The daily Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1841-1845, 1842-04-21
THE MADISONIAN.
PANS, ls42.

In my preceding letters have given the narration
Of my tour along the Rhine, as far as Conien1'
find that the description occupies more Time 'nan inc
travelling. shall hasten along little more rapidly
at present, and try to complete my tour In TWO OF
three more letters.
Ileft Coblentz bright and early" before the eye
could well distinguish the loop-holes in the black
wall Of the fortress Of Ehrenbeitseip anxious
TO make good days work and reach Cologne before
night The banks Of the Rhine, for some distance
below Coblenz, lose altogether the grand and pictu-
rescue character which distinguish them above that
city The hills recede from the river, and level fields
take the place of precpices and castles. 1t is only
the historical recoections with which this region
abounds, and the remains of Roman art and power
which 1t still contains that render il interesting to the
traveller Many, of the towns still preserve their
Roman names more or less altered, and IN several OF
them are collections of antiquities discovered in the
neighboring districts Near little village called
Weissenthurm is the place where Cesar crossed the
Rhine with his army, that famous bridge, Known
and doubtless recollected through life by every boy
that has read his commentaries. well recollect the
picture Of it, inserted opposite the page which contains
the description of it in most unintegbe Latin terms
of architecture. 1t is remarkable that the French
commander Hoche crossed the Rhine at the same spot
in 1897, and upon bridge constructed, like C@sars
for the occasion there is little island in the middle
Of the stream which renders this point Of the river
particularly favorable for such work. Not far from
the river is monument to the modern Cesar.
At Andernach an ancient town founded by the
Romans, and known to them by the name Of Antoni-
acum, the banks Of the river again become high and
broken and another series Of picturesque scenes COM
mences Lofty and swelling hills cut into terraced
vineyards, black and gloomy precipces of basaltic
rock and heavy casle-ruins looking down in gran.
deur from their proud emnences, succeed each other
with little interruption for many miles. The variety
and grandeur of the scenery of this part Of the Rhine
are scarcely inferior to those Of the portion between
Mayence and Coblentz. The mind rests for a
moment from the contemplation Of beautiful OBJ
ject before another presents ITSELF and thus the ex-
element of curiosity and pleasure is kept constantly
alive. Among the most striking natural objects which
are seen in this part Of the Rhine the preci-
pices of basaltic rock, formed of hexagona columns
disposed with all the regularity of archiiec-
ture, and rising perpendicularly from the wa
ter's edge to the height of many hundred feet
This whole district in fact, Of volcanic formation,
and extinct craters are in Of the neighbor
and other mineral productions may be seen in the
musuem Of Bonn, and the various sorts Of rock are
extensively used in building paving, making cement,
&c. The quarries said to have been work ed as
long ago as the days ofthe Romans.
The finest point in all this fine scenery is at the
very end of it. Not many miles above Bonn the
river breaks through range Of mountains, which
stretch away in the distance in succession of sharp
4 a. sid cf tba r;vov
towering precipice more than thousand feet in
height, and each is crowned by castle ruin. One
Of these picturesque ruins is called Roandseck, and
the other Drachenfels and each has its legend The
former was built goes the story, by Roland, the
nephew Of Charlemagne, whose lady-love was hidden
from his eyes in convent which stands upon an
island in the middle Of the river Disappointed in his
love- and denied the sight Of the fair one, he pinned
away his days looking upon her abode Drachenfels
means dragon rock" and the name comes from the
fact of the mountain having been the abode Of dra-
gon which was killed by strong EARNED knight of the
olden time, when there no lack Of wicked giants
and dragons, nor of valorous champions to exerni-
nate them The Drachenfels is celebrated by Byron
"The casted crag of Drachenfels
Frowns DER the wide and winding Rhine,
Whose breast Of waters broadly swells
Between the banks which bear the vine,
And hills all rich with bossomed trees, &c.
"Above, the frequent feudal towers
Through green leaves lift theI walls Of gray,
And many rock which steepy lowers,
And noble arch in proud decay
Look DER this vale of vintage-bowers.
The SPOTS indeed worthy Of poetry and Of legend:
perhaps it is more beautiful than any other single
view on the Rhine; nothing can be more imposing
than these two I" casted crags" frownng across the
river at each other Far up and down the river they
are seen rising in majesty above all surrounding OBJ
jects. They seem like the gateway Of some splendid
palace for they placed at The very entrance of all
the glorious scenery of the Rhine. The traveller
cendng the river the moment he passes this spot,
finds himself in the midst of magnificent panorama
he who passes it in going down, has left behind him
all the beauties ofthe Rhine henceforth it is dulness
doubly dull am sure no traveller babe adieu
to the charming scenes which have thus disappeared
from his sight, without taking long look of farewell
at the Rolandseck and the Drachenfls, and turning
his eyes towards them ut each moment until they have
become invisible in the distance.
So had seen the Rhine and all its " gories ~
And as nothing more remained in thsway of scenery,
stopped at Bonn and at Cologne to hunt up objects
of interest of another Sort reached Bonn before 10
O'Clock, (the distance from Coblentz being some SO
or 60 miles) and spent large part of the day in
inspecting its interesting museums. This town is the
seat Of one of the most celebrated though of the
newest of the German Universities and 1t contains
museums enough to occupy the traveller whole
week. There is one of anatomy, (much inferior to
that of Heidelberg another Of mineralogy, very
large one of natural history, botanic garden col
lection of casts of the pieces of ancient sta
tuary and another of Roman antiquities found in the
neghborhood. This last collection is the most inte-
resting of all, perhaps from its peculiar character