The system of pillage which prevailed throughout Germany among the rulers of these almost inaccessible fortresses, until the vigorous opposition of the towns on the borders of the Rhine put an end to it, is well illustrated by the following anecdote. An archbishop of Cologne, having built a castle, appointed a seneschal to the command of it. The governor, previous to entering upon his office, applied to the bishop to know from whence he was to maintain himself, no revenue having been assigned to him for that purpose. The prelate, by way of answer, merely desired him to observe that his castle stood close to the junction of four roads. A practice very similar to the arbitrary mode of levying tolls and custom duties, adopted by these feudal tyrants, prevailed up to the last century in our own country, in the black-mail exacted by the Highland chiefs and nobles from merchants on their way to the fairs or markets of the north.

One of these ruins has recently been restored as far as possible to its original condition, but only to serve the peaceful purpose of a summer residence for Prince Frederick of Prussia: it is

(1.) The Castle of Vautsberg, or NeuRheinstein. The interior has been very tastefully fitted up, in all respects after the manner of a knightly dwelling of the days of chivalry; the walls hung with ancient armour, the windows filled with painted glass, and the furniture either actually collected from ancient castles and convents, or made conformably to the fashions of former days, so that every article is in keeping with the general design. These and other curiosities which it contains have rendered Rheinstein one of the "Lions" of the Rhine, and it is most liberally thrown open to strangers, who are conducted round the castle by a do.

Schlossvoght.

Wines and Vineyards of the Rhine. Opposite to Rheinstein is the village (rt.) of Assmanshausen, which gives its name to a red wine of high reputation and price. The hills behind and around the town which produce it, are so very steep that it is only by artificial means, often by planting the vines in baskets, that any soil can be retained round their roots. The vineyards are nothing more than a succession of terraces, or steps, extending from the top to the bottom of the hills, some of which must be nearly 1000 feet high. In some places more than twenty terraces may be counted, rising one above the other. They are supported by walls of masonry from five to ten feet high, and the breadth of some of the ledges on which the vines grow, is not more than twice the height of the walls.

To reach many of these narrow plots, the vine-dressers, female as well as male, must scale the precipices, and hang as it were from the face of the rocks, while a great deal of the soil itself and every particle of manure must be carried up on their shoulders. This will give some idea of the labours and expense of such cultivation, and of the great value of every inch of ground in these narrow strips, to repay it.

The life of the Rheinland vinedresser indeed presents a rare example of industry and perseverance. Though by no means rich, they are generally the proprietors of the vineyards they cultivate; and, though their appearance does not altogether verify that which painters draw and poets describe, they at least exhibit an aspect of cheerfulness and intelli

season, but must be carried on perseveringly through the whole year, and is most severe during the heat of summer: the vine is a delicate plant, - frost, rain, or hail may in a few hours annihilate the produce upon which the cultivator depends solely for subsistence. One or two successive seasons of failure will ruin even an opulent family; but when the vintage is good, few of the small proprietors are rich enough to be able to wait until they can obtain a favourable market, but must part with the wine soon after it is made, to the rich speculators, who buy up the whole produce of a district, and take the chance of its turning out good or bad.

between the two extremes is considered the most wholesome and the best; though much depends on the season, which is sometimes favourable to the produce of the heights, sometimes to that of the inferior slopes.

Among the Rhine wines (improperly called Hock in England) the Johannisberg and Steinberg rank first, and on an equal footing, for their exquisite flavour and evanescent bouquet. Next follow Rudesheim (Berg) Markobrunner and Rothenberg, which possess much body and aroma. Hockheim (which grows on the banks of the Maine, not in the Rheingau) ranks with the best of these 2nd class wines. Of the inferior wines, those of Erbach and Hattenheim are the best. The lighter wines, however, are apt to be hard and rather acid; as table wines. The Laubenheim and Nierstein, from the Palatinate above

yence.

From the advantageous exposure produced by this bend in the river, arises the excellence of the wines of the district of the Rheingau, as the rays of the midday sun, instead of being received obliquely, fall full butt upon the vineyards situated on the right bank of the river, and all the best wines are confined to that side. The slaty soil of the hills seems peculiarly favourable for retaining the intense heat of the sun's rays, so necessary for bringing the grape to perfect maturity; and in addition, this favoured portion of the valley of the Rhine is sheltered from N. and E. winds to a great extent, by the intervening barrier of mountains.

The Rheingau is divided into the Upper and Lower Cantons (Gemarkung) relatively to the position of the vineyards near the summits of the hills, or on the margin of the river; the high grounds produce the strongest wines, while that of the low ground has an earthy taste; that which grows at a moderate height

Moselles, are much preferred to them as table wines in Germany. The best red Rhine wine is the Asmanshausen. The vine chiefly cultivated on the Rhine is called Riesling; it yields a wine of fine flavour: the Orleans grape produces a strong-bodied wine.

The vintage on the Rhine used to take place in the middle of October; but, by the present system, it is delayed, in the best vineyards, to November: in fact, it is put off to the last moment the grapes will hang on the bunches. To make the best wines the grapes are sorted, and those only of the best quality employed. The riper bunches are first selected, and the rest left to hang for days or weeks longer.

The culture of the vine was introduced on the Rhine and Mosell by the Emperor Probus.

The Rossel (rt.), a little tower standing on the brink of the heights above Assmanshausen, and just discernible from the river below, is situated within the verge of the Forest of Niederwald, and commands one of the most magnificent views upon the whole course of the Rhine. Assmanshausen is a good point from which to commence the ascent of the Niederwald, though Bingen or Rudesheim, where the inns are better, should be made the head-quarters.

We have now reached the upper limit of the gorge of the Rhine, commencing near Boppart, and af fording so much grand scenery. Between Bingen and Boppart, the Rhine cuts across a chain of mountains running nearly at right angles to the course of its stream. There are good grounds for supposing that at one time (before human record), they entirely stopped its further progress, damming up the waters behind them into a lake which extended as far as Basle, and whose existence is further proved by numerous freshwater deposits, shells, &c., to be found in the valley of the Rhine above Mayence. Some vast convulsion, such as an earthquake, or perhaps even the force of the accumulated waters alone, must have burst through this mountain-wall, and made for the river the gorge or ravine by which it now obtains a free passage to the ocean.

A species of dyke or wall of rock, running obliquely across the river at this spot, is perhaps a remnant of this colossal barrier. It is passable for vessels only at one spot, where a channel called Binger Loch (Hole of Bingen) has been cut through it by artificial means. The impediments occasioned by it in the navigation of the river have been reduced from time to time; but the greatest improvement has been effected within two or three years, by the Prussian government, under whose direction the passage has been widened from 20 to 210 feet, by blasting the sunken rocks in the bed of the Rhine.

(1.) In commemoration of this improvement, a small monument has been set up by the road side; the

pedestal of the obelisk is formed of the stones extracted from the bed of the river.

This navigable channel, three feet deep, lies near the rt, bank, under the shattered walls of the castle of Ehrenfels, an ancient stronghold of the Archbishops of Mayence, built in

1218.

Near to the 1. bank, surrounded by the river, and not far from the spot where the waters of the Nahe unite with those of the Rhine, rises the little, square Mouse Tower, renowned for

The Tradition of Bishop Hatto.
The summer and autumn had been so wet,
That in winter the corn was growing yet,
'T was a piteous sight to see all around,
The grain lie rotting on the ground.

Every day the starving poor
Crowded around Bishop Hatto's door,
For he had a plentiful last year's store;
And all the neighbourhood could tell
His granaries were furnish'd well.
At last Bishop Hatto appointed a day
To quiet the poor without delay :
He bade them to his great barn repair,
And they should have food for the winter

there.

Rejoiced at such tidings good to hear,
The poor folk flock'd from far and near;

The great barn was full as it could hold
Of women and children, and young and old.
Then when he saw it could hold no more,
Bishop Hatto he made fast the door;
And while for mercy on Christ they call,
He set fire to the barn, and burnt them all.
"I'faith 'tis an excellent bonfire!" quoth he,
"And the country is greatly obliged to me,
For ridding it, in these times forlorn,
Of rats that only consume the corn."
So then to his palace returned he,
And he sat down to supper merrily,
And he slept that night like an innocent man,
But Bishop Hatto never slept again.

In the morning as he enter'd the hall
Where his picture hung against the wall,
A sweat like death all o'er him came,
For the rats had eaten it out of the frame.

As he look'd there came a man from his farm,

He had a countenance white with alarm. "My Lord, I open'd your granaries this

that,

For she sat screaming, mad with fear

At the army of rats that were drawing near.

For they have swam over the river so deep,
And they have climb'd the shores so steep,
And now by thousands up they crawl
To the holes and windows in the wall.

Down on his knees the bishop fell;
And faster and faster his beads did he tell,
As louder and louder, drawing near,
The saw of their teeth without he could
hear.

And in at the windows, and in at the door,
And through the walls by thousands they

Having given the romantic tradition, it is proper to add the prosaic and matter-of-fact history of the little tower. It appears to have been built in the thirteenth century, by a Bishop Siegfried (full 200 years after the death of Bishop Hatto), along with the opposite castle of Ehrenfels, as a watch-tower and toll-house for collecting the duties upon all goods which passed the spot. The word maus is probably only an older form of mauth, duty, or toll, and this name, taken in combination with the very unpopular object for which the tower was erected, perhaps gave rise to the dolorous story of Bishop Hatto and the rats.

(1.) The confluence of the Nahe and the Rhine. - Tacitus mentions the bridge of Drusus over the Nahe : the existing structure, erected 1011, and many times renewed, perhaps rests on Roman foundations. The Nahe divides the territory of Prussia from that of Hesse Darmstadt; but as the two states are now united under the same system of customs there is no longer any visitation of baggage by douaniers for those who pass from one into the other.

2. (1.) Bingen. Inns: Weisse Ross (White Horse), facing the river; the Post is not so well situated, but it is at least as good. The very interesting scenery in this neighbourhood is entirely lost to those who content themselves with merely passing up and down the river in a steam-boat.

Two days may be well spent between Bingen and Rudesheim, though an active pedestrian would easily explore the three most interesting spots, the Rochusburg, Rheinstein, and the Niederwald, in one day. A very pleasant excursion may be made up the Nahe from Bingen to Kreuznach and Oberstein (Route C).

Bingen has 4000 inhabitants, and considerable trade for its size. In the town itself, there is not much to be

seen.

The ruin called Klopp, or Drusus' Castle, above it, is said to have been built by the Roman general whose name it still bears, в.с. 13. [?] The view from it is fine, but not equal to that from

(1.) The white Chapel of St. Roch (Rochus Capelle), on the summit of the hill above Bingen, directly opposite Rudesheim. The ascent to it takes half an hour - it may be made in a light carriage. The terrace behind the chapel almost overhangs the Rhine, and commands a prospect not only up, but down the river. The 16th of August is St. Roch's day, when many thousand pilgrims assemble from all parts to pay their vows, and offer their prayers to him. Goëthe has written a very pleasing description of one of these festivals. He presented to the Chapel the altarpiece which decorates its interior.

Instead of descending by the same road, it is well worth while to take the foot-path leading round the back of the hill to a knoll called the Scharlachkopf, which commands an entirely different view - of the valley and windings of the lovely Nahe; the horizon is bounded by the Hundsruck mountains and the Mont Tonnerre (Donnersberg), while immediately under the spectator lie the bridge and town of Bingen.

The slopes at the back of the hill have nearly the same exposure as the vineyards of the Rheingau, and produce a wine but little inferior to them. One hour and a half will suffice for this walk, which, instead of a single view, presents a complete panorama of the surrounding country.

The favourite excursion, however, from Bingen, is the visit to the heights above Rudesheim and Asmanshausen, called the Niederwald, which may be made in three or four hours, but which well deserves to have half a day devoted to it. The following plan of the excursion, having been already tried, will probably be considered worth adopting by others.

"Take a boat from Bingen, and descend the Rhine in twenty minutes to the castle of Rheinstein (p. 256). If you go on foot you will save two miles at least by crossing the Nahe at the ferry under the church of Bingen, instead of going round by the stone bridge. After seeing the castle, cross the Rhine to Assmanshausen. This wine-producing village supports a troop of donkeys for the express purpose of transporting visitors to the top of the heights of the Niederwald. The charge for a donkey to Rudesheim is 1fl. 15kr. Those who prefer walking may experience some difficulty in finding their way among the numerous paths through the woods, without a guide.

"After ascending the gully behind the village for about a mile, as far up as the vine grows, a path will be found to the right, which leads to the Jagd Schloss, hunting seat of the Count Bassenheim, the proprietor of the Niederwald, where refreshments may be had. This may be reached in three-quarters of an hour from Asmanshausen; ten minutes more will bring you to the Bezauberte Höhle (magic cave.) Do not attempt to dissolve the charm attached to the spot, but enter, without asking questions, and you will be rewarded. Within the space of a few feet, three vistas, cut through the trees, disclose three beautiful landscapes of the Rhine, each different from the other, and having all the effect of a diorama.

"At no great distance from the enchanted cave is the Rossel, an artificial ruin, perched on the very verge of the precipice, which at a great height overlooks the black pools and turbulent eddies of the Bingerloch. The ruin of Ehrenfels appears half-way down, hanging as it were to the face of the rock.

"The view is not surpassed by any in the whole course of the Rhine.

"From this point the path again dives into the wood, and at the end of about a mile emerges at

(rt.) "The Temple, a circular building supported on pillars, planted on the brow of the hill, which commands another and quite different prospect, extending up the Rhine, and across to the hills of the Bergstrasse and Odenwald. The author of Pelham calls this one of the noblest landscapes of earth.'

"The agreeable shade of the beech and oak trees, composing the forest of the Niederwald, completely excludes the sun, and renders this excursion doubly pleasant in summer time.

"To descend to Rudesheim from the Temple will not take more than half an hour by the path leading through the vineyards which produce the famous Rudesheim wine. Late