all moisture, and hence their temperature scarcely ever varies. The walk through the caverns need not take up more than an hour. The view from the summit of the Petersberg is fine. The language spoken in and around Maestricht is an ancient dialect of the German, resembling that of the Niebelungen-lied. Steamers daily to Liége, in 4 hours, returning in 2 hours (R. 24.): — to Rotterdam, stopping for the night at Venloo. A Schnellpost daily, in 3 hours, to Aix-la-Chapelle. A stone bridge across the Meuse leads from Maestricht to the suburb of Wyck. The road then passes several inconsiderable places to 2 Wittem, about a mile beyond Bocholz is the frontier of Prussia (§ 46, 47.). 2 AIX-LA-CHAPELLE (Route 36.). ROUTE 28. BRUSSELS TO NAMUR BY CHARLEROI — RAILWAY. 109 kilomètres=68 miles. Time 4 hrs. In Route 32. this railway is described as far as 30 Braine le Comte Stat. Here the line to Namur branches off E. from that to Mons (R. 32.), and travellers going to Namur change carriages. 6 Ecaussines St. Here are very fine blue limestone quarries. 9 Manage St. A branch railway connects this station with Mons, in a direct line. (See Route 32.) The canal is crossed. There are coal mines near this. On the 1. lies Seneffe, where the Prince of Orange (William III.), scarce 24, ventured to measure his strength (1674) with the veteran Condé. It ended in a drawn battle, with 27,000 dead left on the field! 7 Gouy-lez-Pieton St. 3 Pont-à-Celles St. 2 Luttre St. 5 Gosselies St. The railway cuts through several beds of coal. 3 Roux St. Coalpits and tramways. The most interesting portion of the route lies between 3 Marchiennes-au-Pont (Stat.)' and Charleroi; the country being picturesque, and enlivened by manufactories, chimneys, iron-works, coal-mines, and villages. The Brussels and Charleroi canal runs parallel with the railway, and enters the Sambre, which it joins to the Schelde, 2 m. above Charleroi. The railway crosses the Sambre 14 or 16 times before reaching Namur. 4 CHARLEROI STAT. Inns: PaysBas, small, but good; - Grand Monarque; - l'Univers. Charleroi is a fortress on the Sambre, originally founded by Charles II. of Spain, and named after him; its works were razed 1795, and restored 1816, under the direction of the Duke of Wellington. It is also a manufacturing town, and has 6150 inhab. About 6000 nail-makers ply their trade in and about the town, and there are said to be 70 high furnaces, 50 iron founderies, and 90 coalpits in the vicinity. There are extensive iron furnaces at Couliers, near this. The surrounding district abounds in coal; 8345 miners and 118 steam engines are employed in the colleries. 5 Floreffe St. The village, of 1500 inhab., stands on the rt. bank of the Sambre. On a commanding height above rises the picturesque Abbey of Floreffe, founded by Godfrey Count of Namur, 1121. It is now a seminary for priests. The cloisters and hall of the Counts of Namur are worth notice. On the 1., in a woody gorge, lies the Abbey of Malonne, and further on the 1. the new ch. of Beausse. 9 NAMUR St., outside the Porte de Fer, which leads to Louvain (Rte. 24.). ROUTE 28 A. CHARLEROI TO MORIALMÉ:— RAILWAY. A railway, called "Chemin de Fer de l'entre-Sambre-et-Meuse," turns off from the Brussels and Namur Railway between Charleroi and Marchiennesau-Pont. It passes through the richest mineral district in Belgium, and has a great traffic in coal, coke, iron, and zinc ore. When completed, it will connect the valley of the Sambre, at Charleroi, with that of the Meuse a few miles above Givet, and also at Charleville and Mezières. A portion-from Charleroi to Morialmé (34 kilomètres =213 Eng. m. in length), with a branch to Laneffe (6 kilomètres = 4 Eng. m. nearly in length), was opened on 30th Nov. 1848. The stations, with their distances from Charleroi in kilomètres, are as follows: 2 La Sambre St. (Marchiennes.) 13 Hameau St. (Here a branch by 2 Thy-le-Château St. to 29 Fraire Station, on the high road between Charleroi and Philippeville. A diligence runs twice a day, each way, between this station and Philippeville, in connection with the trains. 34 Morialmé St. Phoemanni, mentioned by Cæsar; 8 m. S. W. is Rochefort (p. 201.), once a strong fortress, where Lafayette was made prisoner by the Austrians, 1792. The first stage out of La Marche, passing through the forest of St. Hubert, is very pretty indeed. This is Shakspeare's "Forest of Arden;" and so well does the reality agree with his description of its woodland scenery, that the traveller might almost expect to meet the "banished duke" holding his sylvan court under the greenwood tree, or to surprise the pensive Jaques meditating by the side of the running brook. 2 Champlon, a solitary post-house. A few miles beyond Champlon the infant Ourthe is crossed. 3 Bastogne has no regular inn. There is a curious old church here. 2058 inhab. There is a road hence to St. Hubert (p. 201.), through Orten. ville, where is a comfortable auberge ; and another to Liége through Houffalize (haut falaise), on the edge of steep cliffs overhanging the Ourthe, surmounted by a ruined castle destroyed by Marshal Boufflers. (Inn, H. des Ardennes.) 23 Martelange. FOR 2 Arlon.-(Inn, H. du Nord: clean and comfortable sleeping quarters)- a rapidly increasing town, of 5000 inhab. : supposed to be the Roman Orolanum. A road strikes off from Arlon to Metz, which is the nearest way from London to Strasburg. (See HANDBOOK FRANCE.) By the partition of the Duchy of Luxemburg, in conformity with the Treaty of 1831, two-thirds of it have fallen to the share of King Leopold, and Arlon is become the capital of the Belgian part of the province. A diligence runs from Arlon down the picturesque valley of the Semoi to Florenville. (Inn, H. du Commerce.) Diligence to Metz daily. The Dutch frontier commences at Steinfurth. From Arlon to the frontier, German is the language of the inhabitants. The 3 LUXEMBURG. Inn, H. de Cologne; the best, but not clean. situation of Luxemburg is very singu lar; and the extent and extraordinary | character of its fortifications combine to make it highly picturesque. The traveller from the side of Brussels comes upon it unawares, so completely is it wedged in between high escarped rocks on the margin of the Alzette. On entering from the German side, it is difficult to comprehend how these are to be surmounted, or the drawbridges reached, which appear to hang suspended in the air. The communication between the upper and lower towns is by flights of steps, and by streets carried up in zigzags, so as to be passable for a carriage. The defences, partly excavated in the solid rock, have been increased and improved by the successive possessors of Luxemburg, by the Spaniards (1697), Austrians (1713), French (1684 and 1795), and Dutch, rendering it, in the words of Carnot, "la plus forte place de l'Europe après Gibraltar: le seul point d'appui pour attaquer la France du côté de la Moselle." It is now one of the fortresses of the German Confederation, and is garrisoned by 2000 Prussians. Under the direction of the German Diet it has been entirely repaired and greatly strengthened since 1830, and a new fort has been built outside the gate to Treves. The most remarkable part of the fortifications is that called Le Bouc, a projecting headland of rock, commanding the valley up and down; its casemates, entirely excavated in the solid rock, are capable of holding 4000 men, and resemble those of Gibraltar. The commandant will sometimes give strangers admission. The Grand Duchy, of which Luxemburg is the chief town, was given to the King of Holland, at the Treaty of Vienna (1815), in consideration of his abandoning his claim upon Nassau. The House of Luxemburg is highly distinguished in history; it gave 5 emperors to Germany, kings to Bohemia, Poland, and Hungary, several queens to France, and numerous exalted prelates to the church. John the Blind, King of Bohemia, killed by the English at the Battle of Cressy, from whom our Prince of Wales gains his motto (Ich dien), was buried here; but his body was removed at the Revolution to Mettlach, in Prussia. Luxemburg contains 12,000 inhabitants. The Gothic church of St. Peter was built 1120, but is not remarkable. Diligences daily to Remich and Metz, and to Treves in 6 hours. The postmaster at Luxemburg charges 35 sous for each horse per post, and has the right of attaching a third horse: the first stage is hilly; the road good. 3 Grevenmachern. The road here reaches the Moselle, and is macadamised: it proceeds along its left bank through charming scenery to Treves. The Prussian frontier is crossed at the bridge over the Sure, close to which is the custom-house. (§ 47.) 6 m. above Treves the road passes the very remarkable Roman monument of Igel, described in Route 41. The village stands opposite to the junction of the Saar (Savarus) with the Moselle. Conz, a village near its mouth, derives its name from the Emperor Constantine, who had a summer palace here, traces of which still exist in the foundations of brick walls, towers, &c. The Roman bridge over the Saar was blown up by the French, 1675. 2 TREVES (Route 41.). ROUTE 30. THE MEUSE. NAMUR TO DINANT AND GIVET. 5 posts=273 English m. Diligences daily; a good post road. A steamer descends from Dinant to Namur every morning, in 3 hours, in time for the morning train to Brussels; it returns to Dinant in the afternoon. The Meuse above Namur is not less interesting, though less visited, than below it. For a considerable distance the river is hemmed in by magnificent escarpments of limestone, resembling in height and form the banks of the Avon at Clifton, and the vales of Derbyshire. The cultivation of the graceful hop here supplants that of the vine. The road ascends the 1. bank as far as Dinant where it crosses the river by a stone bridge. About 4 miles below Dinant, at Ivoir, on the rt. bank, is an intermittent spring, rising and sinking regularly every 7 minutes. Several villas and pretty châteaux are passed. Between 2 and 3 miles below Dinant, on the rt. bank, rises the Castle of Poilvache, once "la terreur des Dinantois," now ir ruins, of great extent and finely situated. It was taken and destroyed by Bp. Jean de Heynsberg, 1429. Upon the top of a rock, 4 m. below Dinant, stands the ruined castle of Bouvignes. During the siege of this place by the French under the Duc de Nevers (1554) 3 beautiful women retired with their husbands into the tower of Crevecœur, hoping to assist and encourage the garrison by their presence. The defence was obstinate, but at last all were slain but the 3 heroines, who, unwilling to submit to the brutality of the conquerors, threw themselves from the top of the tower, in sight of the French, and were dashed to pieces on the rocks. 3 Dinant. Inn, Post, best: a town of 5650 inhab., romantically situated at the base of limestone cliffs, to which the fortifications and the chapel on their summit add interest. "There are caverns in the contorted convolutions of the limestone strata. Winding stairs, cut in the rock, render the summit of the cliffs above the town accessible to its inhabitants, but there is little or no view from the heights. Permission to enter the citadel is given by the commandant. The Church is distinguished by a singular bulb-shaped steeple, its interior is interesting, and part of the building is very ancient. The door of the baptistery, and another which is blocked up, are of the 10th or 11th cent."-T. The inhabitants of Bouvigne were rivals of those of Dinant in the manufacture of copper kettles (called from the place dinanderies), and the animosity thus created led to bloody and long-continued feuds between them. In defiance of their neighbours, the men of Bouvigne built the castle of Crevecœur; and those of Dinant, to annoy them in return, erected that of Montorgueil, which they were afterwards compelled to destroy. Philip the Good, irritated by some act of aggression, besieged Dinant with an army of 30,000 men. The inhabitants, when summoned to surrender, replied by hanging the messengers sent with the proposals. The Duke, enraged at this outrage, was preparing to take the town by assault when it surrendered. He gave it up to pillage for 3 days, and then set fire to it; and, while the flames were still raging, ordered 800 of the inhabitants, bound two and two, to be thrown into the Meuse. Though weak from illness, he was carried in a litter to a spot whence he could feast his eyes on the conflagration and horrible execution; and not satisfied with this act of vengeance, he sent workmen to pull down the ruined walls remaining after the fire, that not a vestige of Dinant might survive. His son, Charles the Bold, who succeeded 3 years after, allowed the town to be rebuilt; but it was again sacked, burnt, and demolished, in 1554, by the French under the Duc de Nevers, -a misfortune occasioned principally by the insolence of the townspeople, in replying to the summons to surrender by a message to the effect, that if the Duke and the King of France fell into their hands they would roast their hearts and livers for breakfast. The excursion from Dinant to the grotto of Han sur Lesse is described in the following Route (31.). About a mile above Dinant the road goes through a kind of natural portal, formed by the abrupt termination of a long narrow ridge or wall of rock, projecting from the precipitous cliffs on the left, and on the right by a pointed and bold isolated mass of rock, called the Roche à Bayard. The cleft was widened by order of Louis XIV., to facilitate the passage of the road up the valley. Near this are quarries of black marble, and immediately above lies Anseremme, a pretty town with overhanging cliffs. The road afterwards begins to ascend. "The finest point on the route is about 3 m. above Dinant, at the Château of Freyr, a country seat belonging to the Duchesse de Beaufort, on the left bank of the river, at the base of cliffs and richly-wooded hills, which are furrowed by ravines. Within the grounds is a natural grotto, abounding in stalactites, and singularly lighted by an aperture in the rock. Opposite to Freyr the cliffs of limestone rise directly from the Meuse, much subdivided and broken up, presenting striking forms and outlines; sometimes jutting out in ledges more or less connected with the mass of the cliff, at other times separated into isolated fragments; and occasionally the upper part of the range projects beyond the perpendicular, so as completely to overhang the river. The banks present lofty cliffs, and romantic scenery as far as Flamignoul. At Heer a quarry of red marble is passed. The view of Givet from the top of the hill, surmounted by the road in approaching it, is very picturesque; the fortifications and windings of the river appear to great advantage."- T. T. 2 GIVET. Inns: Le Cygne; Le Mont d'Haurs. Givet and Charlemont may be regarded as parts of one town, prettily situated on opposite banks of the Meuse, but connected by a bridge. They belong to France, lying just within the frontier: the population is 4000: the fortifications were constructed by Vauban. The fortress of Charlemont (on the left bank) is placed on a high and commanding rock of limestone, which is sometimes of so fine a texture as to be quarried for marble. (See HANDBOOK FOR FRANCE.) The grotto of Han sur Lesse may be visited from Givet, travelling over cross roads. ROUTE 31, THE ARDENNES. DINANT TO HANS SUR LESSE, ST. HUBERT, AND BOUILLON. "The characteristic feature of the Ardennes is wildness; heathy and rocky hills, with dark rapid streams winding round them; vast forests of oak stretching over the plains, and crowning the hills, peopled with deer, wild boars, and wolves; villages at long intervals, dirty and poor; cottages thinly scattered among the valleys, and castles frowning from rocky heights, embosomed in woods."- C. One may live well on the fine mutton fed on the heathery hills, on wild boar and tame pig, fed on acorns of the forest. Venison, hare, and other game are common fare. The rivers afford small trout and grayling, on which the angler may exercise his skill, and crawfish nowhere is richer milk or more delicious honey. A very good road, traversed thrice aweek by a diligence, but not as yet provided with post-horses, though horses may be obtained by writing on beforehand, has been formed from Dinant to Neufchâteau, passing through the midst of the Ardennes forest, and within 5 or 6 miles of the Trou de Han. "The Inns are wretched, mere village cabarets; the country for the most part open, wild, and uncultivated; with some good wood scenery. The line is carried through Celles, Ardenne, a villa (or hunting-seat) of King Leopold, situated on the slope of a charming valley, the natural beauties of which have been enhanced by the taste of its royal owners.' - C. Beyond Almars, at Avenaye, travellers turn aside if they intend to visit the Trou de Han; thence the vile cross-road touches Lompretz, and Nieupont (Madame Randollet's inn), about 16 m. from Dinant; the river Lesse abounds with trout and grayling between Séchery and Nieupont. Through Neufchâteau the road reaches Arlon. The cavern called Trou de Han is about 20 m. (8 post leagues) S. E. from Dinant. The valley of the Lesse is stopped up by a rocky barrier stretching across it, but the river precipitates itself into the cavern at the foot of this rock, called le Gouffre de Belvaux, and forces a passage through it. The distance from the entrance to the spot where the river quits the cavern is about 12 m. The cavern is accessible through the natural arch out of which the Lesse issues, in a boat kept by a man residing hard by, who serves as a guide, and provides |