enormous crest of verdure and flowers, whence we may contemplate the magnificence of the Rhine." At first, the Brömserburg belonged to the archbishops of Mainz; next, to the nobles of Rüdesheim-Brömser (a family which died out in 1688); and afterwards it passed through the hands of various owners into those of Prince Metternich, who sold it to the Count von Jugelheim.

From Rüdesheim we always strike inland to the beautiful Niederwald, or Lower Forest. Here are Lagdschloss, a small hunting box; the Bezaubertu Hæhle, or "Magic Grotto," affording three superb tableaux of the castle and church of Falkenburg, Rheinstein, and the Schweizerhaus. Thence we ascend to the artificial ruin of the Rossel, and "under the shade of melancholy boughs" to the Temple; which is situated on the very summit, 780 feet above the Rhine. Both from the Rossel and the Temple the views are grandly impressive; and though many others equal, few, if any, surpass them. They have a character of their own which prevents them from being forgotten, and once seen they are stamped upon the memory for ever.

Passing the confluence of the Nahe with the Rhine, we mark the old quartz rock which rises in the middle of the narrowing river, where the latter seeks to force a passage between the Taunus and the Hundsrück. The rock is crowned with the ruins of an old tower, the Mæusethurm, or Mouse Tower, or Bishop Hatto's Tower. Associated with it is a romantic legend, of which Southey has given a version. The tower was built in the thirteenth century, by Archbishop Siegfried, for the accommodation of the guards who levied the tolls inflicted on passing vessels. Hence it was called the Mauth or Maus, that is, the Toll tower. It was restored in 1856.

Continuing along the right bank, we come to Ehrenfels, the romantic ruins of a castle built in 1210, and frequently occupied by the archbishops of Mainz, when they and their treasures were in danger from their turbulent subjects. It was captured by the Swedes in 1635, and destroyed by the French in 1689. The most delightful and luxuriant vineyards embower these picturesque ruins.

Below Ehrenfels we cross the Bingerloch, an artificial canal excavated in a rocky dyke which, at that point, obstructs the bed of the Rhine. It was constructed by the Prussian government between 1830 and 1832.

We arrive at Lorch, the Laureacum of the Romans, situated at the confluence of the Wisper with the Rhine. In medieval times it was inhabited by numerous nobles, whose mansions are still extant. The church was founded in the twelfth century, but has undergone considerable reconstruction. It has a fine chime of bells, whose melody, gliding over the waters and echoing through the vineyard alleys, has a singularly impressive effect.

On the right bank of the Wisper rises, abrupt and precipitous, the terraced rock known as the Devil's Ladder-Teufelsleiter-crowned by the crumbling ruins of the castle of Nollicht or Nollingen. Even on this rude rock "the flower of a legend blows."

Below Lorch, a fair and well-cultivated little island breaks the waters of the Rhine. Below Bacharach, which will receive attention hereafter, the river plunges into a mass of rocks, with incessant clouds of spray and foam, and would be impassable for ships but for the canal excavated by the Prussian government in 1850. This Wilde Gefecht, however, is one of the most picturesque points on the river.

At a bend of the stream, and on a rocky islet, stands the romantic castle of Pfalz or Pfalzgrabenstein, erected in the fourteenth century by the Emperor Louis the Bavarian. It completely commanded the passage of the Rhine, and levied a toll on all passing vessels. Here Louis le Debonnair died in 840, weary with the fatigues of empire, and longing only for a thatched lodge or leafy but to shelter him in his last home. The "soothing music of the gurgling waters" lulled him to his rest. It was often used as a prison, and its dark and horrible dungeons lie below the level of the river. The castle is accessible by means of a ladder, and the solitary entrance is closed by a portcullis. The well which supplied its inmates with water is filled from a source far deeper than the bed of the Rhine. According to an old belief, the princesses Palatine always came here for their accouchements, and the mother and babe took their first airing in a boat on the surrounding waters.

Opposite Pfalz on the right bank of the Rhine, which, let us remind the reader, is the bank we have been descending, is Caub, with its important slate quarries. It was here, on the 1st of January, 1814, that the Prussian army, under Blucher,

To the north of this little but remarkable town rises conspicuous the castle of Gutenfels. We hear of it as early as 1178, when the lords of Falkenstein sold it to the Palatinate, along with Caub, which, as was customary with the feudal towns, had grown up silently at its feet. It is said to owe its name-Guta's Rock-to the beautiful Beatrix Guta or Guda, the sister of Philip von Falkenstein, with whom our Richard of Cornwall, king of the Romans, became desperately enamoured, and whom he afterwards married. When the storm of the Thirty Years' War raged down the valley of the Rhine, Gustavus Adolphus attempted to dislodge a Spanish garrison which had previously been stationed in it; but the natural and artificial strength of the position foiled all his efforts.

As we descend the river grows narrower, and runs with pent-up waters in a rocky channel. A rock on the right bank, singularly shaped, arrests every eye. It looks as if giants had been constructing a staircase, and had failed in, or grown weary of, their task. The echo here is turned by the inhabitants to some account. It repeats every sound which strikes upon it seven times. As the steamboat passes, a man, standing on the left bank of the river, fires a few pistol shots, that the passengers may be amused with their repeated reverberations. It is a favourite jest with the German students to ask the hidden nymph, "Echo, what is the burgomaster of Oberwesel?" Echo answers, Esel, that is, "an ass."

Much of the poetry of the Rhine centres in this craggy rock. For ley means a rock, and lore is an old word for song, or music. Lurlei or Lorelei is, therefore, the "rock of song;" and the loreleys of the Rhine are singing maidens of great beauty, who, like the sirens of old, beguile the listener to his death. One legend relates that the boatmen sometimes descry on the summit of the rock a maiden of surpassing loveliness. She begins her enticing chant. In spite of themselves they are constrained to listen; and while they listen their boat dashes against the rocks, is shattered to pieces, and they are carried underneath the waves to the crystal halls of the Lurlei.

A Count Palatine was desirous of seeing this siren, whose charms so far excelled all ordinary human beauty. He, too, fell a victim to her arts.

bring the young magician to him, alive or dead. But just as they thought themselves on the point of seizing her, she called upon the river to come to her rescue. Immediately it obeyed. From its foamy waves sprang two white horses, removed the stone on which she was seated, and dragged it down to the river-depth. On their return to the castle, they found that the siren had restored the young count to his home. Since this epoch, she has ceased to show herself; but her soft voice still awakens the murmurs of the evening breeze, and at times she will sport with the boatmen by mimicking their voices.

A small, and gradually decreasing fishery, is carried on in the neighbourhood of the Lurlei-bay. We now pass by the fearful whirlpool of the Baik Bank, and the narrow and dangerous defile of the Gewirra—the Scylla and Charybdis of the Rhine. They prove no obstacle, however, to the progress of the Rhine steamers.

Our course now brings us to Sanct Goarshausen, opposite Sanct Goar. It is situated at the entrance of the beautiful and romantic Swiss valley, between the "Cat" and the "Mouse."

The "Cat" (die Katze) is an ancient castle, founded by the Counts von Katzenelnbogen ("cat's elbow") in 1392. It derived its name, perhaps, not from its lords, but because it watched the merchant vessels, in order to levy exactions upon them, as a cat watches a mouse. After this family died out, in 1470, it passed into the hands of various Hessian princes, until destroyed by the French in 1806. Its ruins command a view both rich and rare.

Opposite to it, but also in a ruined condition, stands the "Mouse" (die Maus), also called the Thurmberg or Kunoberg, built in 1363 by Kuno von Falkenstein, in order to keep the "Cat" under control. "Henceforth," said he, "I will be the mouse which frightens the cat!" And he was right, said Victor Hugo, for it is a formidable pile even to this day.

There is another of these eloquent memorials of feudalism far up the Swiss valley (which is by no means Swiss, though very picturesque in character). It is called the Reichenburg, and its history is easily summed up. As thus:Built in 1280 by Count Wilhelm I. of Katzenelnbogen; destroyed in 1302; reconstructed by Baudoin of Trier in the Oriental style; destroyed