four miles from Kettell, this night’s lodging was a fair brick house by the side of a large pond, which is the house belonging to Luebeck, where they offered Whitelocke to be entertained, and he found cause afterwards to repent his not accepting their courtesy.

When they came to the lamentable lodging taken up for him this night, they found in all but two beds for their whole company.  The beds were made only of straw and fleas mingled together; the antechamber was like a great barn, wherein was the kitchen on the one side, the stable on the other side; the cattle, hogs, waggons, and coaches were also in the same great chamber together.  They made themselves as merry as they could in this posture, Whitelocke cheering and telling them that it was in their way home, and therefore to be borne with the less regret.  They of the house excused the want of accommodations, because the war had raged there, and the soldiers had pillaged the people of all they had, who could not yet recover their former happy and plentiful condition; which was not helpful to Whitelocke and his people, who must take things as they were, and make the best shift they could.  His officers had provided meat sufficient for them; he caused fresh straw enough to be laid all over the room, which was the more tolerable in this hot season.  He himself lay in one of his coaches, his sons and some of his servants in straw, near him; the rest of the company, men and women, on straw, where they chose to lie in the room, only affording place for the horses, cows, sheep, and hogs, which quartered in the same chamber together with this good company.

June 10, 1654.

[SN:  Journey through Holstein.]

In his coach, through God’s goodness, Whitelocke slept well, and all his people on the ground on fresh straw, yet not so soundly as to hinder their early rising this morning, when they were quickly ready, none having been put to the trouble of undressing themselves the last night.  His carriages, twelve great waggons, went away about four o’clock this morning, some of the gentlemen’s servants in