The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1842-04-21
THE DISONIAN.
Foreign Correspondence.
PARIS, 1912.

PARIS, lS42.
In my preceding letters have given the narration
OF my tour along the Rhine, as far as Cobentz.
find that the description occupies time than the
travelling shall hasten along little more rapidly
at present, and try to complete my tour in two or
three letters.
left Coblenz bright and early" before the eve
could well distinguish the loop-holes in the black
wall of the fortress of Ehrenbestein was 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 pctu-
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 recollections with which this region
abounds, and the remains of Roman art and power
which It still contains, that render it interesting to the
traveller. Many of the towns still preserve their
Roman more or less altered and in several of
them 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 lfe by every boy
that has read his commentaries l well recolIect the
picture fit inserted opposite the page which contains
the description of it in most unnellgible 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 Cesar
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 becone high and
broken, and another series of picturesque
mences. Lofty and swelling hills cut into terraced
vineyards, black and gloomy precipices Of basaltic
rock, and heavy cas,e-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 those of the portion between
Mayence and Coblentz. The mind never rests for a
moment from the contemplation of one beautiful OBJ
ject, before another presents itself, and thus the
element of curiosity and pleasure is kept constantly
alive. Among the most striking natural objects which
in this part of the Rhine the preci-
pieces Of basatc rock, formed of hexagonal columns
disposed with all the regularity of architec-
ture, and rising perpendicularly from the
ters edge to the height of many hundred feet
This whole district, in fact is of volcanic formation,
and extinct craters in some of the neighbor
ing mountains. great many specimens of the lava
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 are said to have been worked 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
and irregular peaks On each side of the river Uses
q towering precipice more than thousand feet in
height and each is crowned by castle ruin. One
of these picturesque ruins called Roandseck, and
the other Drachenfels, and each has its legend The
former was built SO 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, be 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 a strong armed knight of the
olden time, when there was lack of wicked giants
and dragons, nor of valorous champions to externi-
nate them. The Drachenfels is celebrated by Byron
"The castled 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 blossomed trees, &c.
"Above, the frequent feudal towers
Through green leaves lift theil walls of gray,
And many rock which steepy lowers,
And noble arch in proud decay
Look DER this vale Of vintage-bowers."
ID &C
perhaps it is more beautiful than any other single
view on the Rhne nothing can be more imposing
than these two castled crags" frowning across the
river at each other Far up and down the river they
are rising in ma esy 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 as
cendng the river, the moment he passes this spot,
finds himself in the midst of magnificent panorama
he who passes in going down, has left behind him
all the beauties fthe Rhne henceforth it is dulness
doubiy dull am no traveller ever babe adieu
to the charming which have thus disappeared
from his sight, without taking long look OF farewell
at the Rolandseck and the Drachenfes, and turning
his ewes towards them each moment until they have
become invisible in the distance.
So / had seen the Rhine and all its glories p
And as nothing remained in the way 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 Cobentz being some so
or 60 miles, and | spent large part OF the day IN
inspecting its interesting museums This town is the
of of the most celebrated, though one 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 of natural history botanic garden col
lection of casts of the master pieces of ancient sta