St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1879-11-14

but 1t does many another of the Rhine
legends, and some of its elements are
sure to exist with every old castle. The
number of drowned maidens who haunt
The waters is something prodigious, and
should all Of them put in an appearance
1t once the navigation of the river
would certainly be impeded.
CoBLENz AND EHRENBREITsTEIN.
We reach Coblenz shortly before
three o'clock, after passing Chateau
Hammerstein, the old town
of Andernach with its extensive ruin,
and the picturesque town of Neuwied.
Coblenz is chal mingly situated at the
junction of the Mosel and the Rhine.
Upon the opposite bank of the Rhine is
the great fortress of Ehrenbreitstein,
where some twenty-five hundred of the
Emperor Wilhelm's soldiers are housed,
while twice as many more are in the
city over The river or in the neighbOr-
ing forts which bristle upon all the hills.
Even the portals of the magnificent rail-
way bridge are fortified and present the
aspect of castle rather than that of
roadway for peaceful travel and traffic.
Surely the "Watch on the Rhine" will
be well kept. A few passengers go
ashore at Coblenz, but their places are
filled by others, who like ourselves are
making the Rhine tour.
MORE CASTLES.
Above Ceblenz are more castles and
more vineyards. First appear StoIzen-
fels and Lahneck, which are nearly op-
posite each other, the latter standing
at the mouth of River Lahu, while the
other occupies the summit of cliff
over four hundred feet high on the
south bank of the Rhine. The Castle
of StOlzenfels is owned by the royal
family of Prussia and has been restored
at cost of over a quarter of million
of dollars. The castle of harrisburg is
another imposing relic of feudal times
WHICH, HIS uccn IeStOlcu. Nodi bolH-
hofen are the ruins of the castles of
Sterrenberg and Liebenstein, better
known as "the Brothers, which tell
another tale of love and the crusades.
Higher on the river is the imposing
castle Of Rheinfels, also in ruins, and
then come Schonburg, Gutenfels, Stah-
leck, Furstenberg, Heimburg, Nollin-
gen, Rheinstein, the "Cat" and the
"Mouse," and don't know how many
others. Above the little town of Caub,
and in the middle of the river, is the
Pfalzgrafenstein, castle-like structure
erected about the beginning of the thir-
teenth century as Il toll-hOuse. OF
course the gloomy old structure has its
legend. This time it was the obstinate e
daughter of a Count Palatine in the
time of Henry VI. who would marry
and did marry in spite of locks and
bars. We have meanwhile passed many
picturesque towns, including Boppard,
st. Goar, Bacharach and Lorch and
also the Lurlei, where the siren of the
Rhine had her dwelling place. Now Il
railway tunnel pierces the rock, detract-
ing somewhat from the romantic inter
est which formerly attached to her
erratic ladyship's abode. Every where
are vineyards. The southern slopes
bear long regular lines of vines, and in
many places earth has been placed in
crevices and corners to give the vines II
fOothold and Judgement.
"FAIR BINGEN."
Fair Bingen is upon both the Rhine,
and the Nahe which flows into the
Rhine at the foot of the gentle declvity
upon which the town rests. The slopes
are covered with vineyards, and we are
in the heart of the richest wine districts.
Assmannshausen, which produces the
only red wine made on the Rhine, is be-
low, Rudesheim is nearly opposite, and
Gcisenheim little way above. Back
of the latter town, on vine-clad emil
nence is Schloss Johnnisberg. The pic
turesque castle of Ehrenfels is on the
opposite side of the Rhine from Bingen,
and short distance below the town,
and in the river at the same point rises
the famous Mdusetiurm, or Mouse Tow
er, where, the legend tells us, the wick
ed Archbishop Hatto of Mayence was
devoured by an army of mice. The re-
liability of this story is somewhat shak-
en- by the discovery that the structure
was built about a century after the
ArchbishOp-whO is said to have been
not such bad fellow after all-lived
and died.
Above the Niederwald, the shores are
fiatter and less interesting than below,
although there are in this section sew
eral ancient and very picturesque
towns, one of which is EltviIle, where
one of the earliest printing presses was
set up. 1t was nearly dark when the
steamer drew up near the deserted pal
ace of Grand Duke of Nassau at Bic
brich, from whence we had carriage
ride of some three miles to Wiesbaden.
ATHENIAN.
To THE Young MAN WHO WHISTLES.
all you will in solitary places,
son, if it pleases you, whistle in the