New-York daily tribune., 1843-12-26


fat and unntcrestlng as III It's ncandermgs
through Holland. Its current IS however very
rapid-about louc miles Lour-and, while
slowly mounting against it, The American tour
lst Will have leisure enough to WISH for the fast
STEAMBOATS, OF his own country, and Try to con-
cuer the confusion Of ideas which makes 1t al
most impossible for him to realize that he can be
going South while he is going up a river. The
feeling undoubtedly arises from the chlci rivers
OF America, Gas the Mississippi, the Hudson and
the Connecticut,) running in the opposite dlrcc-
ton to the Rhine, but it is one very difficult to
forget, and is constantly reversing all the points
Of the compass
AT Bonn you first begin to appreciate the ia
nous river, and to confess that it is indeed
." a blending of all beauties; streams AID deIls
Fruit, foliage crag wood cOrhiield mountain, vine,
And chefless castles, breathing stern iare"elis
From grey but leairSs walls where Ruin geeHiy dwels
As we approached that classic town, the msts
which had been frownlng upon our carly start
for Cologne rolled away, and the curtain rose on
the wild group of the "Seven Mountains y or
Siebengebirgc, which arc worthy scntlnels at the
entrance to the Rhine landscape gallery. The
eeologist will be in ecstasies with the lava and
craters which show that they are extinct volca
noes, but the lay traveller will look with most in
terest for +" the castled crag Of Drachenfels." 1t
is the most striking in its position and outline,
with its precipices rising abruptly from the wa
ters edge, and crowned with ruined towers, as
well as for its legendary connection with the hero
n 7 cd
and its more modern associations with Cmlde
Harold The view from It's summit extends
downward TO Cologne and upward to rampant
of towering rocks.
Nearly opposite is Ro'andsecG, upon whose
very top single ivy-mantled spirc and a few
turres are tie only remains OF the castle wherein
the favorite nephew Of Charlemagne lmmGred
himself that he might thence see by day and
night the Convent of Nonnenworth, (still un-
changed in the river at its loot) in which his be-
trothed bride had taken the irrevocable veil, on
hearing false report of his death in the wars.
Schiller has made the story the subject OF one of
his most beautiful ballads, The Knight Of Tog-
genberg,, and Campbell has also embelhshed the
same subject.
At the feet of the Seven Mountains Is
Godes6erg, an insulated rock, rising abruptly
from surrounding PLAIN. 1t greatly resembles
Stirling Castle IN Scotland; but while that is
there a very striking and prominent object,
Godesberr, its Rhenish counterpart is here
scarcely noticed. This is a remarkable illustra-
ZION of the immeasurable superiority OF the sur
rounding scenery, whose brilliant beauties thus
annihilate those OF all minor objects.
The black basaltic precipices, called irpeIer
Lei. have been converted INTO vineyards by the
ingenuity and labor Of the tolllng peasants
Though almost maccessibly steep and utterly
bare rocks, in their crevices arc thrust wicker
baskets filed with mould, and containing the
vines. Without this precauton, every shower
would wash away the earth from their roofs
This unparalleled labor and expense would OF
course not be taken unless remarkably good VINE
was thus obtained Itssuccess probably depends
on the heat absorbed and given out by the oasait'
and perhaps (on Liebigs theory upon the salts
retained by The volcanic rocks.
Nothing will so disappont the traveller on tle
Rhine as the appearance OF the Vineyards SO as
sociated with beauty and poetry, but IN reality
not a whit more romantic than q field OF beans
or hops, climbing up rough poles. Here the oeah
and the vine are often planted together III alter
maize rows: and at little distance they cannot
be distinguished. The vines mount the rivers
hank IN terraces, each little strip of earth beng
snnnorted by wall, often as thick as the ground
above II is wide. These terraces rise one above
the other, I'm one spot to the number oi lhlrty,l
with their whitewashed walls TO the top OF the
hank. which faces the South, leaving not an
inch Of it uninproyed, while the other chtf, called
"the false side,'' is left untouched. In this
northern cline, where the vine seems an exotic
every single beam of sunshine must be carefully
boarded.
Hqmmerstein Castle affords the next fine view
after Drachenfels, especially looking back upon
it, when you see behind its black rocks ana
massy ruins promontory upon promontory, re-
ceding In the distance, each one with some beau
ty peculiar to itself, and each assuming deeper
and deeper tint OF neutral blue till they mlngle
with the color of sky while, winding between
them, and embracing each III turn, the river no.
bly, foams and flows
At 4ndernach the mountains on both sides Of
the Rhine again approach the waters edge, and
form another gloomy and wild pass. Thence to Co.
bisnts, there is little to see and you may safely
take dinner But that nothing may be lost, it is
here always served up on the deck of the steam
boat in the open air 50 that the eyes and the ap-
petite are easted at once and the scenery is like
the accompaniment Of fine music at the repast
Seats arc secured by throwing down your glove