ladics in stomachers and ruffs, and babies in swaddling clothes, like mummies, or the larvæ of insects.

The older Ch. of St. Martin, with a large square tower and octagonal lantern, is also interesting from its architecture. In it is a Deposition from the Cross by Diepenbeck.

In some period of the dark ages, a boy named Werner is said to have been most impiously crucified and put to death by the Jews in this place. A similar story is told in many other parts of the world; even in England, at Gloucester, and Lincoln (vide Chaucer.) It is probable that the whole was a fabrication, to serve as a pretext for persecuting the Jews, and extorting money from them. A little Chapel, erected to the memory of this Werner, stands upon the walls of the town, close to the Rhine.

(1.) Schönberg.

This ruined castle on the rock was the cradle of an illustrious family of the same name. The English Schombergs are a branch of it, and the hero of the Boyne, Marshal Schomberg, sprang from the same stock. It receives its name (Beautiful Hill), as the story goes, from 7 beauteous daughters of the house, who by their charms turned the heads of half the young knights far and near; but were, at the same time, so hard-hearted that they would listen to the suits of none of them, and were therefore changed into 7 rocks, which are seen even to this day projecting out of the bed of the Rhine below Oberwesel, when the water is low.

(rt.) Gutenfels, a ruined castle, above the town of Caub, traditionally (?) said to be named after a fair lady called Guda, who was beloved by Richard of Cornwall, Empr. of Germany, and brother of our Henry III. In the 30 years' war, Gustavus Adolphus directed an attack upon the Spaniards, posted on the opposite bank, from its battlements, but, after 6 days of unceasing hostilities, was unable to effect a passage in the face of the wary General Spinola. The castle remained in habitable condition down to 1807, when, owing to the expense of keeping it up, N. Germ.

the roofs and wood-work were sold by auction, and the building converted into a ruin.

(rt.) Caub (Inns, Nassauer Hof: Grünewald) has slate quarries underground, and is principally remarkable as the spot where Blücher's army crossed the Rhine on New Year's night, 1814 It was from the heights above that the view of the Rhine first burst upon the Prussians, and drew forth one simultaneous and exulting cry of triumph. "To the Germans of every age this great river has been the object of an affection and reverence scarcely inferior to that with which an Egyptian contemplates the Nile, or the Indian his Ganges. When these brave bands, having achieved the rescue of their native soil, came in sight of this its ancient landmark, the burden of a hundred songs, they knelt, and shouted the Rhine! the Rhine! as with the heart and voice of one man. They that were behind rushed on, hearing the cry, in expectation of another battle." I. G. L.

A toll is here paid by all vessels navigating the Rhine, to the Duke of Nassau, the only chieftain remaining on the river who still exercises this feudal privilege. In the middle ages no less than 32 different tolls were established on the Rhine.

In the middle of the river, opposite Caub, rises the quaint castle called the PFALZ, built by the Emperor Lewis the Bavarian, previous to 1326, as a convenient toll-house; it now belongs to the Duke of Nassau. According to a popular tradition, it served, in former times, as a place of refuge and security whither the Countesses Palatine repaired previous to their accouchements, which, were it true, would be a proof of the insecure life led by princes as well as peasants in the turbulent times of the middle ages. Such an occurrence may have actually taken place in a single instance, but it is very unlikely that a rude toll-house should repeatedly have served as a princely abode. There are dungeons under it below the level of the river, in which state-prisoners of rank were once con

fined. The castle is accessible by means of a ladder, and the only entrance is closed by a portcullis (Fallthür). The well which supplies it with water is filled from a source far deeper than the bed of the Rhine.

*(1.) BACHARACH (Inn, Post) is encircled by antique walls, and defended by 12 towers of strength in former days, of picturesque and ornamental appearance in the present. They are singular in their construction, having only 3 walls, the side towards the town being open, probably to prevent their commanding the town in the event of an enemy gaining possession of them. The name, Bacharach, is only a slight alteration of the words Bacchi ara, the altar of Bacchus; a name conferred upon a rock in the bed of the river, adjoining the island a little below the town, usually covered with water, but in very dry seasons appearing above the surface. The sight of it is hailed with joy by the owner of the vineyard, who regards this as a sure sign of a fine vintage. As a proof of the goodness of the wine of this neighbourhood, we are told that Pope Pius II. (Æneas Silvius) used to import a tun of it to Rome every year; and that the city of Nuremberg obtained its freedom in return for 4 casks of it, which her citizens presented annually to the Empr. Wenzel. Down to the 16th cent. Bacharach was, jointly with Cologne, the staple place for the wines of

the Rhine.

(1.) The truncated walls of the old castle of Stahleck, till 1253, the seat of the Electors Palatine, now the property of the Queen of Prussia, their descendant, crown the high hill behind Bacharach. Between them and the town stand the ruins of St. Werner's Church, an exquisite fragment of the florid Gothic style, built of hard red sandstone in 1428. "It was demolished by the Swedes in the Thirty Years' war, but still shows in its E. end a lantern, rising on a rock suspended over the river, like a fairy fabric, the remains of

*1 Germ. miles Bacharcah..

the highest and most elegant lancet style existing." Hope. The lofty pointed windows still retain in a perfect condition the most delicate tracery work.

The body of the child Werner having been thrown by the Jews, his murderers, into the Rhine at Oberwesel, instead of descending with the current, as all other bodies would have done, is reported to have ascended the stream as far as Bacharach, where it was taken up, interred, and afterwards canonized. To do honour to his relics, this beautiful chapel was built over them.

An hour or two should be devoted by every traveller to Bacharach, to enable him to enjoy the view from the castle of Stahleck, and to visit St. Werner's chapel and St. Peter's Ch., just below St. Werner's, and close to the road. It was "formerly a Templar Church, and one of the most curious, and perhaps the earliest example of mixed Round and Gothic style on the Rhine, resembling the churches of Limburg and Neuss. It deserves to be drawn in detail before it goes to utter ruin."— F. S.

Two stone gal

(rt.) Lorchhausen. lows near this formerly marked the boundary line which divided the ancient territory of Mainz from the Palatinate. A little higher up the river is the ruined castle of Nollingen.

(1.) The round Keep-tower and shattered walls of Fürstenburg rise above the village of Rheindiebach. The castle was reduced to a ruin by the French in the war of the Orleans succession, 1689.

(rt.) Lorch (Inn, Schwan), is one of the oldest towns on the Rhine (Laureacum?) and is situated at the mouth of the picturesque valley of the Wisper, on the rt. bank of which rises the rocky height, called the Devil's Ladder, whose top is occupied by the ruins of the castle of Nollingen. It was anciently inhabited by a knot of noble (knightly) families, many of whose castellated mansions remain. Among them is the Burghaus of John Hilgen of Lorch, a contemporary of Franz of Sickengen, who fought against the

Turks (date 1548). He is buried in the Church, a handsome edifice of the 12th cent. (with more recent additions), containing an elaborate altarpiece of carved wood. Before the church stands a carved stone cross (date 1491).

Here commences the district called the Rheingau (district of the Rhine), which extends upwards along the rt. bank as far as Walluf, and is remarkable as including all the most famous vineyards in which the best Rhenish wines are produced.

1. The ruins of the castle of Heimburg appear above the top of the houses of Nieder Heimbach village, close on the shore. Higher up is the very picturesque turreted ruin of Sonneck; it was originally a robber-castle, and destroyed as such by the Emperor Rudolph, 1282. It is now restored.

The river, on approaching Bingen and Assmanshausen, is truly "the castellated Rhine." 1. The castle of Reichenstein or Falkenburg stands on the summit of a rocky spur of the hill, and a little further up on the same bank is that of Rheinstein, on a projecting crag which rises almost perpendicularly from the bank of the river. Not far beyond Falkenburg, and between the high road and the river, is the interesting Gothic Church of St. Clement, admirably restored from a state of ruin by the Princess Frederick of Prussia. Most of these residences of knightly highwaymen fell before the strong arm of the law in 1282, having been condemned as robber strongholds. The forces of the League of the Rhine executed the sentence of the Diet of the Empire, by storming and demolishing them, and thus put an end to the arbitrary exactions and predatory warfare of their owners.

The system of pillage which prevailed throughout Germany among the rulers of these almost inaccessible fortresses, until the vigorous opposition of the towns on the borders of the Rhine put an end to it, is well illustrated by the following anecdote. An archbishop of Cologne, having built a castle, appointed a seneschal to the command of

it. The governor, previous to entering upon his office, applied to the bishop to know how and whence he was to maintain himself, no revenue having been assigned to him for that purpose. The prelate, by way of answer, merely desired him to observe that his castle stood close to the junction of 4 roads. A practice very similar to the arbitrary mode of levying tolls and custom duties adopted by these feudal tyrants, prevailed up to the last century in our own country, in the black-mail exacted by the Highland chiefs and nobles from merchants on their way to and from the fairs or markets of the north.

1. The Castle of Rheinstein, one of these ruins, has been restored as far as possible to its original condition, but only to serve the peaceful purpose of a summer residence for Prince Frederick of Prussia, cousin to the present king. The interior has been fitted up in imitation of a knightly dwelling of the days of chivalry; the walls hung with armour, the windows filled with painted glass, and the furniture either collected from ancient castles and convents, or made conformably to the fashions of former days. It is liberally shown to strangers, who are conducted round the castle by a domestic, who bears the ancient title of Schlossvoght. At the narrow pass below Rheinstein, which even now, after having been widened by French and Prussian engineers, leaves barely room for the road between the rock and the river, there existed till very recent times a Jew's Toll, where certain fixed dues were levied upon all the Hebrews who passed. It is said that the contractors kept little dogs, who were trained to single out and seize the Jews from among the passing crowds!

Wines and Vineyards of the Rhine.

Opposite to Rheinstein is the village (rt.) of Assmanshausen, (Inn: Hotel de l'Anere) which has a warm mineral spring, and is about to be added to the number of the Brunnen of Nassau by the construction of baths and hotels: it gives its name to a red wine

of high reputation and price. The hills behind and around the hamlet which produce it are so very steep that it is only by artificial means, often by planting the vines in baskets, that any soil can be retained around their roots. The vineyards are nothing more than a succession of terraces, or steps, extending from the top to the bottom of the hills, some of which must be nearly 1000 ft. high. In some places more than 20 terraces may be counted, rising one above the other. They are supported by walls of masonry from 5 to 10 ft. high, and the breadth of some of the ledges on which the vines grow is not more than twice the height of the walls. To reach many of these narrow plots, the vine-dressers, female as well as male, must scale the precipices, and hang as it were from the face of the rocks, while a great deal of the soil itself and every particle of manure must be carried up on their shoulders. This will give some idea of the labours and expense of such cultivation, and of the great value of every inch of ground in these narrow strips, to repay it.

The life of the Rheinland vinedresser indeed presents a rare example of industry and perseverance. Though by no means rich, they are generally the proprietors of the vineyards which they cultivate; and, though their appearance does not altogether verify that which painters draw and poets describe, they at least exhibit an aspect of cheerfulness and intelligence.

Independently of the hardness of the labour of cultivating the vine, which is not confined to any one season, but must be carried on perseveringly through the whole year, and is most severe during the heat of summer, the vine is a delicate plant, frost, rain, or hail may in a few hours annihilate the produce upon which the cultivator depends solely for subsistence. One or two successive seasons of failure will ruin even an opulent family; but when the vintage is good, few of the small proprietors are rich enough to be able to wait until they can obtain a favourable market, but must part with the

wine soon after it is made to the rich speculators, who buy up the whole produce of a district, and take the chance of its turning out good or bad.

Beyond the point on which Assmanshausen stands, the Rhine, whose course has hitherto been from S.E. to N. W., changes materially its direction, and flows from E. to W., pursuing this direction from Mayence hither.

From the advantageous exposure produced by this bend in the river arises the excellence of the wines of the district of the Rheingau, as the rays of the midday sun, instead of being received obliquely, fall full butt upon the vineyards situated on the rt. bank of the river, and all the best wines are confined to that side. The slaty soil of the hills seems peculiarly favourable for retaining the intense heat of the sun's rays, so necessary for bringing the grape to perfect maturity; and, in addition, this favoured portion of the valley of the Rhine is sheltered from N. and E. winds to a great extent, by the intervening barrier of

mountains.

The Rheingau is divided into the Upper and Lower Cantons (Gemarkung), relatively to the position of the vineyards near the summits of the hills, or on the margin of the river: the high grounds produce the strongest wine, while that of the low ground has an earthy taste; that which grows at a moderate height between the two extremes is considered the most wholesome and the best; though much depends on the season, which is sometimes favourable to the produce of the heights, sometimes to that of the inferior slopes.

Among the Rhine wines (improperly called Hock in England), the Johannisberg and Steinberg rank first, and on an equal footing, for their exquisite flavour and evanescent bouquet. Next follow Rüdesheim (Berg) Markobrunner and Rothenberg, which possess Hochheim much body and aroma. (which grows on the banks of the Maine, not in the Rheingau) ranks with the best of these second-class

wines. Of the inferior wines, those of Erbach and Hattenheim are the best. The lighter wines, however, are apt to be hard and rather acid, as table wines. The Laubenheim and Nierstein, from the Palatinate above Mayence, and the delicately-flavoured Moselles, are much preferred to them as table wines in Germany. The best red Rhine wine is the Assmanshausen, produced from vines originally brought from Burgundy. The vine chiefly cultivated on the Rhine is called Riesling; it yields a wine of fine flavour; the Orleans grape produces a strong-bodied wine.

The vintage on the Rhine used to take place in the middle of October; but, by the present system, it is delayed, in the best vineyards, till November: in fact, it is put off to the last moment the grapes will hang on the bunches. To make the best wines, the grapes are sorted, and those only of the best quality employed. The riper bunches are first selected, and the rest left to hang for days or weeks longer.

The culture of the vine was introduced on the Rhine and Moselle by the Emperor Probus,

The Rossel (rt.), a little tower standing on the brink of the heights above Assmanshausen, and just discernible from the river below, is situated within the verge of the Forest of Niederwald, and commands one of the most magnificent views upon the whole course of the Rhine. Assmanshausen is a good point from which to commence the ascent of the Niederwald, though Bingen or Rüdesheim, where the inns are better, should be made the head-quarters.

We have now reached the upper limit of the gorge of the Rhine, commencing near Boppart, and affording so much grand scenery. Between Bingen and Boppart, the Rhine cuts across a chain of mountains running nearly at right angles to the course of its stream. There are good grounds for supposing that at one time (before hu

man record) this range entirely stopped its further progress, damming up the waters behind them into a lake which extended as far as Basle, and whose existence is further proved by numerous freshwater deposits, shells, &c., to be found in the valley of the Rhine, above Mayence. Some vast convulsions, such as an earthquake, or perhaps even the force of the accumulated waters alone, must have burst through this mountainwall, and made for the river the gorge or ravine by which it now obtains a free passage to the ocean.

A species of dyke or wall of rock, running obliquely across the river at this spot, is perhaps a remnant of this colossal barrier. It is passable for vessels only at one spot, where a channel called Bingen Loch (Hole of Bingen) has been cut through it by artificial means. The impediments occasioned by it in the navigation of the river have been reduced from time to time: but the greatest improvement was effected in 1830-32, by the Prussian government, under whose direction the passage has been widened from 20 to 210 feet, by blasting the sunken rocks in the bed of the Rhine.

1. In commemoration of this improvement, a small monument has been set up by the road side; the pedestal of the obelisk is formed of the stones extracted from the bed of the river.

rt. This navigable channel, 3 feet deep, lies near the rt. bank, under the shattered walls of the castle of Ehrenfels, an ancient stronghold of the Archbishops of Mayence, built in 1210, to which they retired with their treasures in time of war and peril. It was stormed by Bernard of Saxe Weimar in the 30 years' war, but was destroyed by the French, 1689.

Sometimes when the river is low in autumn, a strong team of horses stands ready on the rt. bank to assist in dragging the steamer up the rapid by the aid of a tow-rope.

Near to the 1. bank, surrounded by the river, and not far from the spot where the waters of the Nahe unite with those of the Rhine, rises the little square Mouse Tower, renowned for