most probable explanation of it is, that instead of being one continuous watercourse, it is nothing more than a number of small unconnected aqueducts built at the same time, and probably with similar materials, to supply different stations on the Roman road with water.

About 4 miles beyond Prüm is Schönecken, a small village of 1538 inhab. The ruins of the ancient castle stand upon a commanding height. It originally belonged to the family of the Counts of Vianden, who possessed the advowson of the abbey of Prüm; it | was destroyed by the French in 1802, and sold by them for building materials.

2 Balesfeld. Between this and Bitburg, the road does not pass a single village; the country is a tract of high land, with a rough climate, and a barren soil, but abounding in woods, and frequently opening into beautiful views. The inhabitants are rude and unpolished, their houses and persons alike slovenly, in proportion as the land they inhabit is wild and remote. They are also ignorant and superstitious; and not contented with keeping the usual holidays and festivals of the church, almost every village has a patron saint of its own, in whose honour festivals are celebrated. Each saint is supposed to have a peculiar province, and to preside over some particular class of diseases. Thus St. Apollonia is invoked in cases of tooth-ache; St. Blaize, to avert sore throats; St. Lambert, to cure epilepsy; St. Odilia, for sore eyes; St. Lucia, for other complaints; St. Gertrude is engaged to drive away rats; and St. Wendelin is looked upon as the protector of cattle. On their anniversaries the people flock in crowds to the churches dedicated to these medical saints so rich in remedies, bringing offerings not only of money, but also of butter, eggs, pigs' heads, &c., which give the church the appearance of a market-place, rather than a place of worship. Upon those days no work is done, and the evening concludes usually in drinking and gambling.

2. Bitburg (Inn, Poste, not good),

a town of 1700 inhab., anciently a Roman station, Bædæ Vicus.

About 10 m. W. of Bitburg, within the frontier of Luxemburg, but scarcely accessible by roads, stands Vianden, a castle exceeding in extent almost any on the Rhine, an ancient possession of the house of Nassau, seated on a rock above the river l'Our. It was in good preservation until within a few years, when it was put up for sale, and unroofed. It has a remarkable chapel in the form of a decagon. 17 m. S. W. of Bitburg is the ancient convent of Echternach, also in Luxemburg. Its Church of St. Willibrod is a basilica of great antiquity: its pillars, decorated with Corinthian capitals, may be relics of some Roman edifice.

At Fliessem, about 3 miles from Bitburg, on the road to Prüm, and not more than a mile from the road, is a Roman villa. It contains very perfect and beautiful mosaics, and a hypocaust in excellent preservation, curiously illustrating the mode of heating buildings and apartments by the Romans. Two Roman mile-stones were dug up in a wood near Bitburg; they stood on the ancient high road, a short distance from the new post-road. They bear the name of the Emperor Hadrian, in whose reign they were set up, and the distance marked upon them was 22,000 paces (M. P. XXII.) from Treves. Between Bitburg and

13 Helenenberg there is not a single village; but traces of the Roman road appear in sight from time to time. The very beautiful church at Helenenberg (called also the hospital) is now turned into a barn. Near Pallien, a village whose inhabitants live partly in caves cut out of the rocks, the road is carried over a deep ravine upon a bridge of a single arch, built by Napo leon (p. 312.); and a passage has been hewn for the road itself in the solid rock, for a considerable distance, until it reaches the bank of the Moselle, immediately opposite the city of

2 TREVES-See p. 308. The view of Treves in descending is very striking; the traveller should therefore contrive to arrive before dark.

A gradual ascent of nearly 4 miles, shaded by an agreeable avenue of trees, leads out of the valley of Spa, passing first the abandoned gaming-house, and afterwards the mineral spring of Sauvenière, situated in a clump of trees. Beyond this lies a high, level, and bare district of barren heath, resembling Dartmoor. At the village of Francourchamps the road to Malmedy, turning to the left, leaves that to Stavelot, in whose church is preserved the very curious Shrine (Chasse) of St. Remacle. It is of copper gilt, ornamented with precious stones, mosaics, and statuettes of the Saint, the Virgin, and twelve Apostles, of silver gilt. It is probably a work of the 11th cent, About 1 mile further runs the Prussian frontier, where baggage is slightly examined (§ 47.). A fine view is gained on winding down the steep hill, of red sandstone, from the table land into Malmedy.

2 Malmedy (Inn, Weisses Ross, a humble inn), a small town of 4000 inhab., famous for the manufacture of sole leather for shoes, there being 50 tanneries here in active work. The hides are derived from South America; the Ardennes forest furnishes the best bark; the greater part of Germany is supplied from Malmedy and Stavelot, and many of the tanners are very wealthy. The fantastic houses and gardens, in and around the town, chiefly their property, are somewhat in the Dutch style. The most remarkable

of them, Montbijou, lies on our road a little way out of the town.

The road enters the great highway from Aix to Treves (Rte. 43.), about 8 m. from Malmedy, a little beyond 2 Bütgenbach (Rte. 43.).

2 Losheim, in p. 320. Here a road branches off to the E., passing under the ruined castle Kronenburg, to

1 Stadtkyll. Inn, Post (on the high road from Treves to Cologne): crossing it you reach com

2 Hillesheim. - Inn, Post; fortable, with civil people, who make high charges; a curious old town, surrounded by walls, from which there are fine views. From a hill near it a fine view is obtained of the Eifel.

The country hence to Kellberg and Mayen presents fine forests and patches of beech, and some oak, with hills of volcanic forms in all directions. 3 Kellberg. Inn, Post. A public carriage runs between the Ahr valley and Kellberg, meeting that between Coblenz and Losheim. Views of the castle of Nurberg. Through an interesting country, passing many dome. topped hills (from whose egg-shape perhaps the district is called Ei-fel (?) and near to the picturesque castle Virneberg, to

3 Mayen. See Rte. 41. and 40. on the post-road to

3 Coblenz (Rte. 37.).

ROUTE 45.

THE UPPER EIFEL PRÜM TO GEROLSTEIN, DAUN, AND LÜTZERATH.

The country of the Eifel Gebirge is particularly interesting to the geologist, from the decided traces of volcanic agency which it exhibits in its lava currents, and numerous extinct craters, many of them now filled with lakes or tarns. Apart from this consideration, the scenery of the Eifel has many features of no inconsiderable beauty and interest to induce the ordinary traveller to visit it.

"The high ground constituting this tract of country is much diversified with finely formed emi

nences, which are often conical or crater-shaped, and frequently wooded; the valleys are remarkable sometimes for their bold and rocky sides, frequently capped with old castles, and contracting into narrow glens; sometimes for their softer or wooded and verdant character; above all, the great peculiarity of the district is the secluded, often much concealed, and singular 'MAARS' or crater-lakes."- -T. T Meres in English.

The region of the Eifel is still the haunt of wolves and wild boars; the former not unfrequently approach human habitations in the winter, and commit depredations on the flocks.

The traveller visiting the Eifel from Aix-la-Chapelle or Spa, will proceed by the roads described in routes 43.' or 44. as far as Prüm (Rte. 43.). A postroad runs hence to Bonn and Cologne. At Prüm we may turn aside to enter upon the district of the Eifel. The roads throughout it are almost invariably bad, especially in wet weather, and the country hilly.

Gerolstein, where the tour of the Eifel properly begins, is about 10 m. from Prüm. It has a tolerable inn, with good beds, kept by the Burgermeister (Schreiber). It is a picturesque town on the Kyll, in a valley running between cliffs of lime-stone and dolomite, which, more particularly on the north side, often present precipitous and striking escarpments, and peculiarly formed, and sometimes isolated rocky eminences. Above the town are the ruins of a Castle. An interesting excursion, and one that may easily be accomplished in a forenoon, is to start by the footpath leading to the clear carbonated spring at the bottom of the valley, to cross the river Kyll, and ascend the hill opposite (to the north of the town). On the summit is a perfectly formed dry crater called the Pfaffenkaule. The surface of the hollow is now cultivated, but traces of volcanic action are every where apparent. A little to the west is a stream of lava, which divides into 2 branches, and includes a hollow space termed the Hagelskaule. Near it, to the south, there is a considerable cavern,

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situated in the cliffs termed the Buchenloch, formed by one of the numerous fissures in the strata, but probably enlarged by art. Thence the field may be crossed to the Ice grotto of Roth, in order to see which lights and a guide may be procured at a farm-house and inn near the church of Roth. In this cavern, which is a sort of natural icehouse, ice is always to be found during the summer, but it is said to disappear in winter. In returning to Gerolstein, the road may be varied by crossing the base of the Auberg, where innumerable fossil shells, corals, &c. are found strewed over the surface of the fields. Several persons in Gerolstein form collections of them for sale. T. T. One of the curiosities of the neighbourhood is a mineral spring, called Brudeldreis, opposite Birresborn, on a hill within the Gerolstein wald. In the summer it dries up; but if a cupful of water be thrown into the basin of rock from which it issues, a rattling is heard, and a jet of water spirted out. Dead bodies of birds and other small animals are often found near it, destroyed by having alighted within the range of the noxious vapour issuing from it (carbonic acid gas), but it is a fable that birds are killed in flying over it. Peasants stooping down to drink are repulsed by the suffocating vapour, which being heavier than the air lies along the surface of the water, in a stratum more or less deep as the atmosphere is agitated or calm.

The road from Gerolstein to Kirchweiler (3 miles) passes the Casselburg, a picturesque stronghold, surmounting a mass of basaltic rock. Dochweiler, 3 miles farther, is a village built of lava. Near it, to the N. W. is a large basin-shaped crater called DreiserWeiher, which, though now a meadow, was evidently at a former period filled with water, and is still remarkable for its numerous mineral springs. Dreis, in the dialect of the Eifel, means mineral spring. Olivine, a comparatively rare mineral, is found at the south side of the crater, sometimes in masses 18 inches in diameter, and augite is also met with. Glassy felspar

a

is found at Hohenfels, near this. Some of the highest hills in the Eifel surround the Dreiser-Weiher.

5 miles from Dochweiler lies Daun; where Hölzer's inn is good. The castle was the family residence and the birthplace of the Marshal who led the Austrian armies in the Seven Years' war, and defeated Frederick the Great at Collin. On the summit of a steep acclivity near this lie 3 crater lakes, separated from each other by a narrow partition of slaty rock. The principal one, the Gmunden Maar, is very beautiful. From Daun, a detour should be made by Stadfeld to Manderscheid, in order to see its old castle and the Meerfelder Maar, another considerable crater-lake in a perfectly circular basin, 100 fathoms deep; the water does not Occupy the whole of it. Close to it rises the hill of Mosenberg, remarkable for its 4 volcanic cones of slag; 3 of them are perfect; 1 is broken down on the south; from 1 of them a current of basaltic lava descends into the valley.

Gillenfeld (Burgermaster Zilchen's Inn), on the road to Lützerath, passing Hedersdorf, is the next point of interest. Here is situated the Pulvermaar, one of the largest and most beautiful crater-lakes of the Eifel, 330 ft. deep. On the way from Gillenfeld to Lützerath is the village of Strötzbusch, built in the hollow of a craterlake, and near it there are remains of another crater, formerly perhaps a lake.

There is a post road from Lützerath to Daun, 2 Germ. m.; but it does not pass through Gillenfeld or Strötzbusch; and from Daun through Dochweiler to Hillesheim, 21 Germ. m. Lützerath is distant from Daun, by the direct road, about 12 English m. We have now entered upon Route 41.

sets out from the post-house on the 1, bank of the Nahe, close to Bingen bridge. The chief part of this road is excellent, though hilly; it is carried out of the valley of the Nahe by well constructed zig-zags, and at one point, where seats have been erected, commands a charming view.

There is considerable beauty in the gorge leading down to the village of

1 Stromberg, with the ruins of Castle Goldenfels, which was bravely defended against the French, 1793, by the Prussian Lieut. v. Gauvain, with 35 men. A monument commemorates the event.

3 Simmern. (Inn Post.)

We follow the line of the old Roman road as far as Kirchberg.

seen.

23 Buchenbeuern. From this to Berncastel the road is very hilly, running over the high table-land of the Hundsrück (Dog's Back) which extends between the Rhine, Moselle, and Nahe. For a considerable distance neither house nor human being is to be The country is a bleak uncultivated waste of moor and moss, with forest interspersed. Here and there a distant view over hills and valleys appears. We again follow the line of the old Roman road, called in the country Steinstrasse. By the side of it is seen a small truncated tower (Stumpfe Thurm), said to be (?) a Roman work. It is supposed, indeed, that the Roman station Belginum, or Tabernæ, may have stood upon this spot. little farther on, the road descends through a narrow and winding ravine (the Tiefenbach-thal), whose sides, formed of ragged slate rocks, are exceedingly picturesque, in many places overhanging the road, and sprinkled over with trees and underwood. Con

A

siderable mines have been driven into these rocks, and roofing slate is obtained from them. Many of the entrances to them open close upon the road side. At the bottom of this steep descent lies

3 Berncastel, on the Moselle. Inn, Three Kings. Page 317.

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The Moselle is here passed by a ferry-boat; a good road leads to

COLOGNE TO FRANKFURT, A. M., BY SIEBURG AND LIMBURG.

232 Germ. m. = 105 Eng. m. A macadamised post road, 14 Germ. m. shorter than that by Coblenz. In wet or foggy weather it is preferable to that by the Rhine: no inn between Siegburg and Limburg. Schnellpost daily in 23 hrs.

3 Siegburg (Inn, Star, tolerable), a town of 2500 inhab., on the Sieg, about 4 m. above its junction with the Rhine. Upon the rock of St. Michael, in a singularly beautiful situation, immediately overhanging the town, stands the ancient Benedictine Abbey, founded in 1060 by Archbishop Hanno, who is buried within the fine Church. It is

runs to Bonn, crossing the Sieg by a ferry some way below Siegburg, and the Rhine by the flying bridge.

Here the brave

1 Altenkirchen. French General Marceau (the Bayard of the republic) received his death wound in an action with the Austrians under the Archduke Charles. See p. 278. 1 Wahlerod or Wahlroth, the first station in the territory of Nassau.

2 Freilingen, Country high and 2 Wallmeroth. J woody (the skirt of the Westerwald) as you approach the Lahn.

2 Limburg (Inn, Post), in Rte. 96. Nieder-Selters, whence the celebrated water is obtained, is passed on this stage; it is described under the head Schwalbach, in Rte. 95. 3 Würges.

3

2

Königstein, Rte. 97. FRANKFURT A. M., Rte 95.