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GIFT OF 

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ROLLO ON THE RHINE, 



JACOB ABBOTT. 



BOSTON: 
PUBLISHED BY TAGGARD AND THOMPSON 

M DCCC LXIV. 



Entered,, according to Act of Congress, hi the yflr 1355, fty 

JACOB ABBOTT, 
IB tbe Clerk s Office of toe District Court oS On District f 



BTBREOTTPED AT * H 
BOSTON BTKKEOTTPI FOOWDHtf 

EIVEESIDE, CAMBRIDGE: PRINTED BY H. o HOUSBTO 



OKDER OF THE VOLUMES 

ROLLO ON THE ATLANTIC. 
ROLLO IN PARIS. 
ROLLO IN SWITZERLAND. 
ROLLO IN LONDON. 
ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 
ROLLO IN SCOTLAND. 
ROLLO IN GENEVA. 
ROLLO IN HOLLAND. 
ROLLO IN NAPLES. 
ROLLO IN ROME. 



PRINCIPAL PERSONS OF THE STORY. 

ROLLO ; twelve years of age. 

MR. and MRS. HOLIDAY ; Rollo s father and mother, travelling in 

Europe. 

THANNY ; Rollo s younger brother. 
JANE j Rollo s cousin, adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Holiday. 
MR. GEORGE ; a young gentleman, Rollo s uncle. 



438894 



PRINCIPAL PERSONS OF THE STORY. 

ROLLO ; twelve years of age. 

MR. and MRS. HOLIDAY ; Rollo s father and mother, travel* 

ling in Europe. 

THANNY ; Rollo s younger brother. 

JANE ; Rollo s cousin, adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Holiday. 
Ma. GEORGE ; a young gentleman, Rollo s uncle. 



CONTENTS. 



FAGB 



I. THE APPROACH TO COLOGNE, . . 13 
II. THE UNFINISHED CATHEDRAL, ... 28 

III. THE GALLERIES, 

IV. TRAVELLING ON THE KHINB, . . .60 
V. THE SIEBEN GEBIRGEN, 77 

VI. ROLAND S TOWER, 

VII. HOLLO S LIST, 107 

VIII. A SABBATH ON THE RHINE, . . I 17 

IX. EHRENBREITSTEIN, < 135 

X. ROLLO S LETTER, 141 

XL THE RAFT, . 
XII. DINNER, 168 

XIII. BINGEN, 185 

XIV. THE RUIN IN THE GARDEN, . . 194 
XV. RHEINSTEIN, 202 

Ol Q 

CONCLUSION. 



ENGRAVINGS. 



ROLANDSECK AND DfiACHENFELS. FRONTISPIECE. 

THE RIDE, 12 

COLOGNE IN SIGHT, 19 

THE BEGGAR, 31 

MINNIE S ROGUERY, 51 

TOWING, 63 

DONKEY RIDING, 75 

THE STUDENTS, 114 

THE NUN, 122 

THE EMIGRANTS, 132 

ROLLO ON THE RAFT, 163 

DINNER ON THE RHINE, 173 

MINNIE, 190 

THE NIGHT JOURNEY, 218 

(10) 



HOLLO ON THE RHINE. 

CHAPTER I. 
THE APPROACH TO COLOGNE. 

A birdseye view of Europe. Switzerland ; Tyrol ; Savoy. 

IF a man were to be raised in a balloon high 
enough above the continent of Europe to sur 
vey the whole of it at one view, he would see the 
land gradually rising from the borders of the sea 
on every side, towards a portion near the centre, 
where he would behold a vast region of moun 
tainous country, with torrents of water running 
down the slopes and through the valleys of it, 
while the summits were tipped with perpetual 
snow. The central part of this mass of moun 
tains forms what is called Switzerland, the eastern 
part is the Tyrol, and the western Savoy. But 
though the men who live on these mountains have 
thus made three countries out of them, the whole 
region is in nature one. It constitutes one mighty 
mass of mountainous land, which is lifted up so 
high into the air that all the summits rise into 

(13) 



ji ;*; y 3i o LQ. Jo s?. .T.H E RHINE. 

The four great rivers of Europe. Their courses. 

the regions of intense and perpetual cold, and 
so condense continually, from the atmosphere, 
inexhaustible quantities of rain and snow. 

The water which falls upon this mountainous 
region must of course find its way to the sea. In 
doing so the thousands of smaller torrents unite 
with each other into larger and larger streams, 
until at length they make four mighty rivers 
the largest and most celebrated in Europe. All 
the streams of the southern slopes of the moun 
tains form one great river, which flows east into 
the Adriatic. This river is the Po. On the 
western side the thousands of mountain torrents 
combine and form the Rhone, which, making a 
great bend, turns to the southward, and flows into 
the Mediterranean. On the eastern side the 
water can find no escape till it has traversed the 
whole continent to the eastward, and reached the 
Black Sea. This stream is the Danube. And 
finally, on the north the immense number of cas 
cades and torrents which come out from the gla 
ciers, or pour down the ravines, or meander 
through the valleys, or issue from the lakes, of 
the northern slope of the mountains, combine at 
Basle, and flow north across the whole continent, 
nearly six hundred miles, to the North Sea. 
This river is the Rhine. 

All this, which I have thus been explaining, 



THE APPROACH TO COLOGNE. 15 

The River Rhine. Its fertile intervals. 

may be seen very clearly if you turn to any map 
of Europe, and find the mountainous region in the 
centre, and then trace the courses of the four 
great rivers, as I have described them. 

It would seem that the country through which 
the Kiver Khine now flows was at first very un 
even, presenting valleys and broad depressions, 
which the waters of the river filled, thus forming 
great shallow lakes, that extended over very con 
siderable tracts of country. In process of time, 
however, these lakes became filled with the sedi 
ment which was brought down by the river, and 
thus great flat plains of very rich and level land 
were formed. At every inundation of the river, 
of course, these plains, or intervals, as they are 
sometimes called, would be overflowed, and fresh 
deposits would be laid upon them ; so that in the 
course of ages the surface of them would rise 
several feet above the ordinary level of the river. 
In fact they would continue to rise in this way 
until they were out of the reach of the highest 
inundations. 

Immense plains of the most fertile land, which 
Beem to have been formed in this way, exist at 
the present time along the banks of the Rhine at 
various places. These plains are all very highly 
cultivated, and are rich and beautiful beyond de 
scription. To see them, however, it is necessarj 



lo ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

The various regions through which the Rhine flows. The wine districts. 

to travel over them in a diligence, or post chaise, 
or by railway trains ; for in sailing up and down 
the river, along the margin of them, in a steam 
boat, you are not high enough to overlook them. 
You see nothing all the way, in these places, but 
a low, green bank on each side of the river, with 
a fringe of trees and shrubbery along the margin 
of it. 

For about one hundred miles of its course, 
however, near the central portion of it, the river 
flows through a very wild and mountainous dis 
trict of country, or rather through a district 
which was once wild, though now, even in the 
steepest slopes and declivities, it is cultivated like 
a garden. The reason why these mountainous 
regions are so highly cultivated is because the 
soil and climate are such that they produce the 
best and most delicious grapes in the world. 
They have consequently, from time immemorial, 
been inhabited by a dense population. Every 
foot of ground where there is room for a vine to 
grow is valuable, and where the slope was origi 
nally steep and rocky, the peasants of former 
ages have gathered out the rocks and stones, and 
built walls of them to terrace up the land. The 
villages of these peasants, too, are seen every 
where nestling in the valleys, and clinging to the 
Bides of the hills, while the summits of almost all 



THE APPROACH TO COLOGNE. 17 

Mr. George s plan. A tour in Germany. Approaching Cologne. 

the elevations are crowned with the ruins of old 
feudal castles built by barons, or chiefs, or kings, 
or military bishops of ancient times, famous in 
history. This picturesque portion of the river, 
which extends from Bonn, a little above Cologne, 
to Mayence, which towns you will readily find 
on almost any map of Europe, was the part 
which Mr. George and Rollo particularly desired 
to see. When they left Switzerland they intended 
to come down the river, and see the scenery in 
descending. But Mr. George met some friends 
of his on the frontier, who persuaded him to make 
a short tour with them in Germany, and so come 
to the Rhine at Cologne. 

" We can then," said he to Rollo, " go up the 
river, and see it in ascending, which I think is 
the best way. When we get through all the fine 
scenery, which we shall do at Mayence, we 
can then go up to Strasbourg, and take the railroad 
there for Paris the same way that we came." 

" Yes," said Rollo, " I shall like that." 

Rollo liked it simply because it would make 
the journey longer. 

When at length, at the end of the tour in Ger 
many, our travellers were approaching Cologne 
on the Rhine, Rollo began to look out, some miles 
before they reached it, to watch for the first ap 
pearance of the town. He had been riding in 
2 



18 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

Hollo and Mr. George in the diligence. Hollo s description of the city. 

the coupe of the diligence * with his uncle ; but 
now, in order that he might see better, he had 
changed his place, and taken a seat on the ban 
quette. The banquette is a seat on the top of 
the coach, and though it is covered above, it is 
open in front, and so it affords an excellent view. 
Mr. George remained in the coupe, being very 
much interested in reading his guide book. 

At length Rollo called out to tell his uncle 
that the city was in view. The windows of the 
coupe were open, so that by leaning over and 
looking down he could speak to his uncle without 
any difficulty. 

Mr. George was so busy reading his guide 
book that he paid little attention to what Rollo 
said. 

" Uncle George," said Rollo, calling louder, 
" I can see the city ; and in the midst of it is a 
church with a great square tower, and something 
very singular on the top of it." 

Mr. George still continued his reading. 

" There is a spire on the top of the church," 
continued Rollo, " but it is bent down on one 
side entirely, as if it had half blown over." 

" 0, no," said Mr. George, still continuing to 
read. 

* The stage coaches on the continent of Europe are called 
diligences. 



THE APPROACH TO COLOGNE. 19 

Viewing Cologne from the diligence. 

" It really is," said Rollo. " I wish you would 
look, uncle George. It is something very singu 
lar indeed." 




COLOGNE IX SIGHT. 



Mr. George yielded at length to these impor 
tunities, and looked out. The country around in 
every direction was one vast plain, covered with 
fields of grain, luxuriant and beautiful beyond 



20 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

Singular appearance of the fields. Hollo s companion. 

description. It was without any fences or other 
divisions except such as were produced by differ 
ent kinds of cultivation, so that the view extended 
interminably in almost every direction. There 
were rows and copses of trees here and there, 
giving variety and life to the view, and from 
among them were sometimes to be seen the spires 
of distant villages. In the distance, too, in the 
direction in which Rollo pointed, lay the town of 
Cologne. The roofs of the houses extended over 
a very wide area, and among them there was seen 
a dark square tower, very high, and crowned, as 
Rollo had said, with what seemed to be a spire, 
only it was bent over half way ; and there it lay 
at an angle at which no spire could possibly stand. 

" What can it mean? " asked Rollo. 

" I am sure I do not know," said Mr. George. 

Next to Rollo, on the banquette, was seated a 
young man, who had mounted up there about an 
hour before, though Rollo had not yet spoken to 
him. Rollo now, however, turned to him, and 
asked him, in English, if he spoke English. 

The young man smiled and shook his head, 
implying that he did not understand. 

Rollo then asked him, in French, if he spoke 
French. 

The young man said, " JVein." * 

* Pronounced nine. 



THE APPROACH TO COLOGNE. 21 

Talking German. What it was that Hollo saw. 

Rollo knew that nein was the German word 
for no, and he presumed that the language of his 
fellow-traveller was German. So he pointed to 
the steeple, and asked, 

11 Was ist das ? " 

This phrase, Was * ist das ? is the German of 
What is that ? Rollo knew very little of Ger 
man, but he had learned this question long before, 
having had occasion to ask it a great many times. 
It is true he seldom or never could understand 
the answers he got to it, but that did not prevent 
him from asking it continually whenever there 
was occasion. He said it was some satisfaction 
to find that the people could understand his ques 
tion, even if he could not understand what they 
said in reply to it. 

The man immediately commenced an earnest 
explanation ; but Rollo could not understand one 
word of it, from beginning to end. 

The truth of the case was, that the supposed 
leaning spire, which Rollo saw, was in reality a 
monstrous crane that was mounted on one of the 
towers of the celebrated unfinished cathedral at 
Cologne. This cathedral was commenced about 
six hundred years ago, and was meant to be the 
grandest edifice of the kind in the world. They 
laid out the plan of it five hundred feet long, and 

* The w is pronounced like v. 



22 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

Measuring the church. 

two hundred and fifty feet wide, and designed to 
carry up the towers and spires five hundred feet 
high. You can see now how long this church 
was to be by going out into the road, or to any 
other smooth and level place, and there measur 
ing off two hundred and fifty paces by walking. 
The pace that is, the long step of a boy of 
ten or twelve years old is probably about two 
feet. That of a full grown man is reckoned at 
three feet. So that by walking off, by long steps, 
till you have counted two hundred and fifty of 
them, you can see how long this church was to 
be ; and then by turning a corner and measuring 
one hundred and twenty-five paces in a line at 
right angles to the first, you will see how wide it 
was to be. To walk entirely round such an area 
as this would be nearly a third of a mile. 

The church was laid out and begun, and during 
the whole generation of the workmen that began 
it, the building was prosecuted with all the means 
and money that could be procured ; and when 
that generation passed away, the next continued 
the work, until, at length, in about a hundred 
years it was so far advanced that a portion of it 
could have a roof put over it, and be consecrated 
as a church. They still went on, for one or two 
centuries more, until they had carried up the 
walls to a considerable height in many parts, and 



THE APPROACH TO COLOGNE. 23 

The building is interrupted. 

had raised one of the towers to an elevation 
of about a hundred and fifty feet. When the 
work had advanced thus far the government of 
Holland, in the course of some of the wars in 
which they were engaged, closed the mouth of 
the Rhine, so that the ships of Cologne could no 
more go up and down to get out to sea. This 
they could easily do, for the country of Holland 
is situated at the mouth of the Rhine, and the 
Dutch government was at that time extremely 
powerful. They had strong fleets and great for 
tresses at the mouth of the river, and thus they 
could easily control the navigation of it. Thus 
the merchants of Cologne could no more import 
goods from foreign lands for other people to come 
there and buy, but the inhabitants were obliged 
to send to Holland to purchase what they 
required for themselves. The town, therefore, 
declined greatly in wealth and prosperity, and no 
more money could be raised for carrying on the 
work of the cathedral. 

At the time when the work was interrupted 
the builders were engaged chiefly on one of the 
towers, which they had carried up about one 
hundred and fifty feet. The stones which were 
used for this tower were very large, and in order 
to hoist them up the workmen used a monstrous 
crane, which was reared on the summit of it. 



24 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

The crane. Hoisting the stones. Danger. 

This crane was made of timbers rising obliquelj 
from a revolving platform in the centre, and 
meeting in a point which projected beyond the 
wall in such a manner that a chain from the end 
of it, hanging freely, would descend to the ground. 
The stones which were to go up were then fas 
tened to this chain, and hoisted up by machinery. 
When they were raised high enough, that is, just 
above the edge of the wall, the whole crane was 
turned round upon its platform, in such a manner 
as to bring the stone in over the wall ; and then 
it was let down into the place which had been 
prepared to receive it. 

When the work on the cathedral was suspended 
on account of the want of funds, the men left this 
crane on the top of the tower, because they hoped 
to be able to resume the work again before long. 
But years and generations passed, and the pros 
pect did not mend ; and at last the old crane, 
which in its lofty position was exposed to all 
the storms and tempests of the sky, of course be 
gan gradually to decay. It is true it was pro 
tected as much as possible by a sort of casing 
made around it, to shelter it from the weather ; 
but notwithstanding this, in the course of several 
centuries it became so unsound that there be 
gan to be danger that it might fall. The au 
thorities of the town, therefore, decided to take 



THE APPROACH TO COLOGNE. 25 

T^t, crane taken down. The thunder storm. A new crane. 

it down, intending to postpone putting up a new 
one until the work of finishing the cathedral 
should be resumed, if indeed it ever should be 
resumed. 

The people of the town were very sorry to see 
the crane taken down. It had stood there, like 
a leaning spire, upon the top of the cathedral, 
from their earliest childhood, and from the ear 
liest childhood, in fact, of their fathers and grand 
fathers before them. Besides, the taking down of 
the crane seemed to be, in some sense, an indica 
tion that the thought of ever finishing the cathe 
dral was abandoned. This made them still more 
uneasy, and a short time afterwards a tremendous 
thunder storm occurred, and this the people con 
sidered as an expression of the displeasure of 
Heaven at the impiety of forsaking such a work, 
and as a warning to them to put up the crane 
again. So a new crane was made, and mounted 
on the tower as before, and being encased and 
enclosed like the other, it had at a distance the 
appearance of a leaning spire, and it was this 
which had attracted Kollo s attention in his ap 
proach to Cologne. 

Within a few years, on account of the opening 
again of the navigation of the Rhine, and other 
causes, the city of Cologne, with all the surround 
ing country, has been returning to its former 



26 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

The building resumed. Exploring. 

prosperity, and the plan of finishing the cathedral 
has been resumed. The government of Prussia 
takes a great interest in the undertaking, and the 
kings and princes of other countries in Germany 
make contributions to it. A society has been 
organized, too, to collect funds for this purpose 
all over Europe. More than a million of dollars 
have already been raised, and the work of com 
pleting the cathedral has been resumed in good 
earnest, and is now rapidly going on. 

All this Rollo s fellow-traveller attempted to 
explain to him ; but as he spoke in German, 
Rollo did not understand him. 

When Mr. George and Rollo reached their 
hotel, and had got fairly established in their 
room, Mr. George took his cane and prepared to 
" go exploring," as he called it. 

" Well, Rollo," said he, " what shall we go to 
see first ? " 

" I want to go and see the cathedral," replied 
Rollo. 

" The cathedral ? " said Mr. George. " I am 
surprised at that. You don t usually care much 
about churches." 

" But this does not look much like a church," 
said Rollo. " I saw the end of it as we came 
into the town. It looks like a range of cliffs 
rising high into the air, with grass and bushes 



THE APPROACH TO COLOGNE. 27 

How the cathedral looks. 

growing on the top of them, and wolves and 
bears reaching out their heads and looking 
down." 

Mr. George complied with Rollo s request, and 
went to see the cathedral first. The adventures 
which the travellers met with on the excursion 
will be described in the next chapter. 



28 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

A commissioner. Pleasure travelling. The guides. 



CHAPTER II. 
THE UNFINISHED CATHEDRAL. 

As soon as Mr. George and Rollo issued from 
the door of their hotel into the street, which was 
very narrow and without sidewalks, so that they 
were obliged to walk in the middle of it, a young 
man, plainly but neatly dressed, came up to them 
from behind, and said something to them in Ger 
man. He was what is called a commissioner, and 
he was coming to offer to act as their guide in 
seeing the town. 

Nearly all the travelling on the Rhine is pleas 
ure travelling. The strangers consequently, who 
arrive at any town or city by the steamboats and 
by railway, come, almost all of them, for the pur 
pose of seeing the churches and castles, and other 
wonders of the place, and not to transact busi 
ness ; and in every town there is a great number 
of persons whose employment it is to act as guides 
in showing these things. These men hover about 
the doors of the hotels, and gather in front of all 
the celebrated churches, and in all public places 



THE UNFINISHED CATHEDRAL. 29 

The commissioner offers his services. 

where travellers are expected to go ; and as soon 
as they see a gentleman, or a party of gentlemen 
and ladies, coming out of their hotel, or approach 
ing any place of public interest, they immediately 
come up to them, and offer their services. Some 
times their services are valuable, and the travel 
ler is very ready to avail himself of them, espe 
cially when in any particular town there is a 
great deal to see, and he has but little time to see 
it. At other times, however, it is much pleas- 
anter to go alone to the remarkable places, as a 
map of the city will enable any one to find them 
very easily, and the guide book explains them in 
a much more satisfactory manner than any of 
these commissioners can do it. 

The commissioners generally speak French, 
English, and German, and after trying one of 
these tongues upon the strangers whom they ac 
cost, and finding that they are not understood, 
they try another and another until they suc 
ceed. 

The commissioner in this case addressed Mr. 
George first in German. Mr. George said, 
"JVem," meaning no, and walked on. 

The commissioner followed by his side, and be 
gan to talk in French, enumerating the various 
churches and other objects of interest in Cologne, 
and offering to go and show them. 



30 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

His importunities. Unsuccessful. He goes away. 

" No," said Mr. George, " I am acquainted with 
the town, and I have no need of a guide." 

Mr. George had studied the map and the guide 
book, until he knew the town quite well enough 
for all his purposes. 

" You speak English, perhaps," said the com 
missioner, and then proceeded to repeat what he 
had said before, in broken English. He supposed 
that Mr. George and Rollo were English people, 
and that they would be more likely to engage 
him as a guide, if they found that he could explain 
the wonders to them in their own language. 

Mr. George said, " No, no, I do not wish for a 
guide." 

" Dere is die churts of St. Ursula," said the 
commissioner, persisting, " and die grand towers 
of die gross St. Martin, which is vare bu ful." 

Mr. George finding that refusals did no good, 
determined to take no further notice of the com 
missioner, and so began to talk to Rollo, walking 
on all the time. The commissioner continued for 
some time to enumerate the churches and other 
public buildings, which he could show the stran 
gers if they would but put themselves under his 
guidance ; but when at length he found that they 
would not listen to him, he went away. 

Very soon an old beggar man came limping 
along on a crutch, with a countenance haggard 



THE UNFINISHED CATHEDRAL. 31 

A pertinacious beggar. 

and miserable, and, advancing to them, held 
out his cap for alms. Mr. George, who thought 
it was not best to give to beggars in the streets, 
was going on without regarding him ; but the 




THE BEGGAR. 

man hobbled on by the side of the strangers, and 
seemed about to be as pertinacious as the com 
missioner. They went on so for a little distance, 
when at length, just as the man was about giving 



32 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

Sly charity. The beggar gone. A batz. 

up in despair, Rollo put his hand in his pocket, 
and feeling among the money there, happened to 
bring up a small copper coin, which he at once 
and instinctively dropped into the beggar s cap. 
He performed the movement a little slyly, so that 
Mr. George did not see him. This he was able 
to do from the fact that the beggar was on his 
side, and not on Mr. George s, and, moreover, a 
little behind. 

As soon as the man received the coin, he took 
it, put the cap on his head, and fell back out of 
view. 

" I am glad he is gone," said Mr. George ; " I 
was afraid he would follow us half through the 
town." 

Rollo laughed. 

"What is it?" said Mr. George. "What 
makes you laugh ? " 

" Why, the fact is," said Rollo, " I gave him a 
batz." 

" Ah ! " said Mr. George. 

" Yes," said Rollo, " or something like a batz, 
that I had in my pocket." 

A batz is a small Swiss coin, of the value of a 
fifth of a cent. Rollo had become familiar with 
this money in the course of his travels in Swit 
zerland, but he did not yet know the names of 
the Prussian coins. The money which he gave 



THE UNFINISHED CATHEDRAL. 83 

Hollo s way. Another commissioner. Narrow streets. 

the beggar was really what they called a pfen- 
mge.* 

Rollo supposed that his uncle would not quite 
approve of his giving the beggar this money ; but 
as he never liked to have any secrecy or conceal 
ment in what he did, he preferred to tell him. 
This is always the best way. 

As soon as the beggar had gone, another com 
missioner came to offer his services. This time, 
however, Mr. George, after once telling the man 
that he did not wish for his services, took no fur 
ther notice of him ; and so he soon went away. 

The streets of Cologne are exceedingly narrow, 
and there are no sidewalks or scarcely any. 
In one place Mr. George and Rollo passed through 
a street which was so narrow, that, standing in 
the middle and extending his hands, Mr. George 
could touch the buildings at the same time on 
each side. And yet it seemed that carriages 
were accustomed to pass through this street, as 
it was paved regularly, like the rest, and had 
smooth stones laid on each side of it for wheels 
to run in. with grooves, which seemed to have 
been worn in them by the wheels that had passed 
there. 

The reason why the streets are so narrow in 

* Pronounced fenniger. 

3 



34 EOLLO ON THE RHINE. 

The cathedral. Venerable ruins. Curious vegetation. 

these old towns is, that in the ancient times, when 
they were laid out, there were no wheeled car 
riages in use, and the streets were only intended 
for foot passengers. When, at length, carriages 
came into use, the houses were all built, and so 
the streets could not easily be widened. 

Our travellers at length reached a large, open 
square, on the farther side of which the immense 
mass of the cathedral was seen rising, like a gray 
and venerable ruin. The wall which formed the 
front of it, and which terminated above in the 
unfinished .mason work of the towers, was very 
irregular in its outline on the top, having re 
mained just as it was left when the builders 
stopped their work upon it, five hundred years 
ago. The whole front of this wall, having been 
formed apparently of clusters of Gothic columns, 
which had become darkened, and corroded, and 
moss-covered by time, appeared very much, as 
Eollo had said, like a range of cliffs the resem 
blance being greatly increased by the green fringe 
of foliage with which the irregular outline of the 
top was adorned. It may seem strange that such 
a vegetation as this could arise and be sustained 
at such a vast elevation. But ancient ruins are 
almost always found to be thus covered with 
plants which grow upon them, even at a very 
great height above the ground, with a luxuriance 



THE UNFINISHED CATHEDRAL. 35 

The causes of its growth on ruins. 

vrhich is very surprising to those who witness this 
phenomenon for the first time. The process is 
this : Mosses and lichens begin to grow first on 
the stones and in the mortar. The roots of these 
plants strike in, and assisted by the sun and rain, 
they gradually disintegrate a portion of the ma 
sonry, which, in process of time, forms a soil 
sufficient for the seeds of other plants, brought by 
the wind, or dropped by birds, to take root in. 
At first these plants do not always come to matu 
rity ; but when they die and decay, they help to 
increase the soil, and to make a better bed for 
the seeds that are to come afterwards. Thus, in 
the course of centuries, the upper surfaces of old 
walls and towers become quite fertile in grass 
atid weeds, and sometimes in shrubbery. I once 
gathered sprigs from quite a large rosebush 
which I found growing several hundred feet 
above the ground, on one of the towers of the 
cathedral of Strasbourg. It was as flourishing 
a rosebush as I should wish to see in any gentle 
man s garden. 

What Hollo meant by the bears and wolves 
which he said he saw looking down from these 
cliff-like towers, were great stone figures of these 
animals, that projected from various angles and 
cornices here and there, to serve as waterspouts. 

There was an immense door of entrance to the 



36 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

The interior of the cathedral. 

church, at the end of a very deep, arched recess 
in the middle of the wall, and Mr. George and 
Rollo went up to it to go in. They were met at 
the door by another commissioner, who offered his 
services to show them the church. Mr. George 
declined this offer, and went in. 

The feeling of amazement and awe which the 
aspect of the interior of the cathedral first awa 
kened in the minds of our travellers was for a 
moment interrupted by a man in a quaint cos 
tume, who came up to them, holding a large silver 
salver in his hand, with money in it. He said 
something to Mr. George and Rollo in German. 
They did not understand what he said ; but his 
action showed that he was taking up a contribu 
tion, for something or other, from the visitors who 
came to see the church. Mr. George paid no 
attention to him, but walked on. 

On looking above and around them, our travel 
lers found themselves in the midst of a sort of for 
est of monstrous stone columns, which towered to a 
va>-.t height above their heads, and there were lost 
in vaults and arches of the most stupendous mag 
nificence and grandeur. The floor was of stone, 
being formed of square flags, all cracked and cor 
roded by time. Along the sides of the church 
were various chapels, all adorned with great 
paintings, and containing altars richly furnished 



THE UNFINISHED CATHEDRAL. 37 

A magnificent scene. The iron screen. The view within. 

with silver lamps, and glittering paraphernalia 
of all kinds. Parties of ladies and gentlemen, 
strangers from all lands, were walking to and 
fro at leisure about the floor, looking at the 
paintings, or gazing up into the vaulted roofs, or 
studying out the inscriptions on the monuments 
aid sculptures which meet the eye on every hand. 

All this wos in the body of the church, or the 
nave, as it is called, which is in fact only the vesti 
bule to the more imposing magnificence of what 
is beyond, in the ambulatory and in the choir. 
Mr. George and Rollo advanced in this direction, 
and at length they came to a vast screen made of 
a very lofty palisade of iron. They approached 
a door in the centre of the screen, and looking 
through between the iron bars, they beheld a 
scene of grandeur and magnificence wholly inde 
scribable. The carved oak stalls, the gorgeously 
decorated altar, the immense candlesticks with 
candles twenty feet high, and the lofty ceiling 
with its splendid frescoes, formed a spectacle so 
imposing that they both gazed at it for some mo 
ments in silent wonder. 

" I wish we could get in," said Rollo. 

" I wish so too," said Mr. George ; " but I sup 
pose that this is a sort of sacred place." 

A moment after this, while Mr. George and 
Rollo were looking through this grating, a sudden 



38 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

The music of the choir. Mr. George and Rollo find a door open. 

sound of music burst upon their ears. It waa 
produced evidently by an organ and a choir of 
singers, and it seemed to come from far above their 
heads. The sound was at once deepened in vol 
ume by the reverberation of the vaults and arches 
of the cathedral, and at the same time softened in 
tone, so that the effect was inconceivably solemn. 

" Hark ! " said Mr. George. 

" Where does that music come from ? " said 
Rollo. 

" Hark ! " repeated Mr. George. 

So Mr. George and Rollo stood still and lis 
tened almost breathlessly to the music, until it 
ceased. 

" That was good music," said Rollo. 

Mr. George made a sort of inarticulate excla 
mation, which seemed to imply that he had no 
words to express the emotion which the music 
awakened in his mind, and walked slowly away. 

Presently they came to a place on one side, 
where there was a great iron gate or door in the 
screen, which seemed to be ajar. 

" Here s a door open," said Mr. George ; " let 
us go in here." 

Rollo shrank back a little. " I m afraid they 
will not let us go in here," said he. " It looks 
like a private place." 

Rollo was always very particular, in all his 



THE UNFINISHED CATHEDRAL. 39 

Caution. Entering. The chapels. 

travels, to avoid every thing like intrusion. He 
would never go where it seemed to him doubtful 
whether it was proper to go. By this means he 
saved himself from a great many awkward pre 
dicaments that persons who act on a contrary 
principle often get themselves into while travel 
ling. Mr. George was not quite so particular. 

" It looks rather private," said Mr. George ; 
" but if they do not wish us to go in, they must 
keep the door shut." 

So he pushed the great iron gate open, and 
walked in. Rollo followed him, though some 
what timidly. 

They passed between a row of chapels * on one 
side, and a high, carved partition on the other, 
which seemed to separate them from the choir, 
until, at length, they came to the end of the parti 
tion, where there was a gate that led directly into 
the choir. Mr. George turned in, followed by 
Rollo, and they found themselves standing in the 
midst of a scene of gorgeous magnificence which 
it is utterly impossible to describe. 



* These chapels are recesses or alcoves along the side of the 
church, fitted up and furnished with altars, crucifixes, confes 
sionals, paintings, images, and other sacred emblems connected 
with the ritual of the Catholic worship. They are usually raised 
a step or two above the floor of the church, and are separated 
from it by an ornamented railing, with a gate in the middle of it: 



40 R o L L o ON THE RHINE. 

Where the music came from. Rollo espies a congregation. 

" That is where the music came from that we 
heard," said Rollo, pointing upward. 

Mr. George looked up where Rollo had pointed, 
and there he saw a gallery at a great elevation 
above them, with a choir of singers in front, and 
an enormous organ towering to a great height 
towards the vaulted roof behind. The choir was 
separated from the body of the church by ranges 
of columns above, and by richly-carved and orna 
mental screens and railings below. The ceilings 
were beautifully painted in fresco, and here and 
there were to be seen lofty windows of stained 
glass, antique and venerable in form, and inde 
scribably rich and gorgeous in coloring. 

After gazing about upon this scene for a few 
minutes with great admiration and awe, Rollo 
called his uncle s attention to a discovery which 
he suddenly made. 

" See," said he ; " uncle George, there is a 
congregation." 

So saying, Rollo pointed across the choir to a 
sort of gateway, which was opposite to the side 
on which they came in, and where, through the 
spaces which opened between the great columns 
that intervened, a congregation were seen assem 
bled. They were in a chapel which was situated 
in that part of the church. The chapel itself 
was full, and a great many persons were seated 



THE UNFINISHED CATHEDRAL. 41 

The holy water at the entrance of the chapel. The service. 

in the various spaces rear. Mr. George and 
Hollo walked across the choir, and joined this 
congregation by taking a position near a pillar, 
where they could see what was going on. 

At a corner near a little gateway in a railing, 
where the people appeared to come in, there was 
a woman sitting with a brush in her hand. The 
brush was wet with holy water. The people, as 
they came in, for a few came in after Rollo and 
Mr. George arrived at the place, touched their 
fingers to this brush, to wet them, and then 
crossed themselves with the holy water. 

At the altar was a priest dressed in splendid 
pontificals. He was standing with his back to 
the people. There was a great number of im 
mensely tall candlesticks on each side of him, and 
a great many other glittering emblems. The 
priest was dressed in garments richly embroidered 
with gold. There was a boy behind him dressed 
also in a very singular manner. The priest and 
the boy went through with a great variety of 
performances before the altar, none of which 
Rollo could at all understand. From time to 
time the boy would ring a little bell, and the 
organ and the choir of singers in the lofty gallery 
would begin to play and sing ; and then, after a 
short time, the music would cease, and the priest 
and the boy would go on with their performances 
as before. 



42 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

The procession. The dress of the officials. Incense. 

Presently Rollo heard a sound of marching 
along the paved floor, and looking into the choir 
whence the sounds proceeded, he saw a proces 
sion formed of boys, with a priest, bearing some 
glittering sacred utensils of silver in his hands, 
at the head of them. The boys were all dressed 
alike. The dress consisted of a long crimson 
robe with a white frock over it, which came down 
below the waist, and a crimson cape over the 
frock, which covered the shoulders. Thus they 
were red above and below, and white in the 
middle. 

One of these boys had a censer in his hands, and 
another had a little bell ; and as they came along 
you could see the censer swinging in the air, and 
the volumes of fragrant smoke rising from it, and 
you could hear the tinkling of the little bell. 
The priest advanced to the altar before which the 
audience were sitting, and there, while the censer 
was waving and the smoke was ascending, he per 
formed various ceremonies which Rollo could not 
at all understand, but which seemed to interest 
the congregation very much, for they bowed con 
tinually, and crossed themselves, and seemed im 
pressed with a very deep solemnity. 

Presently, when the ceremony was completed, 
the procession returned into the choir, the priest 
at the head of it, just as it came. 



THE UNFINISHED CATHEDRAL. 43 

Going out Rollo s opinion of the service. Mr. George s. 

When the procession had passed away, Mr. 
George made a sign for Rollo to follow him, and 
then walked along out through the gate where 
the woman was sitting with the holy water. She 
held out the brush to Mr. George and Rollo as 
they passed, but they did not take it. 

" What ridiculous mummeries ! " said Rollo, in 
a low tone, as soon as they had got out of the 
hearing of the congregation. 

" Yes," said Mr. George, " they seem so to us ; 
but I have a certain respect for all those ceremo 
nies, since they are meant to be the worship of 
God." 

" I thought it was the worship of images," said 
Rollo. " Did not you see the images ? " 

" Yes," said Mr. George, " I saw them ; and 
perhaps we can make it out that those rites are, 
in reality, the worship of images ; but they are not 
meant for that. They are meant for ^he worship 
of God." 



ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 



The ambulatory in a European cathedral. 



CHAPTER III. 
THE GALLERIES. 

" I WANT to get up upon the towers," said 
Rollo, " if we can." 

" Yes," said Mr. George, " but I want first to 
go and see the tomb of the three kings." 

" What is that ? " asked Rollo. 

" I will show you," said Mr. George. So say 
ing, Mr. George led the way, and Rollo followed, 
along what is called the ambulatory, which is a 
broad space that extends all around the head of 
the cross in the cathedral churches of Europe, 
between the screen of the choir on one side and 
the ranges of chapels on the other. The ambu 
latory is usually very grand and imposing in the 
effect which it produces on the mind of the 
visitor, on account of the immense columns which 
border it, the loftiness of the vaulted roof, which 
forms a sort of sky over it above, and by the 
elaborate carvings and sculptures of the screen 
on one side, and the gorgeous decorations of the 
chapels on the other. Then all along the floor 



THE GALLERIES. 45 

Incongruous emblems. The tomb of the three kings. 

there are sculptured monuments of ancient war 
riors armed to the teeth in marble representations 
of iron and steel, while the walls are adorned 
with rich paintings of immense magnitude, rep 
resenting scenes in the life of the Savior. There 
seemed to Mr. George some incongruity between 
the reverence evinced for the teachings and ex 
ample of Jesus, in the pictures above, and the 
honor paid to the barbarous valor of the fighting 
old barons, in the monuments and effigies which 
occupied the pavement below. 

At length, at the head of the cross, exactly op 
posite to the centre of the high altar, which faced 
the choir, in the place which seemed to be the 
special place of honor, Mr. George pointed to a 
small, square enclosure, or sort of projecting closet, 
which was richly carved and gilded, and adorned 
with a variety of ancient inscriptions. 

" There," said Mr. George, " that must be the 
tomb of the three kings. That is the sepulchre 
which contains, as they pretend, the skulls of the 
three wise men of the east, who came to Bethle 
hem to worship Jesus the night on which he was 
born." 

" How came they here ? " asked Rollo. 

" They were at Milan about six or eight hun 
dred years ago," said Mr. George, "and they 
were plundered from the church there by a great 



4:6 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

The tomb of the three kings. 

general, and given to the Archbishop of Cologne, 
and he put them in this church. They have been 
here ever since, and they are prized very highly 
indeed. They are set round with gold and 
precious stones, and have the names of the men 
marked on them in letters formed of rubies." 

" Can we see them ? " asked Rollo. As he 
said this he climbed up upon a little step, and at 
tempted to look through a gilded grating in the 
front of the coffer which contained the rubies. 

" Yes," said Mr. George, " but we must pay the 
sacristan for showing them to us. We can ask 
him about them when we come down from the 
galleries." 

" And besides," continued Mr. George, " the 
guide book says that under the floor of the church, 
just in front of the tomb of the three kings, the 
heart of Mary de Medicis is buried. That must 
be the place." 

So saying, Mr. George pointed to a large, 
square flagstone, which looked somewhat differ 
ent from the others around it. Rollo gazed a 
moment at the stone, and then said, 

" I suppose so ; but I don t care much about 
these things, uncle George. Let us go up into 
the towers." 

" Very well," said Mr. George, " we will go 
and see if we can find the way." 



THE GALLERIES. 47 

The peasants at their prayers. 

So our travellers went on along the ambulatory, 
and thence into the aisles and nave of the church, 
stopping, however, every few minutes to gaze at 
some gorgeously decorated altar, or large and 
beautiful painting, or quaint old effigy, or at 
some monument, or inscription, or antique and 
time-worn sculpture. There were a great many 
other parties of visitors, consisting of ladies and 
gentlemen, and sometimes children, rambling 
about the church at the same time. Rollo ob 
served, as he passed these groups, that some were 
talking French, some German, and some English. 
Here and there, too, Rollo passed plain-looking 
people, dressed like peasants, who were kneeling 
before some altar or crucifix, saying their prayers 
or counting their beads, and wearing a very de 
vout and solemn air. Some of these persons took 
no notice of Mr. George and Rollo as they passed 
them ; but others would follow them with their 
eyes, scrutinizing their dress and appearance very 
closely until they got by, though they continued 
all the time to move their lips and utter inarticu 
late murmurings. 

" I don t think those girls are attending much 
to their prayers," said Rollo. 

" I m afraid the girls in the Protestant churches 
in America do not attend to them much better," 
said Mr. George. " There is a great deal of 



48 HOLLO ON THE RHINE. 

Rollo makes an acquaintance. 

time spent in seeing how people are dressed by 
worshippers in other churches than the Roman 
Catholic." 

At length Rollo caught a view of the man 
who had held the plate for a contribution, at the 
time when he and Mr. George came in at the 
church door. He was walking to and fro, with 
his plate in his hand, in a distant portion of the 
church. Rollo immediately offered to go to him, 
and ask how he and Mr. George were to get to 
the towers. So he left Mr. George looking at a 
great painting, and walked off in that direction. 

Just before Rollo came to the man, his atten 
tion was attracted by a girl of about twelve or 
thirteen years of age, who was strolling about 
the church at a little distance before him, swing 
ing her bonnet in her hand. She was very pretty, 
and her dark eyes shone with a very brilliant, 
but somewhat roguish expression. She stopped 
when she saw Rollo coming, and eyed him with a 
mingled look of curiosity and pleasure. 

Rollo, observing that this young lady appeared 
not to be particularly afraid of him, thought he 
would accost her. 

" Do you speak French ? " said he in French, 
as he was walking slowly by her. He supposed 
from her appearance that she was a French girl, 
and so he spoke to her in that language. 



THE GALLERIES. 49 

A self-introduction. Minnie taking a contribution. 

The girl replied, not in French, but in Eng 
lish, 

" Yes, and English too." 

" How did you know that I spoke English ? " 
said Rollo, speaking now in English himself. 

" By your looks/ 7 said the girl. 

" What is your name ? " asked Rollo. 

" Tell me your name first," said the girl. 

" My name is Rollo," said Rollo. 

" And mine," replied the stranger, " is Minnie." 

" Do you see that man out there," said Minnie, 
immediately after telling her name, " who is gath 
ering the donations ? Come and see what a play 
I will play him." 

Minnie was a French girl, and so, though she 
had learned English, she did not speak it quite 
according to the established usage. 

So she walked along towards the contribution 
man, wearing a very grave and demure expres 
sion of countenance as she went. Rollo kept by 
her side. As soon as they came near, the man 
held out his plate, hoping to receive a contribu 
tion from them. But as the plate already con 
tained money which had been put in by former 
contributors, the action was precisely as if the 
man were offering money to the children, instead 
of asking it of them. So Minnie put forth her 
hand, and making a courtesy, took one of the 



r>0 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

Nein ! nein . How to get into the towers. 

pieces of money that were in the plate, pretend 
ing to suppose that the man meant to give it to 
her, and said at the same time, in French, 

" I am very much obliged to you, sir. It is 
just what I wanted." 

The man immediately exclaimed, " Nein 
nein ! " which is the German for No ! no ! and 
then went on saying something in a very ear 
nest tone, and holding out his hand for Minnie 
to give him back the money. Minnie did so, and 
then, looking up at Rollo with a very arch and 
roguish expression of countenance, she turned 
round and skipped away over the stone pave 
ment, until she was lost from view behind an 
enormous column. Rollo saw her afterwards 
walking about with a gentleman and lady, the 
party to which she belonged. 

Rollo then asked the man who held the plate 
what he should do to get up into the towers. 
lie asked this question in French, and the man 
replied in French that he must go " to the Swiss/ 
and the Swiss would give him a ticket. 

" Where shall I find the Swiss ? asked Rollo 

The man pointed to a distant part of the 
church, where a number of people were going in 
through a great iron gateway. 

" You will find him there somewhere," said the 
man, " and you will know him by his red dress." 



THE GALLERIES 



51 



Rollo reports to his uncle. 




MINNIE S ROGUERY. 



So Rollo wont and reported to his uncle 
George, and they together went in pursuit of the 



52 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

The Swiss. Mr. George and Hollo go into the galleries. 

Swiss. They soon came to the great gate ; and 
iust inside of it they saw a man dressed in a long 
red gown which came down to his ankles. This 
proved to be what they called the Swiss. On 
making known to him what they wanted, this man 
gave them a ticket, they paying him the usual 
fee for it, and then went and found a guide 
who was to show them up into the galleries. 

The guide, taking them under his charge, led 
them outside the church, and then conducted 
them to a door leading into a small round tower, 
which was built at an angle of the wall. This 
tower, though small in size, was as high as the 
church, and it contained a spiral staircase of 
stone, which conducted up into the upper parts 
of the edifice. Mr. George and Rollo, however, 
found that they could not go up to the towers 
but only to what were called the galleries. But 
it proved in the end that they had quite enough of 
climbing and of walking along upon dizzy heights, 
in visiting these galleries, and Rollo was very 
willing to come down ao;ain when he had walked 
round the upper one of them, without ascending 
to the towers. 

There were three of these galleries. The first 
was an inner one ; that is, it was inside the 
church. The two others were outside. Tho 
party was obliged to ascend to a vast height be- 



THE GALLERIES. 53 

The inner gallery. The choir. The view. 

fore they reached the first gallery. This gallery 
was a very narrow passage, barely wide enough 
for one person to walk in, which extended all 
around the choir, with a solid wall on one side, 
and arches through which they could look down 
into the church below on the other. After walk 
ing along for several hundred feet, listening to 
the swelling sounds of the music, which, coming 
from the organ and choir below, echoed grandly 
and solemnly among the vaults and arches above 
them, until they reached the centre of the curve 
at the head of the cross, Mr. George and Rollo 
stopped, and leaned over the stone parapet, and 
looked down. The parapet was very high and 
very thick, and Rollo had to climb up a little 
upon it before he could see over. 

They gazed for a few minutes in silence, com 
pletely overwhelmed with the dizzy grandeur of 
the view. It is always impossible to convey by 
words any idea of the impression produced upon 
the mind by looking down from any great height 
upon scenes of magnificence or of beauty ; but it 
would be doubly impossible in such a case as this. 
Far below them in front, they could see the choir 
of singers in the singing gallery, with the organ 
behind them. The distance was, however, so 
great that they could not distinguish the faces of 
the singers, or even their persons. Then at a 



54 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

An imposing spectacle. 

vast distance, lower still, was the floor of the 
choir, paved beautifully in mosaic, and with little 
dots of men and women, slowly creeping, like 
insects, over the surface of it. At a distance, 
through the spaces between the columns,^ a part 
of the congregation could be seen, with the 
women and children at the margin of it, kneel 
ing on the praying chairs, and a little red spot 
near a gate, which Rollo thought must be the 
Swiss. The whole of the interior of the choir, 
which they looked down into as you would look 
down into a valley from the summit of a moun 
tain, was so magnificently decorated with paint 
ings, mosaics, and frescoes, and enriched with 
columns, monuments, sculptures, and carvings, 
and there were, moreover, so many railings, and 
screens, and stalls, and canopies, and altars, to 
serve as furnishing for the vast interior, that the 
whole view presented the appearance of a scene 
of enchantment. 

Mr. George said it was the most imposing 
spectacle that he ever saw. 

After this, the guide led our two travellers up 
about a hundred feet higher still, till they came 
to the first outer gallery ; and the scene which pre 
sented itself to view here would be still more diffi 
cult to describe than the other. The gallery was 
very narrow, like the one within, and it led 



THE GALLERIES. 55 

The outer galleries. Strange architecture. 

through a perfect maze of columns, pinnacles, 
arches, turrets, flying buttresses, and other con 
structions pertaining to the exterior architecture 
of the church. It was like walking on a moun 
tain in the midst of a forest of stone. The 
analogy was increased by the monstrous forms 
of bears, lions, tigers, boars, and other wild and 
ferocious beasts, which projected from the caves 
every where to convey the water that came down 
from rains, out to a distance from the walls of the 
building. These images had deep grooves cut 
along their backs for the water to flow in. 
These grooves led to the mouths of the animals, 
and they were invisible to persons looking up 
from below, so that to observers on the ground 
each animal appeared perfect in his form, and 
was seen stretching out the whole length of his 
body from the cornices of the building, and pour 
ing out the water from his mouth. 

From these outer galleries Rollo could not 
only see the pinnacles, and turrets, and flying 
buttresses, of the part of the church which was 
finished, but he could also observe the immense 
works of scaffolding and machinery erected 
around the part which was now in progress. 
Men were at work hoisting up immense stones, 
and moving them along by a railway to the places 
on the walls where they were destined to go. 



56 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

The men at work. The scaffoldings. 

The yard, too, on one side, far, far down, was cov 
ered with blocks, some rough, and others already 
carved and sculptured, and ready to go up. The 
towers were in view too, with the monstrous 
crane leaning over from the summit of one of 
them ; but there seemed to be no way of getting 
to them but by crossing long scaffoldings where 
the masons were now at work. This Rollo 
would have had no wish to do, even if the guide 
had proposed to conduct him. 

So, after spending half an hour in surveying 
the magnificent prospect which opened every 
where around them over the surrounding coun 
try, and in scrutinizing the details of the archi 
tecture near, the sculptures, the masonry, the 
painted windows, the massive piers, and the but 
tresses hanging by magic, as it were, in the air, 
and all the other wonders of the maze of archi 
tectural constructions which surrounded them, the 
party began their descent. 

" I am glad they are going to finish it," said 
Rollo to Mr. George, as they were walking round 
and round, and round and round, in the little 
turret, going down the stairs. " The next time 
we come here, perhaps, it will be done." 

" They expect it will take twenty years to 
finish it," said Mr. George. 

" Twenty years ! " repeated Rollo, surprised. 



THE GALLERIES. 57 

The expense of finishing the cathedral. 

" Yes/ said Mr. George, " and about four mil 
lions of dollars. Why, when they first determined 
that they would attempt to finish it, it took fifteen 
years to make the repairs which were necessary 
in the old work, before they could begin any of 
the new. And now, at the rate that they are going 
on, it will take twenty years to finish it. For 
my part, I do not know whether we ought to be 
glad to have it finished or not, on account of the 
immense cost. It seems as if that money could 
be better expended." 

" Perhaps it could," said Rollo. " But every 
body that comes here to see it gets a great deal 
of pleasure ; and as an immense number of people 
will come, I think the amount of the pleasure 
will be very great in all." 

" That is true," said Mr. George, " and that is 
the right way to consider it ; but let us make the 
calculation in the same way that we made the 
calculation about the gold chain that you were 
going to buy in London. If we suppose that 
the church was half done when they left off the 
work, and that it will now cost four millions of 
dollars to finish it, that will make eight millions 
of dollars in all. Now, what is the interest 
of eight millions of dollars, say at three per 
cent.?" 

Rollo began to calculate it in his mir I ; but 



58 HOLLO ON THE RHINE. 

Mr. George s calculations. 

before he had got through, Mr. George said 
that it was two hundred and forty thousand 
dollars a year. 

" That," said Mr. George, " is equal, with a 
proper allowance for repairs, to, say a thousand 
dollars per day. Now, do you think that the 
people who will come here to see it will get 
pleasure enough from it to amount in all to a 
thousand dollars a day ? " 

" I don t know," said Rollo, doubtfully. " I d 
give one dollar, I know, to see it." 

" Yes/ said Mr. George, " so would I ; and I 
do not know but that there would be three 
hundred thousand to come in a year, including 
all the great occasions that would bring out im 
mense assemblages from all the surrounding 
country." 

" At any rate, I hope they will finish it," said 
Rollo. 

" So do I," said Mr. George. 

" And I mean to put a little in the man s plate 
when I go down," said Rollo, " and then I shall 
have a share in it." 

" I will too," said Mr. George. 

Accordingly, as they passed by the man when 
they were leaving the church, Mr. George put 
a franc into his plate, and Rollo half a franc. 
Just at the time that they put their money in, 



THE GALLERIES. 



59 



One of the four millions of dollars raised. 



the party that Minnie belonged to came by, and 
the gentleman put in a silver coin called a thaler, 
which is worth about seventy-five cents ; so that 
Rollo had the satisfaction of seeing that one 
of the four millions of dollars was raised on 
the spot. 




60 R L L ON THE RHINE. 



Travelling accommodations on the Rhine. 



CHAPTER IY. 
TRAVELLING ON THE RHINE. 

THE steamboats and hotels, and all the arrange 
ments made for the accommodation of travellers 
on the Rhine, are entirely different from those of 
any American river, partly for the reason that so 
very large a portion of the travelling there is 
pleasure travelling. The boats are smaller, and 
they go more frequently. The company is more 
select. They sit upon the deck, under the awn 
ings, all the day, looking at their guide books, 
and maps, and panoramas of the river, and study 
ing out the names and history of the villages, 
and castles, and ruined towers, which they pass 
on the way. The hotels are large and very ele 
gant. They are built on the banks of the river, 
or wherever there is the finest view, and the 
dining room is always placed in the best part of 
the house, the windows from it commanding 
views of the mountains, or overlooking the water, 
so that in sitting at table to eat your breakfast, 
or your dinner, you have before you all the time 



TRAVELLING ON THE RHINE. 61 

The gardens. German villages. The village church. 

some charming view. Then there is usually con 
nected with the dining room, and opening from 
it, some garden or terrace, raised above the road 
and the river, with seats and little tables there, 
shaded by trees, or sheltered by bowers, where 
ladies and gentlemen can sit, when the weather 
is pleasant, and read, or drink their tea or coffee, 
or explore, with an opera glass, or a spy glass, 
the scenery around. They can see the towers and 
castles across the river, and follow the little paths 
leading in zigzag lines up among the vineyards 
to the watchtowers, and pavilions, and belvi- 
deres, that are built on the pinnacles of the rocks, 
or on the summits of the lower mountains. 

The hotels and inns, even in the smallest vil 
lages, are very nice and elegant in all their 
interior arrangements. These small villages 
consist usually of a crowded collection of the 
most quaint and queer-looking houses, or rather 
huts, of stone, with an antique and venera 
ble-looking church in the midst of them, looking 
still more quaint and queer than the houses. 
The hotels, however, in these villages, or rather 
on the borders of them, for the hotels are often 
built on the open ground beyond the town, where 
there is room for gardens and walks, and raised 
terraces around them, are palaces in comparison 
with the dwellings of the inhabitants. And well 



62 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

Character of the villagers. Tow paths. A team. 

they may be, for the villagers are almost all 
laborers of a very humble class boatmen, who 
get their living by plying boats up and down the 
river ; vinedressers, who cultivate the vineyards 
of the neighboring hills ; or hostlers and coach 
men, who take care of the carriages and of the 
horses employed in the traffic of the river. A 
great number of horses are employed ; for not 
only are the carriages of such persons as choose 
to travel on the Rhine by land, or to make excur 
sions on the banks of the river, drawn by them, 
but almost all the boats, except the steamboats 
that go up the river, are towed up by these ani 
mals. To enable them to do this, a regular tow 
path has been formed all the way up the river, on 
the left bank, and boats of all shapes and sizes 
are continually to be seen going up, drawn, like 
canal boats in America, by horses and some 
times even by men. Once I saw some boys 
drawing up a small boat in this way. It seems 
they had been going down the stream to take a 
sail, or perhaps to convey a traveller down ; and 
now they were coming up again, drawing their 
boat by walking along the bank, the current be 
ing so rapid that it is much easier to draw a boat 
up than it is to row it. The boys had a long 
line attached to the mast of their boat, and both 
of them were drawing upon this line by means 



TRAVELLING ON THE RHINE. 65 

Interior arrangements of the hotels. 

of broad bands, forming a sort of harness, which 
were passed over their shoulders. 

Now, the small villages that I was speaking of 
are formed almost exclusively of the dwellings 
of the various classes which I have described, 
while the hotels or inns that are built on the 
margins of them are intended, not as they would 
be in America, for the accommodation of the 
people of the same class, but for travellers of 
wealth, and rank, and distinction, who come from 
all quarters of the world to explore the beauties 
and study the antiquities of the Rhine. Thus the 
inns, however small and secluded they may be, 
and however retired and solitary the places in 
which they stand, are always very nice, and even 
elegant, in their interior arrangements. The 
chambers are furnished and arranged in the 
prettiest possible manner. Handsome open car 
riages and pretty boats are ready to convey 
visitors on any excursion which they may desire 
to make in the neighborhood, and the table is 
provided with almost as many delicacies and nice 
ties as you can have in Paris. 

The roads along the banks of the Rhine, too, 
are absolutely perfect. Well they may be so 
in fact, for workmen have been constantly em 
ployed in making and perfecting them for nearly 
two thousand years. Julius Cassar worked upon 
5 



66 R L L ON THE RHINE. 

The roads. Who made them. German scenery. 

them. Charlemagne worked upon them. Fred 
eric the Great worked upon them. Napoleon 
worked upon them. They are walled up wher 
ever necessary on the side towards the river ; the 
rock is cut away on the side towards the land ; 
valleys have been filled up ; hill sides have been 
terraced, and ravines bridged over ; until the 
road, though passing along the margin of a very 
mountainous region, is almost as level as a rail 
way throughout the whole of its course. And as 
it is macadamized throughout, and is kept in the 
most perfect condition, it is always, in wet weather 
as well as dry, as firm, and hard, and smooth as a 
floor. 

With such roads and such carriages on the 
land, and such pretty steamboats as they have 
upon the water, it would be very pleasant going 
up through the highlands of the Rhine, if there 
were nothing but the natural scenery to attract 
the eye of the traveller. But besides the quaint 
and ancient villages, and the curious old churches 
which adorn them, villages which sometimes 
line the margin of the water, and sometimes cling 
to the slopes of the hills, or nestle in the higher 
valleys, there are other still stronger attrac 
tions, in the castles, towers, and palaces, which are 
seen scattered every where on the river banks, 
adorning every prominent and commanding posi- 



TRAVELLING ON THE RHINE. 61 

Ruins of the old castles. Their builders. 

tion along the shores, and crowning, in many cases, 
the summits of the hills. Many of these castles 
and towers, though built originally hundreds of 
years ago, are still kept in repair and inhabited, 
some being used as the summer residences of 
princes, or of private men of fortune, and others, 
being armed with cannon and garrisoned with 
soldiers, are held as strongholds by the kings, or 
dukes, or electors, in whose dominions they lie. 
There are a great many of them, however, that 
have been allowed to go to decay ; and the ruins 
of these still stand, presenting to the eye of the 
traveller who gazes up to them from the deck of 
the steamer, or from his seat in his carriage, or 
who climbs up to visit them more closely, by 
means of the zigzag paths which lead to them, very 
interesting relics and memorials of ancient times. 
The ruins are generally on very lofty summits, 
and they usually occupy the most commanding 
positions, so that the view from them up and 
down the river is almost always very grand. 
The castles were built by the dukes, and barons, 
and other feudal chieftains of the middle ages, 
and they are placed in these commanding posi 
tions in order that the chieftains who lived in 
them might watch the river, and the roads lead 
ing along the banks of it, and come down with a 
troop of their followers to exact what they called 



68 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

The feudal chieftains. Systematic robbeiy. 

tribute, but what those who had to pay it called 
plunder, from the merchants or travellers whom 
they saw from the windows of their watchtowers, 
passing up and down. 

In fact these men were really robbers ; being 
just like any other robbers, excepting that they 
restricted themselves to some rule and system in 
their plunderings, such as an enlightened regard 
for their own interest required. If, when they 
found a vessel laden with merchandise, or a com 
pany of travellers coming down the river, they 
had robbed them of every thing they possessed, 
the river and the roads would soon have been 
entirely abandoned, and their occupation would 
have been gone. In order to avoid this result, 
they were accustomed to content themselves with 
a certain portion of the value which the traveller 
was carrying j and they called the money which 
they exacted a tribute, or tax, paid for the priv 
ilege of passing through their dominions. They 
kept continual watch in their lofty castles, both 
up and down the river, to see who came by, and 
then, descending with a sufficient force to render 
resistance useless, they would take what they 
pretended to consider their due, and retreat with 
it to their almost inaccessible fastnesses, where 
they were safe from all pursuers. 

They often had wars with one another ; and in 



TRAVELLING ON THE EHINE. 69 

Wars among the feudal chieftains. Gradual organization of government. 

the progress of these wars the weaker chieftains 
became, in the course of time, subjected to the 
stronger, and thus two or more small dominions 

o * 

would often become united into one. These 
amalgamations went on continually ; and as they 
advanced, the condition of the cultivator of the 
ground, and of the peaceful merchant or traveller, 
was improved, for the rules and regulations for 
the collection of the tribute became more fixed 
and settled, and men knew more and more what 
they could calculate upon, and could regulate their 
business accordingly. Arrangements were made, 
too, to collect a regular tax from the cultivators of 
the ground ; and just so far as these arrangements 
were matured, and the produce of the plunder, 
or the tribute, or the tax, or whatever we call it, 
increased, just so far it became for the interest 
of the chieftains that the cultivation of the land 
and the traffic on the river should be increased, 
and should be protected from all depredations 
but their own. Thus a system of law grew up, 
and arrangements for preserving public order, for 
promoting the general industry, and rules and 
regulations for the collection of the tribute, until 
at length, when all these arrangements were ma 
tured, and the multitude of petty chieftains be 
came combined under one great chieftain ruling 
over the whole, and collecting the revenue for his 



70 HOLLO ON THE RHINE. 

Depredation by taxes and tolls. Vested rights. 

subordinates, we find a great kingdom as the 
result, in which the descendants of the ancient 
marauders that lived in castles on the hills, under 
the name of princes and nobles, collect the means 
of enabling themselves to live in idleness and 
luxury out of the avails of the labor of the agri 
culturists, the merchants, and the manufacturers, 
by a combined and concerted arrangement, and a 
regular system of rents, taxes, and tolls, instead 
of by irregular forrays and depredations, as in 
former years. 

When any one of these nobles is questioned as 
to the nature of his claim to the enjoyment of so 
large a portion of the produce of the land, with 
out doing any thing to earn or deserve it, he says 
that it is a vested right ; that is, that he has a 
right to claim and take a certain portion of the 
proceeds of the toil of the present generation of 
laborers, because his forefathers claimed and 
took a similar portion from theirs. And the one 
monarch, whose ancestors succeeded in overpow 
ering or crowding out the others, claims his right 
to rule on the same ground. Thus, in the prog 
ress of ages, by a strange commutation, robbery 
and plunder, when systematized, and extended, 
and established on a permanent basis, become 
legitimacy, and the divine right of kings. 

In America there is no such division of the 



TRAVELLING ON THE RHINE. 71 

The cause of emigration. The old castles abandoned. 

fruits of industry between those who do the work 
and a class of idle nobles, and soldiers, and priests, 
who do nothing but consume the proceeds of 
it. There every man possesses the full fruit of 
his labor, except so far as he himself joins with 
his fellow-citizens in setting apart a portion for 
the purposes of public and general utility. This 
is the reason why such immense numbers of labor 
ing men are every year leaving Germany and 
emigrating to America. 

But to return to the Rhine. Of course, just so 
fast and so far as the smaller chieftains were 
conquered and dispossessed, and the country came 
into the hands of a smaller number of greater 
princes, the old castles became useless. Besides, 
when rules and laws, instead of surprises and 
violence, became the means by which contribu 
tions were levied, it was no longer necessary to 
have strongholds on high hills to come down 
from, when a vessel or a traveller was coming 
by, and to retreat to with the booty when the 
plunder had been taken. A great number of 
these old castles have, therefore, gone to decay ; 
for they were generally built too high on the 
hills and rocks to be convenient as dwellings for 
peaceable men. A few of the largest and strong 
est of them were retained as fortresses ; and those 
that were retained have been greatly enlarged 



72 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

Travellers exploring the ruins of ancient castles. 

and strengthened in their defences in modern 
times, so that some of them are now the greatest 
and strongest fortresses in the world. Others, 
that were built in tolerably accessible situations, 
or which commanded an unusually beautiful view, 
were retained and kept in repair, and are used 
now as the summer residences of wealthy men. 
The rest were suffered gradually to go to decay, 
and the ruins and remains of them are seen 
crowning almost every remarkable height all 
along the river. Some of these ruins are still 
in a very good state of preservation, so that in 
going up to explore them you can make out very 
easily the whole original plan of the edifice. 
You can find the turret, with the remains of the 
stairs which led up to the watchtower, and the 
kitchen, and the hall, and the armory, and the 
gtables. In others, there is nothing to be seen 
but a confused mass of unintelligible ruins ; and 
in others still, every thing is gone, except, per 
haps, some single arch or gateway, which stands 
among a mass of shapeless mounds, the last re 
maining relic of the edifice it once adorned, and 
itself tottering, perhaps, on the brink of its pre 
cipitous foundation, as if just ready to fall. 

These old ruins are visited every year by thou 
sands of persons who come from every part of 
the world to see them. These visitors arrive 




DONKEY RIDING. 



TRAVELLING ON THE RHINE. 75 

How to travel on the Rhine. Donkey saddles. 

every year in such numbers that the steamboats, 
both going up and coming down, and all the 
hotels, and thousands of carriages, which are 
perpetually plying to and fro along the shores on 
both sides of the river, are constantly filled with 
them. A great many people merely pass up or 
down the river in a steamer, in a day and a night, 
and only see the ruins and the other scenery by 
gazing at them from the deck of the vessel. 
But in this case they get no idea whatever of the 
Rhine. It is necessary to travel slowly, to stop 
frequently at the towns on the bank, to make ex 
cursions along the shores and into the interior, 
and to ascend to the sites of the ruins, and to 
other elevated points, so as to view the valley and 
the stream meandering through it from above, or 
you obtain no correct idea whatever of travelling 
on the Rhine. 

The work of ascending to the old ruins would 
be a very arduous and difficult one for all but the 
young and robust, were it not for the assistance 
that is afforded by the donkeys that are kept at 
the foot of every remarkable hill that travellers 
might be supposed desirous to ascend. These 
donkeys have a sort of chair fitted upon them, 
that is, a saddle, flat upon the top, and guarded 
all around one side by a sort of back, like the 
back of a chair. The trappings are covered with 



76 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

Height of the hills upon the Rhine. 

some kind of scarlet cloth, so that the troop of 
donkeys standing together under the shade of the 
trees, at the foot of the hill which the} 7 are to 
ascend, make a very gay appearance. The donkeys 
look very small to bear so heavy a load as a full 
grown person ; but they are very strong, and they 
carry their burden quite easily, especially as the 
distance is not very great. For these mountains 
of the Rhine, celebrated as they are for the 
romantic grandeur which they impart to the 
scenery, are, after all, seldom more than a few 
hundred feet high. There is also, almost always, 
an excellent path leading up to them. It winds 
usually by zigzags through the groves of trees, or 
between gardens and vineyards, in a very delight 
ful manner, so that the ascent in going up any 
of these hills would make a very pleasant excur 
sion even without the ruins on the top. 

Such, in its general features, is the mountain 
ous region of the Rhine, as it appears to the 
travellers who go to visit it at the present day ; 
and it was this region that Rollo and Mr. George 
were now going to explore. 



THE SIEBEN GEBIRGEN. 77 

Sieben Gebirgen. The Drachenfels. The ruins. 



CHAPTER Y. 
THE SIEBEN GEBIRGEN. 

THE word Sieben means seven, and Gebirgen 
means mountains* Tims the Sieben Gebirgen is 
the Seven Mountains. It is the name given to a 
mountainous mas? of land which rises into seven 
or more principal peaks, just at the entrance of 
the romantic part of the Rhine. The highest of 
these mountains is the celebrated Drachenfels, 
which has a ruined castle on the top of it, and 
an inn for the accommodation of travellers just 
below. The Seven Mountains and Drachenfels 
are on the east bank of the river. Opposite to 
them on the left bank are some other remarkable 
mountains, crowned also with celebrated ruins. 
The river flows between these highlands as 
through a gateway. They form, in fact, the com 
mencement of the mountainous region of the 
Rhine, in ascending the river from Cologne. t 

* The words are pronounced as they are spelled, except that 
the g in Gebirgen is hard, 
f The reader must be very careful to get the idea right in his 



78 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

The railroad to Bonn. The palace which became a university. 

The large town next below where these moun 
tains commence is Bonn, which is, perhaps, thirty 
or forty miles above Cologne. The country up 
as far as Bonn from Cologne is pretty level, and 
a railroad has been made there. At Bonn the 
mountains begin, and the railroad has accordingly 
not been yet carried any farther. Mr. George 
and Rollo went up to Bonn by the railroad. 

Mr. George wished to stop at Bonn for half a 
day to visit a celebrated university that is there. 
The buildings of this university were formerly a 
palace j but they were afterwards given up to 
the use of the university, which subsequently be 
came one of the most distinguished seminaries of 
learning in Europe. Mr. George wished to visit 
this university. He had letters of introduction 
to some of the professors. He wished also to 
see the library and the cabinets of natural his 
tory that were there. He invited Rollo to go 
with him, but Rollo concluded not to go. He 
would have liked to have seen the library very 
well, and the cabinets, but he was rather afraid 
of the professors. 

So, while Mr. George went to visit the literary 
institution, Rollo amused himself by rambling 

mind in respect to which way is up on the Rhine. The river flows 
uorth. Of course, in looking on the map, what is down on the 
page is up in respect to the flow of the river. 



THE SIEBEN GEBIRGEN. 79 

Hollo s ramble. The prospect. Going up tlie river. 

about the town, and looking at the quaint old 
churches, and the houses, and the fortifications, 
and in strolling along the quay, by the shore of 
the river, to see the steamers and tow boats go 
up and down. 

At length he went to the hotel. The hotel 
was just without the gates, near the river. 
There was a garden between the hotel and the 
river, with a terrace at the margin of it, over 
looking the water, where there were tables and 
chairs ready for any person who might choose 
to take coffee or any other refreshments there. 
Mr. George s room was on this side of the hotel, 
and being pretty high it overlooked the gardens, 
and the terrace, and the river, and afforded a 
charming view. Up the river, on the other side, 
about three or four miles off, the Sieben Gebirgen 
were plainly to be seen, the summits of them 
tipped with ancient ruins. 

After Hollo had been sitting there about half 
an hour, Mr. George came home. It was then 
about one o clock. 

" "Well, Rollo," said he, " we are going up the 
river. I have engaged the landlord to send us 
up in a carriage to some pleasant place on the 
bank of the rjver among the mountains, where 
we can spend the Sabbath." 

" Why, what day is it ? " asked Rollo. 



80 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

The fortune of war. A contented traveller. 

" It is Saturday," replied Mr. George. 

Rollo was quite surprised to find that it was 
Saturday. In fact, in travelling on the Rhine, 
as there is so little to mark or distinguish one 
day from another, we almost always soon lose 
our reckoning. 

" What is the name of the place where we are 
going ? " asked Rollo. 

" I don t know," replied Mr. George. " I can 
not understand very well. He is going to send 
us somewhere. How it will turn out I cannot 
tell. We must trust to the fortune of war." 

Mr. George often called the luck that befell 
him in travelling the fortune of war. " If we 
were contented," he would say, " to travel over 
and over again in places that we know, then we 
could make some calculations, and could know 
beforehand, in most cases, where we were going 
and how we should come out. But in travelling 
in new and strange places we cannot tell at all, 
especially when there is no language that we 
can communicate well with the people in. So we 
have to trust to the fortune of war." 

Mr. George, however, determined to make one 
more effort to find out where he was going ; and 
so, when the carriage came to the door, and he 
and Rollo were about to get into it, he asked the 
porter of the house who was the man that 



THE SIEBEN GEBIRGEN. 81 

The German porter tells Mr. George where they are going. 

" spoke English " what the name of the place 
was where they were going to stop. 

" Yes, sare," replied the man. " You will stop. 
You will go to Poppensdorf and to Kreitzberg, 
and then you will go to Gottesberg, and then you 
will go to Rolandseck, where there is a boat that 
will take you to Drachenfels, or to Kcenigs- 
winter." 

He said all this with so strong a German ac 
cent, and pronounced the barbarous words with 
so foreign an intonation, that no trace or impres 
sion whatever was left by them on Mr. George s 
ear. 

"But which is the place," asked Mr. George, 
speaking very deliberately and plainly, " which 
is the place where we are to be left by the car 
riage to stay on Sunday ? Is it Rolandseck or 
Kcenigswinter ? " 

" Yes, sare," said the porter, making a very 
polite bow. " Yes, sare, you will go to Roland 
seck, and to Kreitzberg, and to Gottesberg, and 
if you please you can stop at Poppensdorf." 

" Very well," said Mr. George. " Tell him to 
drive on." 

This is a tolerably fair specimen of the success 

to which travellers, and the porters, and waiters, 

who " speak English," attain to, in their attempts 

to understand one another. In fact, the attempts 

6 



82 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

Amusing mistakes of the waiter. 

of these domestic linguists to speak English ar* 
sometimes still more unfortunate than their at 
tempts to understand it. One of them, in talk 
ing to Mr. George, said " No, yes," for no, sir. 
Another told Rollo that the dinner would bo 
ready in Jiveteen minutes, and a very worthy 
landlord, in commenting on the pleasant weather, 
said that the time was very agregable. So a 
waiter said one day that the bifste/c was just 
coming up out of the kriken. He meant kitchen. 
The place where the porter, who engaged the 
carriage for Mr. George, intended to leave him, 
was really Rolandseck. Rolandseck is the name 
of a ruined arch, the remains of an ancient tower 
which may be seen in the engraving a little far 
ther on, upon the height of land on the left side 
of the view. The lofty ruin on the right, farther 
in the distance, is Drachenfels. At the foot of 
Drachenfels, a little farther down the river, 
and we are looking down the river in the en 
graving, is a town called Koenigswinter, which 
is the place that people usually set out from to 
ascend the mountain, a great number of donkeys 
being kept there for that purpose. Beneath the 
tower of Rolandseck, near the margin of the 
water, is a row of three or four houses, two of 
which are hotels. The land rises so suddenly 
from the river here, that there is barely room for 



THE SIEBEN GEBIRGEN. 83 

The town of Koenigswinter. Rolandseck and Nonnenvverth. 

the road and the houses between the water and 
the hill. In fact, the road itself is terraced up 
with a wall ten or fifteen feet high towards the 
water, and the houses in the same manner from 
the road. You enter them, indeed, from the level 
of the road ; but you are immediately obliged to 
ascend a staircase to reach the principal floor of 
the house, which is ten or fifteen feet above the 
road, and the gardens of the house are on terraces 
raised to that height by a wall. Thus from the 
gardens and terraces you look down fifteen feet 
over a wall to the road, and from the road you 
look down fifteen feet over a wall to the water. 
Along the outer margin of the road is a broad 
stone wall or parapet, flat at the top and about 
three feet high. All this you can see represented 
in the engraving. 

In the middle of the river, opposite to the hotels, 
is a very beautiful island with a nunnery upon 
it. This island is called Nonnenwerth. Now, in 
regard to all these castles and churches, and 
other sacred edifices on the Rhine, there is almost 
always some old legend or romantic tale, which 
has come down through succeeding generations 
from ancient times, and which adds very much to 
the interest of the locality where the incidents 
occurred. The tale in respect to Rolandseck 
and Nonnenwerth is this : Roland was the 



84 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

The legend of Drachenfels. 

nephew of the great monarch and conqueror, 
Charlemagne. He became engaged to the daugh 
ter of the chieftain who lived in Drachenfels, 
the ruins of which you see in the engraving 
crowning the hill on the right bank of the river, 
some little distance down the stream. In a bat 
tle in which he was engaged, he killed his in 
tended father-in-law by accident, being deceived 
by the darkness of the night, and thinking thai 
he was striking an enemy instead of a friend 
After this, he could not be married to his in 
tended bride, the etiquette of those days forbid 
ding that a warrior should marry one whose 
father he had slain. The maiden, in her grief 
and despair, betook herself to the nunnery on the 
island near her father s castle, and Roland, since 
he could not be permitted to visit her there, built 
a tower on the nearest pinnacle of the opposite 
shore, in order that he might live there, and at 
least comfort himself with a sight of the build 
ing where his beloved was confined. The story 
is, however, that the unhappy nun lived but a 
short time. Roland himself, however, continued 
to live in his tower, a lonely hermit, for many 
years. 

Another version of this legend is, that the 
maiden was led to go to the convent and conse 
crate herself as a nun, on account of a false 



THE SIEBEN GEBIEGEN. 85 

The pavilion upon the rock. 

report which she had heard, that Roland himself 
was killed ii the battle, and that when she 
learned that he was still alive, it was too late for 
her to be released from her vows. However 
this may be, Roland retired to this lofty tower, 
in order to be as near her as possible, and to be 
able to look down upon the dwelling where she 
lived. How well he could do this you can 
easily see by observing how finely the ruined 
tower on the top of the hill commands a view of 
the river and of the island, as well as of the nun 
nery itself, imbosomed in the trees. 

A little below the ruin of Roland s Tower you 
see a pavilion on a point of the rock, which, 
though somewhat lower in respect to elevation, 
projects farther towards the stream, and conse 
quently commands a finer view. This pavilion 
has been erected very lately by a gentleman who 
lives in one of the houses at the margin of the 
road, and who owns the vineyards that cover the 
slope of the hill. The road to it leads up among 
these vineyards through the gentleman s grounds, 
but he leaves it open in order that visitors who 
ascend up to Roland s Tower may go to the 
pavilion on the way, and enjoy the view. 

It was to one of these hotels at Rolandseck 
that the porter at Bonn had arranged to send 
^Mr. George, as the pleasantest place that was 



86 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

The beauty of the ride from Bonn to Rolandseck. 

near to spend the Sabbath in. He could not 
have made a better selection. 

The ride, too, in the carriage from Bonn up to 
Rolandseck, was delightful. Nothing could be 
more enchanting than the scenery which was pre 
sented to view on every hand. The carriage, like 
all the other private carriages used for travellers 
on the Rhine, was an open barouche, and when 
the top was down it afforded an entirely unob 
structed view. The day was pleasant, and yet the 
sun was so obscured with clouds that it was not 
warm, and Rollo stood up in the carriage nearly 
all the way, supporting himself there by taking 
hold of the back of the driver s seat, and look 
ing about him on every side, uttering continual 
exclamations of wonder and delight. He at 
tempted once or twice to talk with the driver, 
trying him in French and English ; but the driver 
understood nothing but German, and so the con 
versation soon settled down to an occasional Was 
ist das ? from Rollo, and a long reply to the 
question from the driver, not a word of which 
Rollo was able to understand. 

They passed out of Bonn by means of a most 
singular avenue. It was formed of a very broad 
space in the centre, which seemed, by its place, to 
have been intended for the road way ; but instead 
of being a road way, it was covered with a rid} 



THE SIEBEN GEBIRGEN. 87 

The avenue from Bonn. Kr? ; tzberg. The sacred stairs. 

growth of grass, like a mowing field. On each 
side of this green were two rows of trees, which 
bordered a sort of wide sidewalk, of which there 
were two, one on each side of the road. These 
side passages were the carriage ways. 

" See, uncle George," said Rollo. " The road 
has all grown up to grass, and we are riding on 
the sidewalk." 

The carriage passed on, and when it reached 
the end of the avenue, it came to a beautiful and 
extensive edifice, standing in the midst of groves 
and gardens, which was formerly a chateau, but 
is now used for a museum of natural history. 
Here were arranged the cabinets which Mr. 
George had been to see that morning. Passing 
this place, the carriage gradually ascended a 
long hill, on the summit of which, half concealed 
by groves of trees, was an ancient-looking church. 
Mr. George had seen this hill before from the 
windows of the hotel, and knew it must be the 
Kreitzberg. 

" He is taking us to the Kreitzberg," said Mr. 
George. 

" What is that famous for ? " asked Rollo. 

" It is an ancient church, on the top of a high 
hill," said Mr. George, " where there is a flight 
of stairs made to imitate those that Jesus as 
cended at Jerusalem, when he went to Pilate s 



88 R L L ON THE RHINE. 

Strange relics in the churches and monasteries of Germany. 

judgment hall. Nobody is allowed to go up or 
down these stairs except on their knees. 

" Then, besides," continued Mr. George, look 
ing along the page of his guide book as he spoke, 
" the air is so dry up at the top of this high hill, 
that the bodies of the old monks, who were buried 
there hundreds of years ago, did not corrupt, but 
they dried up and turned into a sort of natural 
mumiLies ; and there they lie now under the 
church, in open coffins, in full view." 

" Let us go down and see them," said Rollo. 

What -Mr. George said was true ; and these 
things are but a specimen of the strange and 
curious legends and tales that are told to the 
traveller, and of the extraordinary relics and 
wonders that are exhibited to his view, in the old 
churches and monasteries, which are almost as 
numerous as the castles, on the Rhine. The car 
riage, after ascending a long time, stopped at a 
gate by the way side, whence a long, straight 
road led up to the church, which stood on the very 
summit of the hill. Mr. George and Rollo got 
out and walked up. When they drew near to 
the church, they turned round to admire the 
splendor of the landscape, and to see if the car 
riage was still waiting for them below. They 
saw that the carriage still stood there, and that 
there was another one there too, and that a 



THE SIEBEN GEBIRGEN. 89 

Hollo meets Minnie again. 

party of ladies and gentlemen were descending 
from it to come up and see the church. There 
was a little girl in this party. 

" I should not wonder if that was Minnie," 
said Rollo. 

In a short time this party, with a commissioner 
at the head of them, came up the walk. The girl 
proved to be really Minnie. She seemed very 
glad to see Rollo, and she stopped to speak with 
him while the rest of the party went on. 

Rollo and Minnie followed closely behind. 
The commissioner led the way round to the side 
of the church, where there were some other an 
cient buildings, which were formerly a nunnery. 
Here they found a man who had the care of the 
place. He was a sacristan.* He brought a 
great key, and unlocked the church door, and let 
the party in. 

The interior of the church was very quaint 
and queer, as in truth the interiors of all the 
old churches are on the banks of the Rhine, 
and was adorned with a great many curious old 
effigies and paintings. After waiting a few min 
utes for the company to look at these, the sacris 
tan went to a place in the middle of the church 



* A sacristan is an officer who has charge of the sacred utensils 
and other property of the church, and who shows them to visitors. 



90 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

Going down to see the monks. 

before the altar, and lifted up a great trap door 
in the floor. When the door was lifted up, a 
flight of steps was seen leading down under 
ground. 

" Where are they going now?" said Minnie. 

" I suppose they are going down to see the 
monks," said Rollo. 

The party went down the stairs, Rollo and 
Minnie following them. The sacristan had two 
candles in his hands. As soon as he got to the 
bottom of the stairs, he passed along a narrow 
passage way between two rows of open coffins, 
placed close together side by side, and in each 
coffin was a dead man, his flesh dried to a mum 
my, his clothes all in tatters, and his face, though 
shrivelled and dried up, still preserving enough 
of the human expression to make the specta 
cle perfectly horrid. When Rollo and Minnie 
reached the place near enough to see what was 
there, the sacristan was moving his candles about 
over the coffins, one in each hand, so as to show 
the bodies plainly. At the first glance which 
Minnie obtained of this shocking sight, she ut 
tered a scream, and ran up the stairs again as 
fast as she could go. 

Rollo followed her, but somewhat more slowly. 
When he came out into the church, he caught a 
glimpse of Minnie s dress, as she was just making 



THE SlEBEN GrEBIRGEN. 91 

A description of the sacred staircase at Kreitzberg. 

her escape from the door. Rollo would have fol 
lowed her, but he was afraid of losing his uncle 
George. 

When the party, at length, came up from 
their visit to the dead monks, they went to see 
the sacred staircase. Rollo went with them. 
The staircase seemed to be at the main entrance 
to the church : the party had gone round to a 
door in the side where they came in. 

The sacred stairs occupied the centre of the 
hall in which they were placed. There were on 
the sides two plain and common flights of stairs, 
for people to go up and down in the usual way. 
The sacred stairs in the centre could only be 
ascended and descended on the knees. 

The side stairs were separated from the cen 
tral flight by a solid balustrade or wall, not very 
high, so that people who came to see the sacred 
steps could stand on the side steps and look over. 
The flight of sacred steps was very wide, and 
was built of a richly variegated marble, of brown, 
red, and yellow colors, intermingled together in 
the stone ; and some of the stains were said 
to have been produced by the blood of Christ. 
Here and there, too, on the different steps of the 
staircase, were to be seen little brass plates let 
into the stone, beneath which were small caskets 
containing sacred relics of various kinds, such aa 



92 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

Parting with the sacristan and with Minnie. 

small pieces of wood of the true cross, and frag 
ments of the bones of saints and apostles. 
Neither Mr. George nor Rollo took much in 
terest in this exhibition ; and so, giving the sacris 
tan a small piece of money, they went back to 
their carriage. As Rollo got into the carriage 
that he had come in, he saw that Minnie wa? 
seated in hers, and she nodded her head when 
Rollo s carriage moved away, to bid him good by. 
Mr. George and Rollo passed one or two other 
very picturesque and venerable looking ruins on 
the way up the river, but they did not stop to go 
and explore any of them. In- one place, too, 
they rode along a sort of terrace, where the 
view over the river, and over the fields and vine 
yards beyond, was perfectly enchanting. Mr. 
George said he had never before seen so beauti 
ful a view. It was at a place where the road 
had been walled up high along the side of a hill, 
at some distance from the river, so that the view 
from the carriage, as it moved rapidly along, 
extended over the whole valley. The fields and 
vineyards, the groves and orchards, the broad 
river, the zigzag paths leading up the mountain 
sides, the steamers and canal boats gliding up 
and down over the surface of the water, and the 
mountains beyond, with the roky summit of 
Drachenfeb, crowned with its castle, towering 



THE SIEBEN GEBIRGEN. 93 

B) ron s stanzas on the Drachenfels. 

among them, combined to make the whole picture 
appear like a scene of enchantment. 

The poet Byron described this view in three 
stanzas, which have been read and admired 
wherever the English language is spoken, and 
have made the name of Drachenfels more famil 
iar to English and American ears than the name 
of almost any other castle on the Rhine. 



DRACHENFELS. 

The castled crag of Drachenfels 

Frowns o er 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, 

And fields which promise corn and wine, 
And scattered cities crowning these, 

Whose far white walls along them shine, 
Have strewed a scene which I should see 
With double joy wert thou with me. 

And peasant girls with deep blue eyes, 

And hands which offer early flowers, 
Walk smiling o er this paradise; 

Above, the frequent feudal towers 
Through green fields lift their walls of gray ; 

And many a rock which steeply lowers, 
And noble arch in proud decay, 

Look o er this vale of vintage bowers ; 
But one thing want these banks of Rhine 
Thy gentle hand to clasp in mine ! 



94 



ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 



The arrival at Rolandscck. 



The river nobly foams and flows, 

The charm of this enchanted ground, 
And all its thousand turns disclose 

Some fresher beauty varying round : 
The haughtiest breast its wish might bound 

Through life to dwell delighted here ; 
Nor could on earth a spot be found 

To nature and to me so dear, 
Could thy dear eyes in following mine 
Still sweeten more these banks of Rhine. 

In due time, Mr. George and Rollo arrived at 
Rolandseck, where they were received very po 
litely by the landlord of the inn, and introduced 
to a very pleasant room, the windows of which 
commanded a fine view both of Drachenfels and 
of the river. 




ROLAND S TOWER. 95 



The first thing to be thought of. 



CHAPTER VI. 
ROLAND S TOWER. 

" AND now," said Mr. George, as soon as the 
porter had put down his trunk and gone out of the 
room, " the first thing to be thought of is dinner." 

Rollo was also ready for a dinner, especially 
for such excellent little dinners of beefsteaks, 
fried potatoes, nice bread and butter, and cof 
fee, as his uncle usually ordered. So, after re 
freshing themselves a few minutes in their room, 
Mr. George and Rollo went down stairs in order 
to go into the dining room to call for a dinner. 
As they passed through the hall, they saw a door 
there which opened out upon beautifully orna 
mented grounds behind the house. The land as 
cended very suddenly, it is true, but there were 
broad gravel paths of easy grade to go up by ; 
and there were groves, and copses of shrubbery, 
and blooming flowers, in great abundance, on ev 
ery hand. On looking up, too, Rollo saw several 
seats, at different elevations, where he supposed 
there must be good views. 



96 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

Dinner in the garden. 

While they were standing at this door, look 
ing out upon the grounds, a waiter came by, and 
they told him what they wished to have for 
dinner. 

" Very well," said the waiter ; " and where will 
you have it ? You can have it in your room, or 
in the dining room, or in the garden, just as you 
please." 

" Let us have it in the garden," said Rollo. 

" Well," said Mr. George, " in the garden." 

So the young gentlemen went out into the gar 
den to choose a table and a place, while the 
waiter went to make arrangements for their 
dinner. 

The part of the garden where the seats and 
the tables were placed was a level terrace, not 
behind the house, but in a line with it, at the end, 
so that it fronted the road, and commanded a very 
fine view both of the road and of the river, as 
well as of all the people, and carriages, and 
boats that were passing up and down. This ter 
race was high up above the road, being walled m 
up on that side, as I have already described ; and 
there was a parapet in front, to prevent people 
from falling down. This parapet was,- however, 
not so high but that Rollo could look over it 
very conveniently, and see all . that was passing 
in the road and on the river below. There was 



ROLAND S TOWER. 97 

The beautiful appearance of the garden. 

a sort of roof, like an awning, over this place, to 
shelter it from the sun and the rain ; and there 
were trees and trellises behind, and at the ends, 
to enclose it, and give it an air of seclusion. 
The trellises were covered with grapevines, on 
which many clusters of grapes were seen, that 
had already grown quite large. Numerous flower 
pots, containing a great many brilliant flowers all 
in bloom, were placed in various positions, to 
enliven and adorn the scene. Some were on the 
tables, some on benches behind them, and there 
were six of the finest of them placed at regular 
intervals upon the parapet, on the side towards 
the street. These last gave the gardens a very 
attractive appearance as seen outside, by people 
going by in carriages along the road, or in boats 
on the river. 

Rollo and Mr. George chose a table that stood 
near the parapet, in the middle of the space be 
tween two of the flower pots, and sitting down 
they amused themselves by looking over the wall 
until the waiter brought them their dinner.* 
The dinner came at length, and the travellers 
immediately, with excellent appetites, commenced 
eating it. 

" Uncle George," said Rollo, in the middle 

* For a view of this part of the river see frontispiece. 



98 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

Hollo s lameness. The donkeys at the foot of the hill. 

of the dinner, " my feet are getting pretty 
lame." 

" Are they ? " said Mr. George. 

Yes," said Rollo, "I have walked a great 
deal lately." 

" Then," said Mr. George, " you must let them 
rest. You must go down to the river and bathe 
them in the cool water after dinner, and not walk 
any more to-night." 

"But I want to go up to Roland s Tower," 
said Rollo. 

" Well," said Mr. George, " perhaps you might 
do that. You can ride up on one of the don 
keys." 

This plan was accordingly agreed to, and as soon 
as the dinner was ended it was put in execution. 

The donkeys that were used for the ascent of 
the hill to Roland s Tower were kept standing, all 
caparisoned, at the foot of the hill, at the entrance 
to a little lane where the pathway commenced. 
Mr. George and Rollo had seen them standing there 
when they came along the road. The place was 
very near where they were sitting ; so that, after 
finishing their dinner, they had only to walk a 
few steps through the garden, and thence out 
through a back gate, when they found themselves 
in the lane, and the donkeys and the donkey 
boys all before them. 



ROLAND S TOWER. 99 

Mounting the donkey Mr. George s ascent. Scrambling. 

Mr. George thought that he should prefer to 
walk up the mountain ; but Hollo chose a donkey, 
and with a little assistance from Mr. George he 
mounted into the seat. At first he was afraid 
that he might fall ; for the seat, though there was 
a sort of back to it, as has already been described, 
to keep persons in, seemed rather unsteady, 
especially when the donkey began to move. 

" It will not do much harm if I do fall," said 
Rollo, " for the donkey is not much bigger than a 
calf." 

Mr. George, who was accustomed to leave 
Rollo a great deal to himself on all occasions, 
did not stop in this instance to see him set off, 
but as soon as he had got him installed in his 
seat, began to walk himself up the pathway, 
with long strides, and was soon hid from view 
among the grapevines, at a turn of the road, 
leaving Rollo to his own resources with the don 
key and the donkey boy. At first the donkey 
would not go ; but the boy soon compelled him to 
set out, by whipping him with the stick, and away 
they then went, all three together, scrambling up 
the steep path with a rapidity that made it quite 
difficult for Rollo to keep his seat. 

The paths leading up these hill sides on the 
banks of the Rhine are entirely different from 
any mountain paths, or any country roads, of any 



100 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

Zigzag paths. The vineyards. Pavilion. 

sort, to be seen in America. In the first place, 
there is no waste land at the margin of them. 
Just width enough is allowed for two donkeys or 
mules to pass each other, and then the walls 
which keep up the vineyard terrace on the upper 
side, and enclose the vine plantings on the other, 
come close to the margin of it, on both sides, 
leaving not a foot to spare. The path is made 
and finished in the most perfect manner. It is 
gravelled hard, so that the rains may not wash it ; 
and it mounts by regular zigzags, with seats or 
resting-places at the turnings, where the traveller 
can stop and enjoy the view. In fact, the paths 
are as complete and perfect as in the nature of 
the case it is possible for them to be made ; and 
well they may be so, for it is perhaps fifteen 
hundred years since they were laid out ; and 
during this long interval, fifty generations of 
vine-dressers have worked upon them to improve 
them and to keep them in order. In fact, it is 
probable that the roads and the mountain paths, 
both in Switzerland and on the Rhine, are more 
ancient than any thing else we see there, except 
the brooks and cascades, or the hills and moun 
tains themselves. ^ 

When Rollo had got up about two thirds the 
height of the hill, he came to the pavilion, which 
you see in the engraving standing on a projecting 



ROLAND S 



Grand view from the pavilion. 



pinnacle of the rock, a little below the ruin. 
There was a gateway which led to the pavilion, 
by a sort of private path ; but the gate was set 
open, that people might go in. Hollo dismounted 
from his donkey, and went in. His uncle was 
already there. 

It is wholly impossible to describe the view 
which presented itself from this commanding 
point, both up and down the river, or to give any 
idea of the impression produced upon the minds 
of our travellers when they stood leaning over 
the balcony, and gazed down to the water below 
from the dizzy height. The pavilion is built of 
stone, and is secured in the most solid and sub 
stantial manner, being very far more perfect in 
its construction than the old towers and castles 
were, whose remains have stood upon these moun 
tains so long. It will probably last, therefore, 
longer than they have, and perhaps to the very 
end of time. 

It stands on a pinnacle of basaltic rock, which 
here projects so as actually to overhang its foun 
dations. 

The view both up and down the river is in 
conceivably beautiful and grand. 

There was no seat in the pavilion, but there 
was one against the rocks, and under the shades 
of the trees just behind it ; and here Mr. George 



R OLL*} ^0 N TH E RHINE. 



Rollo concludes to walk the rest of the way. The ruined arch. 

and Rollo sat down to rest a while, after they had 
looked out from the pavilion itself as long as 
they desired. 

" I believe I ll walk up the rest of the way," 
said Rollo, " and let the donkey stay where he is." 

" Why, don t you like riding on the donkey ? " 
asked Mr. George. 

" Yes," said Rollo, " I like to ride, but he don t 
seem to like to carry me very well. Besides, it is 
not far now to the top." 

The path immediately above the pavilion passed 
out of the region of the vineyards, and entered a 
little thicket of evergreen trees, through which it 
ascended by short zigzags, very steep, until at 
length it came out upon a smooth, grassy mound, 
which crowned the summit of the elevation ; and 
here suddenly the ruin came into view. It was a 
single ruined arch, standing alone on the brink 
of the hill. The arch was evidently, when first 
built, of the plainest and rudest construction. 
The stones were of basalt, which is a volcanic 
rock, very permanent and durable in character, 
and as hard almost as iron. The mortar between 
the stones had crumbled away a good deal, but 
the stones themselves seemed unchanged. Mr. 
George struck his cane against them~ and they 
returned a ringing sound, as if they had been 
made of metal. 



ROLAND S TOWER. 103 

The durability of arches. The knight and the nun. 

Around this arch were the remains of the an 
cient wall of the building, by means of which it 
was easy to see that the whole edifice must have 
been of very small dimensions, and that it must 
have been originally constructed in a very rude 
manner. The arch seems to have been intended 
for a door or a window. Probably they took 
more pains with the construction of the arch than 
they did with the rest of the edifice, using larger 
and better stones for it, and stronger mortar ; 
and this may be the reason why this part has 
stood so long, while the rest has fallen down and 
gone to decay. In fact, it is generally found 
that the arches of ancient edifices are the parts 
of the masonry which are the last to fall. 

The opening in the arch looked down the 
river. Mr. George took his stand upon the line 
of the wall opposite the Island of Nonnenwerth, 
and said that he supposed there must have been 
another window there. 

" Here is where the old knight must have 
stood," said he, " to look down on the island, 
and the convent where his lost lady was im 
prisoned." 

" Yes," said Rollo, " he could look right down 
upon it from here. I wonder whether the nun 
knew that he was up here." 

"Yes," said Mr. George, "there is not the 



104 HOLLO ON THE RHINE. 

Coming down. Rollo bathes his feet in the river. The boats. 

least doubt that she did. They found out some 
way to have an understanding together, you may 
depend." 

After lingering about the old ruin as long as 
they wished, our travellers came down the hill 
again as they went up, except that Rollo 
walked all the way. He was afraid to ride 
on the donkey going down, for fear that he 
should fall. 

Rollo went down to the river side, and taking 
off his stockings and shoes, bathed his feet in the 
stream. While he was there a great boat came 
by, towed by two horses that walked along the 
bank. The rope, however, by which the horses 
drew the boat was fastened, not to the side of 
the boat, as is common with us on canals, but to 
the top of the mast, so that it was carried high 
in the air, and it passed over Rollo s head with 
out disturbing him at all. They always have the 
tow ropes fastened to the top of the mast on the 
Rhine, because the banks are in some places so 
high that a rope lying low would not draw. 

Rollo remained on the bank of the river 
some time, and then he put on his shoes and 
stockings and went up into his room. He found 
that his uncle George was seated at the table, 
with pen, ink, and paper out, and was busy 
writing letters. 



ROLAND S TOWER. 105 

Mr. George gives Rollo some employment 

" Uncle George," said Rollo, " what shall I do 
now ? " 

" Let me think," said Mr. George. Then after 
a moment s reflection, he added, " I should like 
to have you take a sheet of paper, and draw this 
little table up to the window, and take your seat 
there, and look out, and whenever you see any 
thing remarkable, write down what it is on the 
paper." 

" What shall you do with it when I have got 
it done ? " said Rollo. 

" I ll tell you that when it is done," replied 
Mr. George. 

" But perhaps I shall not see any thing remark 
able," said Rollo. 

" Then," said Mr. George, " you will not have 
any thing to write. You will in that case only 
sit and look out of the window." 

" Very well," said Rollo, " I will do it. But 
will it do just as well for me to go down to the 
terrace, and do it there ? " 

" Yes," said Mr. George, "just as well." 

So Rollo took out his portfolio and his pocket 
pen and inkstand, and went down to the terrace, 
and there he sat for nearly two hours watching 
what was going by, and making out his catalogue 
of the remarkable things. At the end of about 
two hours, Mr. George, having finished his letters 



106 



ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 



Hollo s account of the remarkable things he saw from the terrace. 

came down to see how Rollo was getting along. 
Rollo showed him his list, and Mr. George was 
quite pleased with it. In the course of the evening 
Rollo made several additions to it ; and when at 
length it was completed, it read as follows. 




ROLLO S LIST. 107 



Hollo on the terrace wrote an account of what he saw. 



CHAPTER VII. 
HOLLO S LIST. 

Remarkable Things seen from the Terrace of the 
Hotel at Rolandseck,by Rollo H., Saturday Even 
ing, August 29. 

1. AN elegant steamer, painted green. Her 
name is the Schiller. She is going up the river. 

2. Another steamer, the Kcenig. Ladies and 
gentlemen on the deck, under an awning. 

3. I can see the ruins of Drachenfels with my 
spy glass, and the inn near the top of the moun 
tain, painted white. I have been trying to find 
the path, to see if I could see any donkeys going 
up ; but I cannot find it. 

4. A boat with some men and women in it 
putting off from the landing just above here. 
They are going down the stream. The current 
carries them down very fast. I think they are 
going over to the island. 

No, they are going away down the river. 

5. A great steamer coming down, with flags 
and banners flying. 



108 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

The nuns on the island. The procession of pilgrims. 

Now she has gone by, only I can see the 
smoke from her smoke pipe behind the point of 
land. 

6. The nuns are taking a walk under the 
trees on the island. Some of the girls of the 
school are going with them. The nuns are 
dressed in black, with bonnets partly black and 
partly white. The girls are dressed in pink, all 
alike. They are laughing and frolicking on the 
grass, as they go along. The nuns walk along 
quietly. The girls are having an excellent good 
time. 

They are walking away down to the end of 
the island. The walk that they are going in is 
bordered by a row of poplar trees. 

7. A procession of pilgrims going up to Re- 
magen. At least, the waiter says they are pil 
grims. They are in two rows, one on each side 
of the road, so that there is room for the car 
riages to pass along between them. They are 
dressed very queerly, like peasants. The girls 
and women go first, and the men come afterwards. 
The women have baskets, with something to eat 
in them, I suppose. The men have nothing. 
There is one man at the head, who carries a 
crucifix, with a wreath of flowers over it, on the 
top of the pole. They sing as they go along, 
and keep step to the music. First, the women 



HOLLO S LIST. 109 

The dog- barrow. The students on the steamer. 

sing a few words, and then the men sing in re 
sponse. It is a very strange sight. 

8. A very swift steamer, with a great many 
gentlemen and ladies on board. It has gone 
down on the other side of the island. 

9. I hear guns firing down the river. 

10. A man is going by with a very long and 
queer-shaped wheelbarrow, and there is a dog 
harnessed to it before to draw, while he pushes it 
behind. 

11. More guns firing down the river. A 
steamer is coming into view, with a great many 
flags and banners flying. The guns that I heard 
are on board that steamer. 

The waiter says it is a company of students, 
from the university at Bonn, coming up on a 
frolic. 

12. The steamer with the students is going 
by. There is a band of music on board, playing 
beautifully. 

13. The steamer has stopped just above here, 
and all the students are going on shore. 

14. The students have formed into a company 
on the beach, and they are marching up, with 
banners flying and music playing, to the terrace 
of a hotel, just above here. 

15. The steamer has gone away up the river, 
and left them. There are five or six small boata 



110 ROLLO ox THE RHINE. 

Rollo watches the boats and steamers on the river. 

on the shore at the landing, with boatmen stand 
ing by them, waiting to be hired. I mean to ask 
uncle George to let me go and take a sail in one 
of them on Monday. 

16. I can see the students by leaning over the 
parapet and looking through my spy glass. They 
are sitting at the tables under the trees on the 
terrace, smoking pipes and drinking something. 
They have very funny looking caps on. 

17. A tow boat coming up the river. It is 
drawn by two horses, that walk along the road. 
The boat has a roof over it instead of a deck, 
and it looks like a floating house with a family 
in it. 

18. A steamer coming up the Wilhelm. 
She came up the other side of the island. 

19. A small boat going away from the land 
ing. It is rowed by one man, with one oar, 
which he works near the bow on the starboard 
side. He has set the helm hard a-port, and tied 
it there, and that keeps his boat from being 
pulled round. I never thought of that way be 
fore. 

There is a woman and a child in the stern of 
the boat. 

20. There is a man eating his supper on the 
parapet below me, in front of the road. A girl 
has brought it to him in a basket. The man 



ROLLO S LIST. Ill 

The raft on the Rhine. 

seems to be a boatman, and I think the girl is his 
daughter. She has a tin tea kettle with something 
to drink in it, and she pours it out into a mug as 
fast as the man wants it to drink. There is also 
some bread, which she breaks and gives him as fast 
as he wants it. There is a little child standing by, 
and the man stops now and then to play with her. 
Now there is another man that has come and 
sat down by the side of him ; and a woman has 
brought him his supper in a basket. I think it is 
his wife. 

21. A long raft is coming down the river. It 
is very long indeed. It is made of logs and boards. 
There are twenty-two men on it, thirteen at the 
front end, and nine at the back end. They have 
got two monstrous great oars out ; one of these 
oars runs out at the front end of the raft, and the 
other at the back end, and the men are rowing. 
There are six men taking hold of each of these 
oars and working them, trying to row the raft 
more into the middle of the river. 

There is a small house on the middle of the 
raft, and a fire in a large flat box near the door 
of it. I should think it would set the raft on 
fire. This fire is for cooking, I suppose, for there 
is a kettle hanging over it. 

22. Now the students are singing a song. 

23. There is a great fleet of large boats 



)12 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

The steamer and the fleet of boats. The tipsy student. 

coming up the river, with a steamboat at the head 
of them. They come very slowly. 

24. The students have finished their drinking 
and smoking, and are beginning to come out into 
the road. They are walking about there and 
frolicking. 

25. The great fleet of boats have come up so 
that I can see them. They are great canal boats, 
towed by a steamer. There are seven of them in 
all. The steamer has hard work to get them along 
against the current. It is just as much as she 
can do. 

26. Four of the students are getting into a 
small boat. One of them has a flag. Now they 
are putting off from the shore. They are going 
out to take a sail. 

27. The fleet of boats is now just opposite to 
the window. 

28. A large open carriage, with a family in it, is 
riding by. There is a trunk on behind ; so I sup 
pose they are travellers, going to see the Rhine. 

29. Three of the students are walking by 
here. One of them the middle one is so 
tipsy that he cannot walk straight, and the others 
are taking hold of his arms and holding him up. 
I suppose they are going to see if they cannot 
walk him sober. 

They have gone off away down the road. 



HOLLO S LIST. 113 

The carriage and outriders. The family of peasants. 

30. Here comes an elegant carriage and two 
outriders. The outriders are dressed in a sort 
of uniform, and they are riding on horseback a 
little way before the carriage. They go very 
fast. There is a gentleman and a lady in the 
carriage. 

Now they have gone by. 

31. Several parties of students have gone by, 
to take a walk down the road. Some of them 
are walking along very steadily, but there are 
several that look pretty tipsy. 

Here are three or four of them coming back, 
riding the donkeys. They are singing and laugh 
ing, and making a great deal of fun. 

32. Here is a family of poor peasants coming 
down the river. They look very poor. The 
woman has a very queer cap on. She has one 
child strapped across her back, and she is leading 
another. There is a man and a large boy. They 
have packs on their backs. I wonder if they 
are not emigrants going to America. 

33. One of the students has got hurt. I can 
see him down the road limping. There are two 
other students with him, helping him. 

They are going to bring him home. They 
have taken a cane, and are holding it across be 
tween them, and he is sitting on it and putting 
his arms about their necks. Each student holds 



114 



ROLLO ON THE RlIINE. 



The students carrying a lame companion. 



one end of the cane, and so they are bringing 



him along. 




THE STUDENTS. 



The cane has broken, and let the lame student 
fall down. 

They have got another cane, stronger, and now 
they are carrying him again. 



ROLLO S LIST. 115 

The tow boat drawn by a woman. The embarkation of the students. 

Now they are stopping to rest right opposite 
to this house. They have changed hands, and 
are now carrying him again. 

34. Here is a woman coming along up the 
river drawing a small boat. She has a band ever 
her shoulders, and a long line attached to it, and 
the other end of the line is fastened to the mast 
of the small boat. There is a man in the boat 
steering. I think the man ought to come to the 
shore and draw, and let the woman stay in the 
boat and steer, for it seems very hard work to 
pull the boat along. 

35. A boat with two women in it, and a man 
to row, is going across the river to the Nuns 
Island. Now they are landing. The women are 
walking up towards the nunnery, under the trees, 
and the man is fastening his boat. 

36. The students are gathering on the land 
ing. I think that, perhaps, they are going back 
to Bonn in small boats. It is beginning to be 
dark, and time for them to go home.* Yes, they 
are crowding into two or three boats. The 
boats are getting very full. If they are not care 
ful they will upset. 

The boats are pushing off from the shore. 



* This Hollo wrote in the latter part of the evening, in Ha 
room. 



116 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

The bells of Bonn. The sick students in the carriage. 

There are three boats, with two flags flying in 
each. They are drifting out into the current. 
The students have got one or two oars out, but 
they are not rowing much. The current carries 
them down fast enough without rowing. 

37. I can hear the bells ringing or tolling, 
away down the river, the air is so still. I think 
it must be the bells of Bonn. 

38. The students boats are all drifting down 
just opposite our windows. They are going side- 
wise, and backwards, and every way, and are all 
entangled together. The students on board are 
calling out to one another, and laughing, and 
having a great time. Some of them are trying 
to sing, but the rest will not listen. If they are 
not very careful they will upset some of those 
boats before they get to Bonn. 

39. Here comes a carriage driving slowly 
down the road, with four students in it. Two of 
them are hanging down their heads and holding 
them with their hands, as if they had dreadful 
headaches. They look very sick. The other 
two students seem pretty well. I suppose they 
are going in the carriage with the sick ones to 
take care of them. 

It is getting too dark for me to see any more 



A SABBATH ON THE RHINE. 117 

Hollo and his uncle in the bower. Sabbath readings. 



CHAPTER VIII. 
A SABBATH ON THE RHINE. 

ABOUT eight o clock the next morning, Mr. 
George and Rollo went up among the gardens 
behind the hotel, and after ascending for some 
time, they came at length to a seat in a bower 
which commanded a very fine view, and here they 
sat down. 

Mr. George took a small Bible out of his 
pocket, and opened it at the book of the Acts, 
and began to read. He continued to read for 
half an hour or more, and to explain to Rollo 
what he read about. Rollo was very much in 
terested in the stories of what the apostles did in 
their first efforts for planting Christianity, and of 
the toils and dangers which they encountered, 
and the sufferings which they endured. 

At length, after finishing the reading, Mr. 
George proposed that they should go down to 
breakfast. 

So they went down the winding walks again 
vrhich led to the inn. There they found, on the 



118 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

The order for breakfast. The German talking English. 

front side of the house, a very pleasant dining 
room, with tables set in it, some large and some 
small. Mr. George and Rollo took their seats 
at a small front table near a window, where 
they could look out over the water. Here a 
waiter came to them, and they told him what they 
would have for breakfast. 

" I will have a beefsteak," said Mr. George, 
" and my nephew will have an omelet. We 
should like some fried potatoes too, and some 
coffee." 

" Ja* monsieur," said the waiter. " Let us 
see. You will have one bifstek, one omelet, two 
fried potatoes, and two caffys." 

" Yes," said Mr. George. 

" Yarry well," said the waiter. " It shall be 
ready in fiveteen minutes." 

So the waiter went away. 

" We shall want more than two fried potatoes," 
said Rollo, looking very serious. 

"0, he means two portions," replied Mr. 
George ; " that is to say, enough for two people. 
He will bring us plenty, you may depend." 

Rollo and Mr. George sat by the window in 
the dining room until the breakfast was brought 
in. Besides the things which they had called for, 

* Pronounced v/*. 



A SABBATH ON THE RHINE. 119 

Breakfasts on the Rhine. The churches. 

the waiter brought them some rolls of very nice 
and tender bread, and some delicious butter. He 
also brought a large plate full of fried potatoes, 
and the beefsteak which came for Mr. George 
was very juicy and rich. The omelet which 
Rollo had chosen for his principal dish was ex 
cellent too. He made an exchange with Mr. 
George, giving him a piece of his omelet, and 
taking a part of the steak. Thus they ate their 
breakfast very happily together, looking out the 
window from time to time to see the steamboats 
and the carriages go by, and to view the mag 
nificent scenery of the opposite shores. 

"I ll tell you what it is, Rollo," said Mr. 
George ; " people may say what they please about 
the castles and the ruins on the Rhine I think 
that the inns and breakfasts on the Rhine are 
by no means to be despised." 

" I think so too/ said Rollo. 

When they had nearly finished their breakfast, 
Mr. George asked the waiter what churches there 
were in the neighborhood. The waiter said there 
was a church on the Island of Nonnenwerth, be 
longing to the convent, and that there was another 
up the river a few miles, at the village of Remagen. 

" We might go over to the island this jnorning, 
and up to Remagen this afternoon," said Mr. 
George, " only you are too lame to walk so far. 



120 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

The church at the convent on the Island of Nonnenwerth. 

" No, sir," said Rollo, decidedly ; " my feet 
are well to-day. I can walk as well as not." 

A few minutes after this, the waiter came to 
tell Mr. George that the master of the hotel was 
himself going over to the convent to attend 
church, and that he and Rollo could go in the 
same boat if they pleased. The boat would go 
at about a quarter before ten. 

Mr. George said that he should like this arrange 
ment very much ; and accordingly, at the appointed 
time, he and Rollo set out from the inn in com 
pany with the landlord. They walked along the 
road a short distance, and then went down a 
flight of steps that led to the landing. Here 
there was a number of boats drawn up upon the 
beach. One of them had a boatman in attend 
ance upon it, waiting for the company that he 
was to take over to the island. 

Besides the landlord and his two guests, there 
were two or three girls waiting on the beach, 
who seemed to be going over too. All these peo 
ple got into the boat, and then the boatman, af 
ter embarking himself, pushed it off from the 
shore. 

It was a very pleasant summer morning, and 
Rollo had a delightful sail in going over to the 
island. Mr. George and the landlord talked to 
gether nearly all the way ; but Rollo did not 



A SABBATH ON THE RHINE. 121 

Sailing over to the island. Landing. 

listen much to their conversation, as he could not 
understand the landlord very well, notwithstand 
ing that the language which he used was Eng 
lish. He was seated next to the girls ; but he did 
not speak to them, as he felt sure that they did 
not know any language but German. So he 
amused himself with looking at the hills on the 
shore, and at the gardens and vineyards which 
adorned them, and in tracing out the zigzag paths 
which led up to the arbors and summer houses, 
and to the ancient ruins. He attempted at one 
time to look down into the water by the side 
of the boat, to see if he could see any fishes ; 
but the water of the Rhine is very turbid, and 
he could not see down into it at all. 

At length the boat came to the land in a little 
cove on the side of the island, where there was a 
sandy beach, under the shade of some ancient 
trees. There was a path leading from this place 
up towards the convent. The party in the boat 
landed, and began to walk up this path. Mr. 
George and the landlord were first, and Rollo 
came next. 

The little path that they were walking in came 
out into another which led along among the 
fields that extended down the island. There was 
a nun coming up this path, leading one of the 
schoolgirls. It seems they had been to take a 



122 HOLLO ON THE RHINE. 

The nun and the schoolgirl. 

walk. The nun had her face shaded by a large 
cap, or bonnet, with a veil over it ; and though 




she looked pale, her countenance had a very gen 
tle expression, and was very beautiful. She 



A SABBATH ON THE RHINE. 123 

Hollo s curiosity about the nun. The chapel. 

bowed to the party that was coming up from the 
boat, and went on before them to the church. 

"I wonder whether she is happy," thought 
Rollo to himself, " in living on this island, a nun. 
I wish I knew where her father and mother live, 
and how she came to be here, such a beautiful 
young lady. 7 

This nun was indeed very beautiful, though 
she was an exception to the general rule, for nuns 
are often very plain. 

The church formed a part of the convent build 
ing. It was, in fact, only a small chapel, built in 
a wing of the convent, with a little cupola and a 
bell over it. The bell was ringing when the 
party from the boat went up towards the edifice. 
On entering Rollo found that the room was very 
small. At the upper end was a platform, with 
an altar and a crucifix at the farther end of it. 
The altar had very tall candles upon it, and sev 
eral bouquets of flowers. The candles were 
lighted. 

Below the platform, in the place where the 
congregation would usually be, there were two 
rows o f seats, like pews, with small benches be 
fore each seat to kneel upon, and also a support 
to lean upon in time of prayer. These seats 
were very few, and there were but few people 
sitting on them. The people that were there 



124 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

The service in the chapel. 

Bcsmed to be the servants of the convent. Mr. 
George and Rollo, and the people that came with 
them, were the only strangers. Rollo looked 
around for the nuns and for the girls of the 
school, but they were nowhere to be seen. 

As soon as Rollo had taken his seat, he ob 
served that, though there was no minister or 
priest at the altar, the service was going on. 
He could hear a female voice, which appeared to 
issue from some place in a gallery behind him, 
out of view, reading what seemed to be verses 
from the Bible, in a very sweet and plaintive 
tone, and at the close of each verse all the peo 
ple in the congregation below would say some 
thing in a responding voice together. 

" Do you suppose that that is one of the nuns ? " 
whispered Rollo to his uncle. 

" Yes," said Mr. George, " probably it is." 

" This is a Catholic church, is it not?" asked 
Rollo. 

" Yes," said Mr. George, " almost all the 
churches on the Rhine are Catholic churches ; 
and nunneries are always Catholic." 

Rollo said no more, but attended to the ser 
vice. 

There was nothing that was said or done that 
Rollo could at all understand ; and yet the scene 
itself was invested with a certain solemnity 



A SABBATH ON THE RHINE. 125 

Mr. George arid Hollo returned to the hotel. 

which produced a strong and quite salutary im 
pression on his mind. By and by a priest, dressed 
in his pontifical robes, came in by a side door, 
and taking his place before the altar, with an 
attendant kneeling behind him, or by his side, 
went through a great number of ceremonies, of 
which Rollo understood nothing from begin 
ning to end. Mr. George, however, explained 
the general nature of the performance to him that 
afternoon when they were walking up the river 
to Remagen, in a conversation which I shall re 
late in due time. 

The service was concluded in about an hour, 
and then the congregation was dismissed. All 
but the party that came in the boat went out by 
a side door which led into the other apartments 
of the convent. The boat party went down to 
the shore, and getting into the boat were rowed 
back across the water. 

After dinner, Mr. George and Rollo set out to 
walk up the river to Remagen, in order to attend 
church there. It was during this walk that they 
had the conversation I have referred to on the 
subject of the service which they had witnessed 
in the little chapel at the nunnery. 

" You must understand," said Mr. George, 
* that the nature and design of the ceremonies of 
public worship in a Protestant and in a Catholic 



126 ROLLO ON THE RlIINE. 

Mr. George s explanation of Catholic and Protestant worship. 

church are essentially and totally distinct. The 
Protestants meet to offer up their common prayers 
and supplications to God, and to listen to the 
instructions which the minister gives them in 
respect to their duties. The Catholics, on the 
other hand, meet to have a sacrifice performed, as 
an atonement for their sins. The Protestants 
think that all the atonement which is necessary 
for the sins of the whole world has already 
been made by the sufferings and death of Christ. 
The Catholics think that a new sacrifice must be 
made for them from time to time by the priest ; 
and they come together to kneel before the altar 
while he makes it, in order that they may have 
a share in the benefits of it. Thus the Prot 
estant comes to church to hear something said ; 
the Catholic to witness something done. This 
is one reason, in fact, why the Catholic churches 
may very properly be enormously large. The 
people who assemble in them do not come to 
hear, so much as to see, or rather to be present 
and know what is going on, and to take part in 
it in heart. 

" The great thing that is done," continued Mr. 
George, " is the receiving of the communion, that 
is, of the bread and wine of the Lord s supper, 
which they suppose is renewing the sacrifice of 
Christ, for the benefit of those who are present 



A SABBATH ON THE RHINE. 127 



The sacrament of communion. 



at the ceremony. Did you see the man who wag 
kneeling at the foot of the steps of the altar 
while the priest was performing, and who brought 
two little silver vessels, out of which he poured 
something into the priest s cup ? " 

" Yes," said Rollo. " The silver vessels were 
on a little shelf at first, at the side of the altar, 
and he went at the proper time and kneeled 
with them by the side of the priest, until the 
priest was ready to take them." 

" One of these vessels/ 7 continued Mr. George, 
"contained wine, the other water. When the 
priest held his large silver cup out to him, the 
man poured some of the wine into it." 

" Yes," said Rollo. " And I saw the priest 
wiping out the cup very carefully, with a large 
white napkin, before he held it out for the 
wine." 

" True," said Mr. George. " When he took 
the wine in his cup, it was common wine, in its 
natural state ; but afterwards, by being conse 
crated to the service of the mass, it was changed, 
they all believe, into the blood of Christ. It 
looked, they knew, just as it did before ; but 
though it thus still retained all the appearance 
of wine, they believe that it became really and 
truly the blood of Christ, and that the priest in 
drinking it would make a sacrifice of Christ 



128 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

The spirit and meaning of the Catholic service. 

anew for the salvation of the souls of those who 
should witness and join in the ceremony. 

" In the same manner a small round piece of 
bread, shaped like a large wafer, when conse 
crated by the priest s prayers, becomes, they 
think, really and truly the body of Christ ; and 
the priest by eating it performs a sacrifice, just as 
he does by drinking the wine. When he has 
consecrated this wafer, he holds it up for a mo 
ment, that the people may look upon it ; and they, 
in looking upon it, think they see a portion of the 
true body of Christ, which is about to be offered 
up by the priest as a sacrifice for their sins." 

" Yes," said Rollo, " I remember when he 
held up the wafer. I did not know what it 
was." 

" Did you not see that all the people bowed 
their heads just then," rejoined Mr. George, 
" and said something to themselves in a very 
reverent manner." 

" Yes," said Rollo, " but I did not understand 
what it meant." 

" Thus you see," continued Mr. George, " that 
the essential thing at a Catholic service like this, 
as they regard it, is the eating of the body and 
the drinking of the blood of Jesus Christ, as a 
new sacrifice for the sins of the people who are 
present and consenting in heart to the ceremony. 



A SABBATH ON THE RHINE. 129 

The subordinate ceremonies. 

There are a great many subordinate operations 
and rites. The assistant goes back and forth a 
great many times from one side of the altar to 
the other, stopping to bow and kneel every time 
he passes the crucifix. The priest makes a great 
deal of ceremony of wiping out the cup before 
he receives the wine. Then there is a long ser 
vice, which he reads in a low voice, and there are 
many prayers which he offers, and he turns to 
various passages of the Scriptures, and reads por 
tions here and there. The people do not hear 
any thing that he says and does, nor is it neces 
sary, according to their ideas of the service, that 
they should do so ; for they know very well that 
the priest is consecrating the bread or the wine, 
and changing it into the body and the blood of 
Christ, in order that it may be ready for the sac 
rifice. Then, when the wine is changed, the priest 
drinks it in a very solemn manner, raising it to 
his lips three several times, so as to take it in 
three portions. Then he holds the cup out to his 
assistant again, who pours a little water into it 
from his other ves sel ; and the priest then, after 
moving the cup round and round, to be sure that 
the water mixes itself well with the wine which 
was left on the inner service of the cup, drinks 
that too. He does this in order to make sure 
that no portion of the precious blood remains in 
9 



130 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

The conclusion of the service. The people come not to hear, but to soft. 

the cup. He then wipes it out carefully with his 
napkin, and puts it away." 

" Yes," said Rollo, " I saw all those things. 
And after he had got through, he covered the cup 
with a cloth, embroidered with gold, and carried 
it away." 

" And after that," continued Rollo, " the as 
sistant, with an extinguisher on the top of a tall 
pole, put out the candles, and then he went 
away." 

"Yes," said Mr. George, and so the service 
was concluded. 

" Thus you see," continued Mr. George, " that 
for all that the people come for, to such a service 
as that, it was not necessary that they should 
hear at all. There was not any thing to be said 
to them. There was only something to be done 
for them ; and so long as it was done, and done 
properly, they standing by and consenting, it 
was not of much consequence whether they could 
see and hear or not. So the priest turned his 
face away from them towards the altar ; and when 
he had any thing to say, he spoke the words in a 
very low and inaudible voice." 

" It is impossible," said Rollo, after a short 
pause, " that the wine should become blood, and 
the wafer flesh, while they yet look just as they 
did before." 



A SABBATH ON THE RHINE. 133 

Believing strange and impossible things. 

True," said Mr. George, " it seems impossible 
to us, who hear of it for the first time, after we 
have grown up to years of discretion ; but that 
does not prevent its being honestly believed by 
people that have been taught to consider it true 
from their earliest infancy." 

" Do you suppose the priests themselves believe 
it ? " asked Hollo. 

" Yes," said Mr. George, " a great many of 
them undoubtedly do. We find, it is true, every 
where, that the most intelligent and well edu 
cated men will continue, all their lives, to believe 
very strange things, provided they were taught 
to believe them when they were very young j 
and provided, also, that their worldly interests 
are in any way concerned in their continuing to 
believe them." 

Just at this time, Rollo s attention was at 
tracted to what seemed to be an encampment on 
the roadside at a little distance before them. It 
was a family of emigrants that were going down 
the river, and had stopped to rest. The horses 
had been unharnessed, and were eating, and the 
wagon was surrounded with a family consisting 
of men, women, and children, who were sitting 
on the bank taking their suppers. Hollo wished 
very much that he understood German, so as to 
go and talk with them. But he did not, and so 



134 



ROLLO ON THE RlIlNE. 



Outcn abend good evening. 



he contented himself with wishing them guten 
abend, which means good evening, as he went by. 
He went on after this, without any farther ad 
venture, to the village, and after attending church 
there, he returned with his uncle down along the 
bank of the river to the hotel. 




EHRENBREITSTEIN. 135 



Some of the old castles on the Rhine are kept in repair. 



CHAPTER IX. 
EHRENBREITSTEIN. 

THE people of the Rhine have not allowed all 
the old castles to go to ruin. Some have been 
carefully preserved from age to age, and never 
allowed to go out of repair. Others that had 
gone to decay, or had been destroyed in the 
wars, have been repaired and rebuilt in modern 
times, and are now in better condition than 
ever. 

Some of the strongholds that have thus been 
restored are now great fortresses, held by the 
governors of the states and kingdoms that border 
on the river ; others of them are fitted up as sum 
mer residences for the persons, whether princes 
or private people, that happen to own them. 
About midway between the beginning and the 
end of the mountainous region of the Rhine is a 
place where there are two very important works 
of this kind. One of them is far the largest and 
most important of all on the river. This is the 
Castle of Ehrenbreitstein. Ehrenbreitstein is not 



136 HOLLO ON THE RHINE. 

The fortifications of Ehrenbreitstein. Origin of the name Coblenz. 

only a very strong and important fortification, 
but it guards a very important point. 

This point is the place where the River Moselle, 
one of the principal branches of the Rhine, comes 
in. The valley of the Moselle is a very rich and 
fertile one, and in proportion to its extent is al 
most as valuable as that of the Rhine. The 
junction of the two rivers is the place for de 
fending both of these valleys, and has conse 
quently, in all ages of the world, been a very 
important post. The Romans built a town here, 
in the days of Julius Cassar, and the town has 
continued to the present day. It is called 
Coblenz. The Romans named it originally 
Confluentes, which means the confluence ; and this 
name, in the course of ages, has gradually be 
come changed to Coblenz. 

Coblenz is built on a three-cornered piece of 
flat land, exactly on the point where the two 
rivers come together. There is a bridge over the 
mouth of the Moselle where it comes into the 
Rhine, and another over the Rhine itself. The 
bridge over the Moselle is of stone, and was 
built a great many hundred years ago. That 
over the Rhine is what is called a bridge of boats. 

A row of large and solid boats is anchored in 
the river, side by side, with their heads up the 
stream, and then the bridge is made by a plat- 



EHRENBREITSTEIN. 137 

The bridge of boats across the Rhine. 

form which extends across from boat to boat, 
across the whole breadth of the stream. 

Near the Coblenz side of the bridge there are 
two or three lengths of it which can be taken 
out when necessary, in order to let the steamers, 
or rafts, or tow boats, that may be coming up or 
down the river, pass through. Rollo was very 
much interested, while he remained at Coblenz, 
in looking out from the windows of his hotel, 
which faced the river, and seeing them open this 
bridge, to let the steamers and vessels pass 
through. A length of the bridge, consisting 
sometimes of two boats with the platform over it, 
and sometimes of three, would separate from the 
others, and float down the stream until it cleared 
itself from the rest of the bridge, and then would 
move by some mysterious means to one side, and 
so make an opening. Then, when the steamer, 
or whatever else it was, had passed through, the 
detached portion of the bridge would come back 
again slowly and carefully to its place. 

Of course all the travel on the bridge would 
be interrupted during this operation ; but as soon 
as the connection was again restored, the streams 
of people would immediately begin to move again 
over the bridge, as before. 

Across the bridge, on the heights upon the 
other side, Rollo could see the great Castle of 



138 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

The castle. The Prussian uniform. The fortifications. 

Ehrenbreitstein, together with an innumerable 
multitude of walls, parapets, bastions, towers, 
battlements, and other constructions pertaining 
to such a work. 

One day Mr. George and Rollo went over to 
see this fortress. They were stopped a few min 
utes at the bridge, by a steamer going through. 
There was a large company of soldiers stopped 
too, part of the garrison of Ehrenbreitstein that 
had been over to attend a parade on the public 
square at Coblenz, and were now going home, 
so that Rollo was not sorry for the detention, 
as it gave him a fine opportunity to see the 
soldiers, and to examine the Prussian uniform. 
It consisted of a blue frock coat and white trou 
sers, with an elegant brass-mounted helmet for a 
cap. 

The way up to the castle was by a long and 
winding road, built up artificially on arches of 
solid masonry. This road was every where over 
looked by walls, with portholes and embrasures 
for cannon, and all along it, at short distances, 
were immense gateways exceedingly massive and 
strong, which could all be shut in time of siege. 
When Mr. George and Rollo reached the top of 
the castle, they found a great esplanade there, 
surrounded with buildings for barracks, and for 
the storing of arms and provisions. The view 



EHRENBREITSTEIN. 139 

Rollo and Mr. George at the barracks. Stoltzenfels. 

from this esplanade was magnificent beyond de 
scription. You could see far up and down the 
River Rhine, and far up the Moselle, while all 
Coblenz, and the two bridges, and the town be 
low the castle, and three other immense forts that 
stood on the other side of the river, were directly 
beneath. 

Rollo went into some of the barracks, ami also 
up to the top of the buildings. The buildings 
were all arched over above, and covered with 
earth ten feet deep, with grass growing on the 
top. The men were mowing this grass when 
Mr. George and Rollo were there. The object 
of this earth on the roofs of the buildings is to 
prevent the bombshells of the enemy from break 
ing down through the roofs and killing the men. 

On the afternoon of the same day that Mr. 
George and Rollo visited Ehrenbreitstein, they 
went up the river a few miles in a boat to see a* 
smaller castle, which has been repaired and 
changed into a private residence. The name of 
it is Stoltzenfels. They rode up the mountain 
that this castle was built upon on donkeys. 
The road was very good, but the place was so 
steep that it was necessary to make it twist and 
turn, in winding its way up, in the most extraor 
dinary manner. In one place it actually went 
over itself by an arched bridge thrown across 



140 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

The castle. Its rooms. The visitors slippers. 

the ravine. In fact, this path was just like a 
corkscrew. 

Rollo was exceedingly delighted with the cas 
tle of Stoltzenfels. A man who was there con 
ducted him and his uncle, together with a small 
company of other visitors who arrived at the 
same time, all over it. It would be impossible 
to describe it, there were so many curious courts, 
and towers, and winding passage ways, and little 
gardens, and terraces, all built in a sort of nest 
among the rocks, of the most irregular and 
wildest character. 

The rooms were all beautifully finished and 
furnished, and they were full of old relics of 
feudal times. The floors were of polished oak, 
and the visitors, when walking over them, wore 
over their boots and shoes great slippers made of 
felt, which were provided there for the purpose 




HOLLO S LETTER. 141 

Hollo writes a letter to his cousin Jenny. St. Goar. 



CHAPTER X. 
ROLLO S LETTER. 

AT one place where Mr. George and Rollo 
stopped to spend a night, Rollo wrote a letter to 
Jenny. It was as follows : 

ST. GOAR ON THE RHINE. ) 

Friday Evening. \ 

DEAR JENNY : We have got into a very 
lonely place. I did not know there was such a 
lonely place on the Rhine. The name of it is 
St. Goar ; but they pronounce it St. Gwar. The 
river is shut in closely by the mountains on both 
sides, and also above and below ; so that it seems 
as if we were in a very deep valley, with a pond 
of water in the bottom of it. 

Away across the river is a long row of white 
houses, crowded in between the edge of the water 
and the mountain. On the mountain above is an 
old ruined castle, called the Cat. There is another 
old ruin a few miles below, called the Mouse. I 
can see both of these ruins from my windows. 



142 HOLLO ON THE RHINE. 

The queer little town. The church. Waiting for the keys. 

There is a little town on this side of the vil 
lage too. We went out this morning to see it. 
It is very small, and the streets are very narrow. 
We came to the queerest old church you ever 
saw. It was all entangled up with other build 
ings, and there were so many arches, and flights 
of steps, and various courts all around it, that it 
was a long time before we could find out where 
the door was. 

While we were looking about, a little girl 
came up and asked us something. We supposed 
she asked us whether we wished to see the church ; 
so we said Ja, and then she ran away. Presently 
we saw a boy coming along, and he asked us 
something, and we said Ja ; and then he ran away. 
We did not know what they meant by going 
away ; but the fact was, they went to find some 
men who kept the keys. It seems there are two 
men who keep keys, and the girl went for one 
and the boy for the other ; and so, after we 
had waited about five minutes under an arch 
which led to an old door, two men came with 
keys to let us in. Uncle George paid them both, 
because he* said the second man that came looked 
disappointed. He paid the girl and the boy 
too ; so he had four persons to pay ; and when 
we got in, we found that it was nothing but a 
Protestant church, after all. I like the Catholic 



HOLLO S LETTER. 143 

Hollo s description of the Catholic church. The ruin of Rheinfels. 

churches the best. They are a great deal the 
funniest. 

We went to see the Catholic church afterwards. 
There was a monstrous old gallery all on ono 
side of the church, and none on the other. Then 
there was an organ away up in a loft, and all 
sorts of old images and statues. I never saw 
such an old looking place. 

As we walked along the streets, or rather the 
pathways between the houses, we could see the 
rocks and mountains away up over our heads, 
almost hanging over the town. They are very 
pretty rocks, being all green, with grapevines and 
bushes. 

Close by the town too, up a long and very 
steep path, is a monstrous old ruin. The name 
of it is Rheinfels. I can see it from the balcony 
of my windows. Besides, uncle George and I 
went up to it this afternoon. It is nothing but 
old walls, and arches, and dark dungeons, all 
tumbling down. There was a little fence and a 
gate across the entrance, and the gate was locked. 
But there was a man who asked us something in 
German ; but we could see it all just as well with 
out going in ; so we said Nein, which means no. 
They say that a great many years ago the 
French took this castle, and then, to prevent its 
doing the enemy any good forever afterwards, 



144 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

Blowing up the castle. Hollo s account of the echo. 

they put a great deal of gunpowder into the 
cellars, and blew it up. I did not care much 
about the old ruins, but I should have liked very 
well to have seen them blow it up. 

The waiter has just come to call us to go out 
and hear the echo, and so I must go. I will tell 
you about it afterwards. 

The man played on a trumpet down on the 
bank of the river, and we could hear the echo 
from the rocks and mountains on the other side. 
He also fired a gun two or three times. After 
the gun was fired, for a few minutes all was still ; 
but then there came back a sharp crack from the 
other shore, and then a long, rumbling sound from 
up the river and down the river, like a peal of 
distant thunder. 

It is a gloomy place here after all, and I shall 
be glad when I get out of it ; for the river is 
down in the bottom of such a deep gorge, that we 
cannot see out any where. There are some old 
castles about on the hills, and they look pretty 
enough at a distance ; but when you get near them 
they are nothing but old walls all tumbling down. 
The vineyards are not pretty either. They are 
all on terraces kept up by long stone walls ; and 
when you are down on the river, and look up to 
them, you cannot see any thing but the walls, 
with the edge of the vineyards, like a little green 



ROLLO S LETTER. 145 

How the vineyards on the Rhine look. 

fringe, along on the top. But there is no great 
loss in this, for the vineyards are not pretty when 
you can see them. They look just like fields full 
of beans growing on short poles. 

I shall be glad when we get out of this place ; 
but uncle George says he is going to stay here 
all day to-morrow, to write letters and to bring up 
his journal. But never mind ; I can have a pretty 
good time sitting on the steps that go down <o 
the water, and seeing the vessels, and steamboats, 
and rafts go by. 

Your affectionate cousin, 

ROLLO. 

P. S. The Cat and the Mouse used to fight 
each other in old times, and the Mouse used to 
beat Was not that funny ? 




10 



146 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

Mr George s plans The towns on the Rhine. 



CHAPTER XI. 
THE RAFT. 

THE morning after Rollo had finished the let 
ter to Jenny, as recorded in the last chapter, his 
uncle George told him at breakfast time that he 
might amuse himself that day in any way he 
pleased. 

" I shall be busy writing," said Mr. George, 
" nearly all the morning. It is such a still and 
quiet place here that I think I had better stay 
and finish up my writing. Besides, it must be 
an economical place, I think, and we can stay 
here a day cheaper than we can farther up the 
river, at the large towns." 

" Shall we come to the large towns soon ? " 
asked Rollo. 

"Yes," replied his uncle. "This deep gorge 
only continues fifteen or twenty miles farther, 
and then we come out into open country, and to 
the region of large towns. You see there is no 
occasion for any other towns in this part of the 
Rhine than villages of vinedressers, except here 



THE RAFT. 147 



Hollo on the river side. The boatmen. 

and there a little city where a branch river 
comes in." 

" Well," said Rollo, " I shall be glad when we 
get out. But I will go down to the shore, and 
play about there for a while." 

Accordingly, as soon as Rollo had finished hio 
breakfast, he went down to the shore. 

The hotel faced the river, though there was 
a road outside of it, between it and the water. 
From the outer edge of the road there was a 
steep slope, leading down to the water s edge. 
This slope was paved with stones, to prevent 
the earth from being washed away by the water 
in times of flood. Here and there along this 
slope were steps leading down to the water. At 
the foot of these steps were boats, and opposite 
to them, in the road, there were boatmen stand 
ing in groups here and there, ready to take any 
body across the river that wished to go. 

Rollo went down to the shore, and took his 
seat on the upper step of one of the stairways, 
and began to look about him over the water. 
There were two other boys sitting near by ; "tut 
Rollo could not talk to them, for they knew only 
German. 

Presently one of the boatmen came up to him, 
and pointing to a boat, asked him a question. 
Rollo did not understand what the man said, but 



148 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

Rollo would like to take a sail. Engaging a boatman. 

he supposed that he was asking him if he did not 
wish for a boat. So Rollo said Nein, and the 
man went away. 

There was a village across the river, in full 
view from where Rollo sat. This village con 
sisted of a row of white stone houses facing the 
river, and extending along the margin of it, at 
the foot of the mountains. There seemed to be 
just room for them between the mountains and 
the shore. Among the houses was to be seen, 
here and there, the spire of an antique church, or 
an old tower, or a ruined wall. After sitting 
quietly on the steps until he had seen two steamers 
go down, and a fleet of canal boats from Hol 
land towed up, Rollo took it into his head that it 
might be a good plan for him to go across the 
river. So he went in to ask his uncle George if 
he thought it would be safe for him to go. 

" You will take a boatman? " said Mr. George. 

" Yes," said Rollo. 

" And how long shall you wish to be gone ? " 

" About an hour," said Rollo. 

" Very well," said Mr. George, " you may go." 

So Rollo went down to the shore again, and 
as he now began to look at the boats as if he 
wished to get into one of them, a man came to 
him again, and asked him the same question. 
Rollo said Ja. So the man went down to his 



THE RAFT. 149 



Crossing the river. The village on the other side. The raft. 

boat, and drew it up to the lowest step of the 
stairs where Rollo was standing. Rollo got in, 
and taking his seat, pointed over to the other 
side of the river. The man then pushed off. 
The current was, however, very swift, and so the 
boatman poled the boat far up the stream before 
he would venture to put out into it ; and then he 
was carried down a great way in going across. 

When they reached the landing on the oppo 
site shore, Rollo asked the man, " How much ? " 
He knew what the German was for how much. 
The man said, " Two groschen." So Rollo took 
the two groschen from his pocket and paid him. 
Two groschen are about five cents. 

Rollo walked about in the village where he 
had landed for nearly half an hour ; and then, 
taking another boat on that side, he returned as 
he had come. On his way back he saw a great 
raft coming down. He immediately conceived 
the idea of taking a little sail on that raft, down 
the river. He wanted to see "how it would 
seem " to be on such an immense raft, and how 
the men managed it. So he went in to propose 
the plan to his uncle George. He said that lie 
should like to go down the river a little way on 
the raft, and then walk back. 

" Yes/ 7 said Mr. George, " or you might come 
up in the next steamer." 



150 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

Rollo s plan for a trip on the raft. 

" So I might," said Rollo. 

" I have no objection," said Mr. George. 

" How far down may I go ? " said Rollo. 

" Why, you had better not go more than ten or 
fifteen miles," said Mr. George, " for the raft 
goes slowly, probably not more than two or 
three miles an hour, and it would take you four 
or five hours, perhaps, to go down ten miles. 
You would, however, come back quick in the 
steamer. Go down stairs and consider the sub 
ject carefully, and form your plan complete. 
Consider how you will manage to get on board 
the raft, and to get off again ; and where you 
will stop to take the steamer, and when you will 
get home ; and when you have planned it all 
completely, come to me again." 

So Rollo went down, and after making various 
inquiries and calculations, he returned in about 
ten minutes to Mr. George, with the following 
plan. 

" The waiter tells me," said he, " that the cap 
tain of the raft will take me down as far as I 
want to go, and set me ashore any where, in his 
boat, for two or three groschen, and that one of 
the boatmen here will take me out to the raft, 
when she conies by, for two groschen. A good 
place for me to stop would be Boppard, which is 
about ten or twelve miles below here. The raft 



THE EAFT. 151 



The plan of the raft voyage. How to make the bargain. 

will get there about two o clock. Then there 
will be a steamer coming along by there at three, 
which will bring up here at four, just about 
dinner time. The waiter says that he will go 
out with me to the raft, and explain it all to the 
captain, because the captain would not under 
stand me, as he only knows German." 

" Yery well," said Mr. George. " That s a 
very good plan. Only I advise you to make a 
bargain with the captain to put you ashore any 
where you like. Because you know you may get 
tired before you have gone so far as ten miles. 

" In fact," continued Mr. George, " I would 
not say any thing about the distance that you 
wish to go to the captain. Just make a bargain 
with him to let you go aboard his raft for a little 
while, and to send you ashore whenever you 
wish to go." 

" Yes," said Rollo, " I will ; that will be the 
best plan. But I am sure that I shall want to go 
as far as ten miles." 

So Rollo went to his trunk, and began to un 
lock it in a hurried manner ; and when he had 
opened it, he put his hand down into it at the 
left hand corner, on the front side, which was the 
place where he always kept his fishing line. 

" What are you looking for ? " said Mr. 
George. 



152 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

Why Rollo carried his fishing line. Mr. George sends for a commissioner. 

" My fishing line," replied Rollo ; " is not that 
a good plan ? " 

" Yes," said Mr. George, " an excellent plan." 

Rollo had no very definite idea of being able 
to fish while on the raft, but there was a sort of 
instinct which prompted him always to take his 
fishing line whenever he went on any excursion 
whatever that was connected with the water. 
Mr. George had a pretty definite idea that he 
would not be able to fish ; but still he thought it 
a good plan for Rollo to take the line, for he ob 
served that to have a fishing line in his pocket, 
on such occasions, was always a source of pleasure 
to a boy, even if he did not use it at all. 

Rollo, having found his fishing line, shut and 
locked his trunk, and ran down stairs. 

As soon as he had gone, Mr. George rose and 
rang the bell. 

Yery soon the waiter came to the door. 

" This young gentleman who is with me," said 
Mr. George, "wishes to go on board this raft, 
and sail down the river a little way." 

" Yes, sir," said the waiter. " Rudolf is ar 
ranging it for him." 

" Yery well," said Mr. George. " And now I 
wish to have you send a commissioner secretly to 
accompany him. The commissioner is to remain 
on the raft as long as Rollo does, and leave it 



THE RAFT. 153 



Secret instructions. Hollo s embarkation. 

when he leaves it, and keep in sight of him all 
the time till he gets home, so as to see that he 
does not get into any difficulty." 

" Yes, sir," said the waiter. 

" But let the commissioner understand that he 
is not to let Rollo know any thing about his hav 
ing any charge over him, nor to communicate 
with him in any way, unless some emergency 
should arise requiring him to interpose." 

" Yes, sir," said the waiter, " I will explain it 
to him." 

" And choose a good-natured and careful man 
to send," continued Mr. George ; " one that speaks 
French." 

" Yes, sir," replied the waiter ; and so saying, 
he disappeared, leaving Mr. George to go on 
with his writing. 

In the mean time Rollo had gone down to the 
shore with the waiter Rudolf, and was standing 
there near a boat which was drawn up at the 
foot of the landing stairs, watching the raft, which 
was now getting pretty near. There was a great 
company of men at each end of the raft. Rollo 
could see those at the lowest end "the plainest. 
They were standing in rows near the end of the 
raft, and every six of them had an oar. There 
were eight or ten of these oars, all projecting 
Forward, from the front end of the raft, and the 



154 KOLLO ON THE RHINE. 

The oarsmen on the raft. A strange way to row. Steering. 

raftsmen, by working them, seemed to be endeav 
oring to row that end of the raft out farther into 
the stream. It was the same at the farther end 
of the raft. There was a similar number of oars 
men there, and of oars, only those projected be 
hind, just as the others did before. There were 
no oars at all along the sides of the raft. 

The fact is. that these monstrous rafts are al 
ways allowed to float down by the current, the 
men not attempting to hasten them on their way 
by rowing. All that they attempt to do by their 
labor is to keep the immense and unwieldy mass 
in the middle of the stream. Thus they only 
need oars at the two ends, and the working of 
them only tends to row the raft sidewise, as it 
were. Sometimes they have to row the ends from 
left to right, and sometimes from right to left, 
according as the current tends to drift the raft 
towards the left or the right bank of the river. 

Rollo did not understand this at first, and ac 
cordingly, when he first saw these rafts coming 
with a dense crowd of men at each end, rowiog 
vigorously, while there was not a single oar to be 
seen, nor even any place for an oar along the 
sides, he was very much surprised at the spec 
tacle. He thought that the men at the back end 
of the raft were sculling ; but what those at the 
forward end were doing he could not imagine. 



THE RAFT. 155 



A description of the raft which Rollo saw on the Rhine. 

When, however, he came to consider the case, 
he saw what the explanation must be, and so he 
understood the subject perfectly. 

At length, when Rollo saw that the forward 
end of the raft, in its progress down the river, 
had come nearly opposite to the place where he 
was standing, he got into the boat, and the boat 
man rowed him out to the raft. As soon as they 
reached the raft Rollo stepped out upon the 
boards and logs. The top of the raft made a 
very good and smooth floor, being covered with 
boards, and it was high and dry above the water. 
Rollo looked down into the interstices, and saw 
that that part of the raft which was under water 
was formed of logs and timbers of very large 
size, placed close together side by side, with a 
layer above crossing the layer below. The whole 
was then covered with a flooring of boards, so 
close and continuous that Rollo had to look for 
some time before he could find any openings 
where he could look down and see how the raft 
was constructed. 

In the middle of the raft were several houses. 
The houses were made of boards, and were of 
the plainest and simplest construction. Around 
the doors of these houses several women were 
sitting wherever they could find shady places. 
Some .were knitting and some were sewing. 



156 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

The people on the raft. American friends. 

There were several children there too, amusing 
themselves in various ways. One was skipping 
a rope. Rudolf conducted Rollo up to one of 
these families, and told the women that he was an 
American boy, who was travelling with his uncle 
on the Rhine, and seeing this raft going by, had 
a curiosity to come on board of it. The women 
looked very much pleased when they heard this. 
Some of them had friends in America, and others 
were thinking of going themselves with their 
husbands ; and they immediately began to talk 
very volubly to Rollo, and to ask him questions. 
But as they spoke German, Rollo could not under 
stand what they said. 

In the mean time the waiter had gone away 
to speak to the captain of the raft, and to make 
arrangements for having Rollo put ashore when he 
had sailed long enough upon it. The captain was 
walking to and fro, upon a raised platform, near 
the middle of the raft. This platform I will de 
scribe presently. In a few minutes the man re 
turned. 

" The captain gives you a good welcome," said 
he, " and says he wishes he could talk English, 
for he wants to ask you a great many questions 
about America. He says you may stay on the 
raft as long as you please, and when you wish to 
go ashore, you have only to go and get on board 



THE RAFT. 157 

Rollo alone. The river. The commissioner. 

one of the boats, and that will be a signal. He 
will soon see you there, and will send a man to 
row you to the shore." 

Rollo liked this plan very much. So Rudolf, 
having arranged every thing, wished Rollo a 
" good voyage," and went off in the boat as he 
came. 

Thus Rollo was left alone, as it were, upon the 
raft ; and for a moment he felt a little appalled 
at the idea of going down through such a dark 
and gloomy gorge as the bed .of the river here 
presented to view, on such a strange conveyance, 
and surrounded with so wild and savage a horde 
of men as the raftsmen were, especially since, 
as he supposed, there was not a human being on 
board with whom he could exchange a word of 
conversation. It is true the commissioner whom 
his uncle George had sent was on the raft. He 
had come out in the same boat with Rollo, and 
had remained when the boat went back to the 
shore. But Rollo had not noticed him particu 
larly. He observed, it is true, that two men 
came with him to the raft, and that only one re 
turned ; but he thought it probable that the other 
might be going down the river a little way, or 
perhaps that he belonged to the raft. He had 
not the least idea that the man had come to take 
charge of him, and so he felt as if he were 



158 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

The fire upon the raft. The kettle on the fire. 

entirely alone in the new and strange scene to 
which he found himself so suddenly transferred. 

There were, however, so many things to attract 
his attention that at first he had no time to think 
much of his loneliness. There was a fire burning 
at a certain part of the raft, not far from the 
dooi of one of the houses, and he went to see it. 
As soon as he reached it, the mystery in respect 
to the means of having a fire on such a structure, 
without setting the boards and timbers on fire, 
was at once solved. Rollo found that the fire 
was built upon a hearth of sand. There was a 
large box, about four feet square and a foot deep, 
which box was filled with sand, and the fire was 
built in the middle of it. It seemed to Rollo 
that this was a very easy way to make a fireplace, 
especially as the sand seemed to be of a very 
common kind, such as the raftsmen had probably 
shovelled up somewhere on the shore of the 
river. 

" The very next time I build a raft," said 
Rollo, " I will have a fire on it in exactly that 
way." 

There was a sort of barricade or screen built 
up on two sides of this fire, to keep the wind 
from blowing the flame and the heat away from 
the kettle that was hung over it. This screen 
was made of short boards, nailed to three posts. 



THE RAFT. 159 



The captain s station on the raft. 



that were placed in such a manner as to make, 
when the boards were nailed to them, two short 
fences, at right angles to each other, or like two 
sides of a high box. The corner of this screen 
was turned towards the wind, and thus the fire 
vas sheltered. A pole passed across from on*: 
of the posts to the other, and the kettle was hung 
upon the pole. 

After examining this fireplace Rollo went to 
look at the platform where the captain had his 
station. This platform was about six feet high 
and ten feet long ; and it was just wide enough 
for the captain to walk to and fro upon it. 
There was a flight of steps leading up to this 
platform from the floor of the raft, and a little 
railing on each side of it, to keep the captain 
from falling off while he was walking there. 

The object of having this platform raised in 
this way, was to give the captain a more com 
manding position, so as not only to enable him 
to survey the whole of the raft, and observe how 
every thing was going on upon it, but also to give 
him a good view of the river below, so that he 
might watch the currents, and see how the raft 
was drifting, and give the necessary orders for 
working it one way or the other, as might be 
required in order to keep it in the middle of th0 
stream. 



160 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

Rowing on a very large scale. The appearance of the raftsmen. 

Then Rollo went to the forward end of the 
raft to see the raftsmen row. The oars were of 
monstrous size, as you might well suppose to be 
the case from the fact that each of them required 
six men to work it. These six men all stood in 
a row along the handle of the oar, which seemed 
to be as large as a small mast. They all pressed 
down upon the handle of the oar so as to raise 
the blade out of the water, and then walked 
along over the floor of the raft quite a consider 
able distance. At last they stopped, and lifting 
up their hands, they allowed the blade of the oar 
to go down into the water. Then they turned, 
and began to push the oar with their hands the 
other way. The outside men had to reach up 
very high, for as the oar was very long, and the 
blade was now necessarily in the water, the end 
of the handle was raised quite high in the air. 
The men, accordingly, that were nearest the end 
of the oar, were obliged to hold their hands up 
high, in order to reach it ; and they all walked 
along very deliberately, like a platoon of soldiers, 
pushing the oar before them as they advanced. 
And as each of the other six oars had a similar 
platoon marching with it to and fro, and as all 
acted in concert, and kept time with each other 
in their motions, the whole operation had quite 
the appearance of a military manoeuvre. Rollo 



THE RAFT. 161 



A steamer carrying tourists passes the raft. 



watched it for some time with great satis 
faction. 

After this Rollo walked up and down the raft 
two or three times, and then his attention was 
attracted by a steamer going by. The steamer 
cut her way through the water with great speed, 
and the waves made by her paddle wheels dashed 
up against the margin of the raft as if it had 
been along shore. 

There was a great number of tourists on board 
the steamer. Rollo could see them very dis 
tinctly sitting under the awning on the deck. 
Some were standing by the railing and examining 
the raft by means of their spy glasses or opera 
glasses. Others were seated at tables, eating 
late breakfasts, in little parties by themselves. 
The boat glided by very swiftly, however, and 
soon Rollo could see nothing of her but the stern, 
and the foaming wake which her paddle wheels 
left behind them in the water. 

As soon as the steamboat had gone by, Rollo 
began to feel a slight sense of loneliness on the 
raft, which feeling was increased by the sombre 
aspect of the scenery around him. The river 
was closely shut in by mountains on both sides, 
and between them the raft seemed to be drifting 
slowly down into a dark and gloomy gorge, which, 
though it might have seemed simply sublime to 
11 



162 HOLLO ON THE RHINE. 

Rollo concludes lie does not want to go all the way to Boppard. 

a pleasant party viewing it together from the 
cheerful deck of a steamer, or from a comfortable 
carriage on the banks, was well fitted to awaken 
an emotion of awe and terror in the mind of a 
boy like. Rollo, floating down into it helplessly 
on an enormous raft, with a hundred men, looking 
more like brigands than any thing else, marching 
solemnly to and fro at either end of it, working 
prodigious oars, with incessant toil, to prevent 
its being carried upon the rocks and dashed to 
pieces. In fact, Rollo began soon to wish that 
he was safe on shore again. 

" I am very thankful/ 7 said he to himself, " that 
I made a bargain with the captain to put me 
ashore whenever I wished to go. I don t believe 
that I shall wish to go more than half way to 
Boppard." 

So saying, Rollo looked anxiously down the 
river. The mountains looked more and more 
dark and gloomy, and they appeared to shut in 
before him in such a manner that he could not 
see how it could be possible for such an immense 
raft to twist its way through between them. 

" I don t believe I shall wish to go more than 
a quarter of the way to Boppard," said he. 

Two or three minutes afterwards, on looking 
back, he saw the town of St. Goar, where he 
had embarked, gradually disappearing behind a 



THE RAFT. 165 



Hollo concludes that he does not want to go any farther. 

wooded promontory which was slowly coming in 
the way, and cutting it off from view. 

" In fact/ said Rollo to himself, " since I am 
not going all the way to Boppard, I had better 
not go much farther ; for I shall have to walk 
back, as the steamer does not stop this side of 
Boppard. Besides, I have seen all that tLere is 
on the raft already, and there is no use in stay 
ing on it any longer." 

So he concluded to go at once to the boat, ac 
cording to the arrangement which he had made 
with the captain. He was afraid that he might 
have to wait some time before the captain would 
see him ; but he did not. The captain saw him 
immediately, and sent a man to row him ashore. 
Two men came, in fact, the commissioner being 
one of them. But Rollo did not pay any partic 
ular attention to this circumstance. He did not 
even observe that it was the same man that had 
come on board with him. Rollo could not talk 
to the oarsman on the way, but on landing he 
gave him a little money, about what he thought 
was proper, and then went up into t the road 
with a view to go home. The commissioner, in 
order not to awaken any suspicions in Rollo s 
mind that he was following him, turned away as 
soon as he landed, and walked along the tow 
path, down the stream. 



166 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

Rollo arrives at the hotel. A question. Honesty. 

Rollo went slowly home. He had not been 
more than half an hour on the raft, and had 
not gone down the stream more than a mile ; so 
that in three quarters of an hour after he had 
left his uncle at the hotel he found himself draw 
ing near to it again, on his return. 

He felt a little ashamed to get back so soon. 
So he thought that he would not go in at once 
and report himself to his uncle, but would go 
down on the bank of the river, and see if he could 
find a place to fish a little while, until some little 
time should have elapsed, so as to give to the 
period of his absence a tolerably respectable 
duration. " Uncle George will laugh at me," 
said he to himself, " if he sees me come home so 
soon." 

So Rollo went down to the quay, and taking 
out his fishing line, he began to make arrange 
ments for fishing. He did not, however, feel 
quite at his ease. There seemed to be some 
thing a little like artifice in thus prolonging his 
absence in order to make his uncle think that 
he had gone farther down the river than he 
had been. It was not being quite honest, he 
thought. 

" After all," said he to himself, " I ll go and 
tell uncle George now. I shall have a better 
time fishing if I do. If he chooses to laugh at 



THE RAFT. 167 



Rollo reports himself. Mr. George s congratulations. 

me, he may. If he is going to do it, I should like 
to have it over." 

So he went into the hotel, and advanced some 
what timidly to the door of the room where he 
had left his uncle writing. He opened the door, 
and looking in, said, 

" Uncle George ! I ve got back." 

Mr. George did not seem at all surprised, but 
looking up a moment from his writing, he smiled, 
and said, 

" Ah 1 I m glad to see you safe back again. 
It is rather lonesome here without you. Did you 
have a pleasant voyage ? " 

" Yes," said Rollo, " very pleasant. Only I 
did not go very far. I got them to put me ashore 
about a mile below here." 

" That was right," said Mr. George. " You did 
exactly as I should have done myself. In fact 
you can see all you wish to see on such a raft in 
half an hour." 

" Yes," said Rollo, " I found that I could." 

"And I am very glad that you came to tell 
me," said Mr. George, "as soon as you came 
home." 

So Rollo, quite relieved in mind, went down 
stairs again, and returning to the quay, he re 
sumed his fishing. 



168 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 



Hollo grows anxious to move on. 



CHAPTER XII. 
DINNER. 

ABOUI half past three o clock Rollo went up 
to his uncle s room. 

" Uncle George," said he, " have not you got 
almost through with your writing ? " 

" Why," said Mr. George, " are you tired of 
staying here ? " 

" Yes," said Rollo, " I am tired of being down 
in the bottom of such a deep valley. I wish you 
would put away your writing and go on up the 
river till we get out where we can see, and then 
you may write as much as you please." 

" Do you wish to go up the river to-night ? " 
asked Mr. George. 

" Yes," said Rollo, " very much." 

Mr. George took out his watch. 

" Go down and ask the waiter when the next 
steamer comes along." 

Rollo went down, and presently returned with 
the report that the next steamer came by at five 
o clock. 



DINNER. 169 



Bingen. Hollo s plan for dinner on the way. Starting. 

" There is a place up the river about two hours 
sail, called Bingen," said Mr. George, " where 
the mountains end. Above that the country is 
open and level, and the river wide. We might 
go up there, I suppose ; but what should we do 
for dinner ? " 

" We might have dinner on board the steamer," 
said Rollo. 

" Very well," said Mr. George ; " that s what 
we will do. You may go and tell the waiter to 
bring me the bill, and then be ready at half past 
four. That will give me an hour more to 
write." 

At half past four Rollo came to tell Mr. 
George that the steamer was coming. The 
trunk had been previously carried down and put 
on board a small boat, for this was one of the 
places where the steamers were not accustomed 
to come up to a pier, but received and landed 
passengers by means of small boats that went 
out to meet them in the middle of the river. 
Such a boat was now ready at the foot of the 
landing stairs, and Mr. George and Rollo got 
into it. 

The boatman waited until the steamer came 
pretty near, and then he rowed out to meet it. 
He stopped rowing when the boat was opposite 
to the paddle wheel of the steamer, and the 



170 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

Taking the steamer for up the river. 

steamer stopped her engine at the same time. 
A man who stood on the paddle box threw 
a rope to the boat, and the boatman made 
this rope fast to a belaying pin that was set for 
the purpose near the bow of the boat. By means 
of this rope the boat was then drawn rapidly up 
alongside the steamer, at a place directly aft 
the paddle wheel, where there was a little stair 
way above, and a small platform below, both of 
which, when not in use, were drawn up out of the 
way, but which were always let down when pas 
sengers were to come on board. As soon as the 
boat came alongside this apparatus, Rollo and 
Mr. George stepped out upon the platform, and 
went up the little stairway, the hands on board 
the steamer standing there to help them. In a 
moment more the trunk was passed up, the boat 
was pushed off, and the paddle wheels of the 
steamer were put in motion ; and thus, almost 
before Rollo had time to think whatwas going 
on, he found himself comfortably seated on a 
camp stool under the awning, by the side of Mr. 
George, on the quarter deck of the steamer, 
and sailing swiftly along on his voyage up the 
river. 

" What sudden transitions we pass through," 
gaid Mr. George, " in travelling on the Rhine ! " 

<; Yes," said Rollo, " it seems scarcely five 



DINNER. 171 



Sudden transitions. The banks of the Rhine. 

minutes ago that I was sitting, all by myself, on 
the bank of a lonesome river, fishing ; and now I 
am on board a steamer, with all this company, and 
dashing away through the water at a great rate." 

" True," said Mr. George ; " and how quickly 
we came on board ! One minute we are creep 
ing along slowly over the water in a little boat, 
and the next, as if by some sort of magic, we 
find ourselves on the deck of the steamer, with 
the boat drifting away astern." 

" How high the mountains are," said Rollo, 
" along the shores here ! Do the mountains end 
at Bingen ? " 

" Yes," said Mr. George, " at Bingen, or soon 
after that. There the country opens, and the 
banks of the river become level and flat. The 
river widens, and there are a great many islands 
in it. There we come to railroads again too, 
for where the land is level they can make rail 
roads very easily. It would be very difficult to 
make a railroad here, though I believe they are 
going to do it." 

" I should think it would be difficult," said 
Rollo. " B T :t now, uncle George, about our 
dinner." 

" Very well," said Mr. George, " about the 
dinner." So the two travellers held a consulta 
tion on this subject, and concluded what to have. 



172 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

Ordering dinner. The table on deck. 

A few minutes afterwards a waiter came by, 
carrying a large salver, with some coffee and 
bread and butter upon it, for a gentleman on 
the deck. Mr. George beckoned to this waiter, 
and when he came to him, he ordered the dinner 
that he and Rollo had agreed upon. It consisted 
of sausages for Rollo, a beefsteak for Mr. George, 
and fried potatoes for both. After that they 
were to have an omelet and some coffee. The 
coffee on board the Rhine steamers, being made 
with very rich and pure milk, is delicious. 

The waiter brought up a small square table to 
the part of the deck where Mr. George and 
Rollo were sitting, which was under the shady 
side of the awning, and set it for their dinner. 
In about twenty minutes the dinner was ready. 
The table itself was as neat and nice as possible, 
and the dishes which had been ordered were pre 
pared in the most perfect manner. I need not 
add, I suppose, that Mr. George and Rollo it 
being now so late were provided with excellent 
appetites. So they had a very good time eating 
their dinner. While they were eating it they 
could watch the changes in the scenery of the 
banks, as they glided swiftly along, and observe 
the steamers, tow boats, and other river craft, 
that passed them from time to time. 

While they were at d^.ner, Rollo asked Mr. 



DINNER. 



173 



Mr. George describes the raft business on the Rhine. 

George about the rafts, and where the timber 
that they were made of came from. 




DINNER ON THE RHINE. 



" Why, you see," said Mr. George, " the River 
Rhine, in the upper portions of it, has a great 



174 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

The timber regions of Germany. Raisi: g trees. 

many branches which come down from among 
the mountains, where nothing will grow well but 
timber. So they reserve these places for forests, 
and as fast as the timber gets grown, they cut it 
down, and slide it down the slopes to the nearest 
stream, and then float it along till they come to 
great streams ; and there they form it into rafts, 
and send it down the river to Holland and Bel 
gium, where timber does not grow." 

" Would not timber grow in Belgium and Hol 
land ? " asked Rollo. 

" Yes," said Mr. George, " it would grow very 
well, but ,the land is too valuable to appropriate 
it to such a purpose. The whole country below 
Cologne, where we came to the river, is smooth 
and level, and free from stones, so that it is easily 
ploughed and tilled ; and thus grain, and flax, 
and other very valuable crops can be raised upon 
it. They raise a few trees in that part of the 
country, but not many." 

" I never heard of raising trees before," said Rol 
lo, " except apple trees, or something like that." 

" True," said Mr. George, " because in America, 
as that is a new country, there is an abundance of 
native forests, where the trees grow wild. But 
you must remember that every foot of land in 
Europe has been in the possession of man, and 
occupied by him, for two thousand years. There 



DINNER. 175 



Agriculture in an old country. 



is not a field or a hill, or even a rocky steep on 
the mountain side, which has not had sixty or 
seventy generations of owners, who have all been 
watching it, and taking care of it, and improving 
it more or less all that time ; each one carefully 
considering what his land can produce most 
profitably, and taking care of it and managing it 
especially with reference to that production. If 
his land is smooth and level, he ploughs it, and 
cultivates it for grass, or grain, or other plants 
requiring special tillage. If it is in steep slopes, 
with a warm exposure, he terraces it up, and 
makes vineyards of it. If it is in steep slopes, 
with a cold exposure, then it will do for timber, 
provided there are streams near it, so that he can 
float the timber away. If there are no streams 
near it, he can use it as pasture ground for sheep 
or cattle ; for the wool, or the butter and cheese, 
which he obtains from this kind of farming, can 
je transported without streams ; or, at least, such 
commodities will bear transporting farther be 
fore coming to a stream than wood or timber. 
Thus, you see, whatever the land is fit for, it has 
been appropriated to for a great many centuries ; 
and it has all been cropped over and over 
again, even where the crop is a forest of trees. 
If we allow the trees even a hundred years 
to grow, before they are large enough to cut } 



176 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

The steamer with tourists going down the river. 

that would give, in two thousand years, time to 
cut them off and let them grow up again twenty 
times." 

" Here comes a steamer," said Rollo. 

Just then the bow of a steamer came shooting 
into view, down the river. On the forward part 
of the deck were several soldiers and laborers, 
with women and children that looked like emi 
grants, and also a huge pile of trunks and mer 
chandise covered with a tarpauling. Then came 
the paddle wheels, and then the quarter deck, 
with a large company of tourists, most of whom 
were looking about very eagerly at the scenery, 
with guide books and glasses in their hands. 
These were tourists that had been travelling in 
Switzerland, and were coming home by way of 
the Rhine ; and as they were now just entering 
the part of the river where the grand and impos 
ing scenery was to be seen, though Mr. George 
and Rollo were just leaving it, they were full 
of wonder and admiration at the various objects 
which appeared around them on every side. 
Rollo had but a very brief opportunity to look 
at these strangers, for the steamer which con 
veyed them passed by very swiftly, and in a 
moment they were gone. 

" How swift ! " said Rollo. 

" Yes," said Mr. George, " they go down the 



DINNER. 177 



Does the current of a river hinder navigation, or help it ? 

etream much faster than they go up ; for in 
going down they have the current to help them, 
but we have it to hinder us in going up." 

" And does it help just as much as it hinders ? " 
asked Rollo. 

" Yes," said Mr. George, " for any given time. 
If the current flows two miles an hour, it will 
carry forward a boat that is going with it just 
two miles faster than it would go in still water. 
And if the boat is going against it, it will go 
just two miles an hour slower. 

" Thus, you see," continued Mr. George, " if a 
steamer had an engine capable of driving her 
twelve miles an hour through the water, in navi 
gating a stream that flows two miles an hour, she 
would go fourteen miles an hour in going down, 
and ten miles an hour in going up." 

" Then," said Rollo, " it seems that the help of 
a current is just as much as the hinderance of it, 
and that a river running fast is just as good for 
navigation as if the water were still. Because, 
you see," he added, " that though they lose some 
headway in going up, they gain it just the same 
in coming down." 

" That reasoning seems plausible," replied Mr. 
George, " but it is not sound." 

" What do you mean by plausible ? " asked 
Rollo. 

12 



ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 



Mr. George s calculation of the effect of the current. 

" Why, it appears to be good, when it really is 
not so. Reasoning very often appears to be 
good, while there is all the time some latent flaw 
in it which makes the conclusion wrong. Very 
often something is left out of the account which 
ought to be taken in and calculated for, and that 
is the case here. The truth is, that the current 
helps the steamer in going down just as much as 
it retards her in coming up for any given time ; 
as for instance, for an hour, or for six hours. But 
we are to consider that in accomplishing any 
given distance, the steamer is longer in coming up 
than she is in going down, and so is exposed to 
the retarding effect of the current longer than 
she has the benefit of its cooperation. 

" For example," continued Mr. George, " sup 
pose the distance from one place to another,* on a 
river flowing two miles an hour, is such that it 
takes a steamer three hours to go down and four 
hours to come up. In going down she would be 
aided how much ? " 

" Two miles an hour," said Rollo. 

" And that makes how much for the whole 
time going down ? " asked Mr. George. 

" Six miles," said Rollo. 

" Now, it takes her four hours to go up," said 
Mr. George. "How much would she be kept 
back then by the current ? " 



DINNER. 179 



Steamers and rafts. There is much to come down little to go up. 

" Why, two miles an hour fovfour hours/ said 
Rollo, " which would make eight miles." 

" Thus in the double voyage," said Mr. George, 
" the boat would be helped six miles and hindered 
eight, so that the current would on the whole be 
a serious disadvantage. For a steamer, there 
fore, which is to be navigated equally both ways, 
the current is an evil. 

" But for that sort of navigation which goes 
only one way, it is a great advantage. For in 
stance, the rafts have to come down, but they 
never have to go back again ; and so they have 
the whole advantage of the current in bringing 
them down, without any disadvantage to bal 
ance it. 

" On the whole," said Mr. George, " I do not 
see but that the currents of great rivers are an 
advantage, for there is always a much greater 
quantity to come down than to go up. The 
heavy products that grow on the borders of the 
rivers are to come down, while comparatively 
little in quantity goes up. So the benefit, on the 
whole, which is produced by the flow of the 
water, may be greater than the injury." 

" What do they do with the rafts," said Rollo, 
" when they get them down the river ? " 

" They break them up," said Mr. George, 
" and sell the timber in the countries near the 



180 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

The end of the dinner on the steamboat. 

mouth of the river, where but little timber 
grows." 

By this time, Mr. George and Rollo had 
finished eating the meats which they had ordered 
for their dinner, and so the waiter came and took 
away the plates, and brought the omelet and the 
coffee. With the coffee the waiter brought two 
small plates and knives, and some very nice rolls 
and butter. He also brought a plate containing 
several slices of a kind of cake, toasted. This 
cake was very nice. 

While Rollo was eating it he asked his uncle 
George whether, in case he had gone down the 
river to Boppard, and had not got back until dark, 
he should not have been anxious about him. 

" No," said Mr. George, " not much. I took 
precautions against that." 

" What precautions ? " asked Rollo. 

" Why, I sent a man with you to take care of 
you," said Mr. George. 

" You sent a man with me ? " repeated Rollo, 
very much surprised. 

" Yes," said Mr. George, quietly. " As soon 
as you had gone out of my room, to go on board 
the raft, I called the waiter, and asked him to 
send a commissioner with you, to see that you did 
not get into any difficulty, and to take care of 
you in case there should be any occasion." 



DINNER. 181 



Rollo complains that it was not fair to send a commissioner to watch him. 

" Now, uncle George," said Rollo, in a mourn 
ful and complaining tone, " that was not fair." 

"Why not?" asked Mr. George. 

" Because," said Rollo, " I wanted to take care 
of myself." 

" Well," said Mr. George, " you did take care 
of yourself didn t you ? My plan did not inter 
fere with yours at all did it ? " 

Rollo did not answer, but he looked as if he 
were not convinced. 

" I gave the man special charge," said Mr. 
George, " not to interfere with you in any way, 
and not even to let you know that I had said 
any thing about you to him, so that you should 
be left entirely to your own resources. And you 
were so left. You acted in the whole affair just 
as you thought proper, and took care of yourself 
admirably well. I think especially that you were 
very wise in leaving the raft when you did, 
instead of remaining on board three or four 
hours longer. But however this may be, you 
acted for yourself throughout. I did not inter 
fere with you at all." 

" Well," said Rollo, after a moment s pause, 
"what you say is very true. But it seems to 
me it was a little artful in you to do that ; 
and you always tell me that I must not be art 
ful, but must be perfectly honest and open in 



182 HOLLO ON THE RHINE. 

Did Mr. George do right to conceal the commissioner s errand from Roller 

all that I do. Don t you think you deceived 
me a little ? " 

" I do not see that I did," said Mr. George. 
" When we deceive a person, we do it by saying 
or doing something to give him a false impres 
sion, or to make him suppose that something is 
true which is not true. Now, what did I do or 
say to give you any false impression ? " 

" Why, nothing, I suppose," said Hollo, " except 
sending that man to take care of me without 
letting me know it." 

" That was concealing something from you," 
said Mr. George, " not deceiving you. There 
are a thousand occasions when it is right to con 
ceal things from the people around us. That is 
very different from deceiving them. This was a 
case in which I thought it best to conceal what I 
did, for a time, though I intended to tell you in 
the end. You see, I should not have done my 
duty, as a guardian intrusted with the care of a 
boy by his father, if I had allowed you to go 
away from me on such a doubtful expedition 
without some precautions. So I thought it best 
to send the commissioner ; but I knew you wished 
to take care of yourself, and so I charged the 
commissioner to allow you to do so, and on no 
account to interpose, unless some accident, or un 
foreseen emergency, should occur. I told him not 



DINNER. 183 



Mr. George in turn complains. Hollo s fine. 

even to let you know that he was there, so that 
you might not be embarrassed or restricted at 
all by his presence, or even relieved of any por 
tion of your solicitude. But I determined to tell 
you all about it as soon as it was over, and I 
was fondly imagining that you would praise me 
for my sagacity in managing the business as I 
did, and also especially for my openness and 
honesty in explaining all to you at last. But in 
stead of that, it seems you think I did wrong ; 
so that where I expected compliments and praise, 
I get only censure and condemnation ; and I do 
not know what I shall do." 

Mr. George said this with a perfectly grave 
face, and with such a tone of mock meekness 
and despondency, that Rollo burst into a loud 
laugh. 

" If you could think of any suitable punish 
ment for me," continued Mr. George, in the same 
penitent tone, " I would submit to it very con 
tentedly ; though I do not see myself any suitable 
way by which I can be punished, except perhaps 
by a fine." 

"Yes," said Rollo, "a fine; you shall be 
fined, uncle George. There is a woman out here 
that has got some raspberries, in little paper 
oaskets. You shall be fined a paper of rasp 
berries." 



184 



ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 



The basket of raspberries. 



Mr. George acceded to this proposal. The 
raspberries were two groschen a basket. Mr. 
George gave Rollo the money, and Rollo, going 
forward with it, bought the raspberries, and he 
and Mr. George ate them up together. They 
served the double purpose of a punishment for 
the offence, and of a dessert for the dinner. 




BIN GEN. 185 



The piers on the Rhine are not solid, but floating piers. 



CHAPTEK XIII. 
BINGEN. 

AT some places on the Rhine tLe passengers 
go on board the steamers and land from them in 
a small boat, as Mr. George and Rollo did at St. 
Goar. At others there is a regular pier for a 
landing. At all the large towns there is a pier, 
in some there are two or three, which be 
long severally to the different companies which 
own the lines of steamers. These piers are con 
structed in a very peculiar manner. They are 
made by means of a large and heavy boat, which 
is anchored at a short distance from the shore, 
and then a massive platform is built, extending 
from the quay to this boat. The boat, being 
afloat, rises and falls with the river ; and thus the 
end of the platform which rests upon it is kept 
always at the proper level for the landing of the 
passengers, so that, whatever may be the state of 
the water, they go over on a level plank. This 
is a very convenient arrangement for such a river 
as the Rhine, which rises and falls considerably 



186 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

The appearance of Bingen. 

at different seasons, on account of the variation 
in the quantity of rain, and in the melting of the 
snows, on the mountains in Switzerland. 

Bingen is one of the towns where there is a 
floating pier of this kind, and Mr. George and 
Rollo were safely landed upon it about eight 
o clock. It was a very pleasant evening. As 
they approached the town, before they landed, 
they both walked forward towards the bows of 
the vessel, to see what sort of a place it was 
where they were going to spend the night. 

"It is just like Coblenz," said Mr. George, 
" only on a small scale." 

It was indeed very much like Coblenz in its 
situation, for it was built on a point of land 
formed between the Rhine and the Nahe, a 
branch which came in here from the westward, 
just as Coblenz was at the junction of the Rhine 
and the Moselle. There was a bridge across the 
Moselle, you recollect, just at the mouth of it, on 
the lower side of the town, which bridge was 
made to accommodate the travellers going up 
and down the Rhine on that side. There was 
just such a bridge across the mouth of the Nahe. 
So that the situation of the town was in all re 
spects very similar to that of Coblenz. 

Just below the town there was a small green 
island covered with shrubbery, and on the upper 



BlNGEtf. 187 



Bishop Hatto s Tower, and its legend. 



end of the island was a high, square tower, stand 
ing alone. 

" That s must be Bishop Hatto s Tower," said 
Mr. George. 

" Who was he ? " asked Rollo. 

" He was a man that was eaten up by the 
rats," said Mr. George, "because he called the 
poor people rats, and burned up a great many of 
them in his barn. The story is in the guide 
book. I will read it to you when we get to the 
hotel." 

By this time the boat had glided by the island, 
and the tower was out of view ; and very soon 
afterwards Mr. George and Rollo were landed 
on the floating pier, as I have already said. 
There were very few people to land, and the boat 
seemed merely to touch the pier and then to 
glide away again. 

There were several porters standing by, and 
they immediately took up the passengers bag 
gage, and carried it away to the hotels, which 
were all very near the river. Rollo and Mr. 
George were soon comfortably established in a 
room with two beds in it, one in each corner, and 
a large round table near one of the windows. 
Outside of the other window was a balcony, 
and Rollo immediately went out there, to look 
at the view. 



188 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

The scenery at Bingen. Vineyards. Watchtowers. 

" We have not got quite out yet, uncle George," 
said he. 

Rollo was right, for the bank of the river op 
posite Bingen was very steep and high, and was 
terraced from top to bottom for vineyards. In 
fact, this part of the river is more celebrated, 
perhaps, than any other for the excellent quality 
of the grapes which it produces. It is here that 
are situated the famous vineyards of Rudesheim 
and Johannisberg. In fact, the whole country, 
for miles in extent, is one vast vineyard. The 
separate fields are divided from one another by 
the terrace walls, which run parallel to the river, 
and by paths formed sometimes by steps, and 
sometimes by zigzags, which ascend and descend 
from the crest of the hills above to the line of 
the shore. The only buildings to be seen among 
all this vast expanse of walls and terraces are 
the little watchtowers that are erected here and 
there at commanding points to enable the vine- 
growers to watch the fru lt, when it comes to the 
time of ripening. The laborers who till the fields, 
and dress the vines, and gather the grapes in the 
season, live all of them in compact villages, built 
at intervals along the shore. 

While Rollo was looking at this scene, and 
wondering how such an immense number of walla 
and terraces could ever have been built, hia 



BIN GEN. 189 



Minnie on the balcony. 



attention was suddenly arrested by hearing a 
sweet and silvery voice, like that of a girl, 
calling out, 

" Kollo." 

Rollo turned in the direction of the sound, 
and found that it was Minnie speaking to him. 
She was standing on another balcony, one which 
opened from the chamber next to his. Rollo 
was very much pleased to see her. He thought 
it very remarkable that he should meet her thus 
so many times ; but it was not. Travellers on 
the Rhine going in the same direction, and stop 
ping to see the same things, often meet each other 
in this way again and again. 

After talking with Minnie some little time 
from the balcony, Rollo asked her if her mother 
was there. 

" Yes," said Minnie. 

" Ask her then," said Rollo, " if you may 
come down and take a walk with me in the 
garden." 

Minnie went in from the balcony, and in a 
moment returning, she said, " Yes," and immedi 
ately disappeared again. So Rollo went down, 
and Minnie presently came and met him in the 
garden. 

The garden was a small piece of ground in 
front of the hotel, between the hotel and the 



190 



ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 



Hollo and Minnie in the garden. 




MINNIE. 



river. There was a large gate opening from it 
towards the hotel, and another towards the river. 



BlNGEN. 191 



A description of the hotel garden at Bingen. 



The garden was full of shade trees, with pleasant 
walks winding about among them, and here and 
there a border, or a bed of flowers. There were 
several carved images placed here and there, one 
of which amused Hollo and Minnie very much, 
for it represented a monkey sitting on a pole 
and looking at himself in a hand looking glass 
which he held before his face. In the other hand 
he had a parasol. 

In the front part of the garden, towards the 
river, were several tables under the trees, where 
people might take coffee or ices, or they might 
take their dinner there if they chose. In the 
front of the garden too, at the corners, were two 
summer houses, with tables and chairs in them. 
The sides of these houses that were turned 
towards the river, and also those that were 
towards the gardens, were open. The other two 
sides of each summer house had walls, on which 
were painted views of castles and other sce 
nery of the Rhine. Over one of the summer 
houses was a little room for a lookout, where 
there was a very fine prospect up and down the 
river. 

Rollo and Minnie rambled about here for some 
time, examining every thing with great attention. 
They chose one of the pleasantest tables, and sat 
down before it. 



192 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

Minnie s plan for breakfiist. She wants to take a sail. 

" This is a nice place," said Minnie. " I 
propose that you and I come out here to 
morrow morning and have breakfast, all by our 
selves." 

" 0, we can t do that very well," said Rollo. 

" Yes we can," replied Minnie, "just as well 
as not. I ll plan it all." 

Minnie then jumped up and led the way, 
Rollo following, through the open gate towards 
the river. There was a sort of street outside, 
and Rollo and Minnie stood here for a few min 
utes to see a steamer go by. Minnie then pro 
posed that they should get into a boat that was 
lying there, and take a sail. 

" You can row can t you ? " said she to 
Rollo. 

" No," said Rollo, " not on such a river as 
this. See how swift the current flows." 

" Never mind," said Minnie, " I can. Let 
us jump into this boat, and have a sail." 

"No," said Rollo, "not for the world. We 
should be carried off down the stream in spite 
of every thing." 

" Never mind," said Minnie ; " we should land 
somewhere, and they would send down for us. 
We should have a great deal of fun." 

How far Minnie would have persevered in 
urging her plan for a venture in the boat on 



BlNGEN. 



193 



Mr. George joins the children. 



the river I do not know ; but the conversation 
was here interrupted by the appearance of Mr. 
George, who had come down through the gar 
den, and just at this instant joined the children 
on the quay. 




13 



194 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 



The two ruins at Bingen. 



CHAPTER XIY. 
THE RUIN IN THE GARDEN. 

MR. GEORGE said that he had come to ask 
Rollo to go and take a walk to see an old ruin 
in the town, and he told Minnie that he should 
be very glad to have her go too, if her mother 
would be willing. 

" 0, yes," said Minnie, " she will be willing. 
I ll go." 

" You must go and ask her first/ said Mr. 
George. 

So, while Mr. George and Rollo walked slowly 
up towards the hotel, Minnie ran before them to 
ask her mother. 

Mr. George explained to Rollo in walking 
through the garden, that there were two ruins 
that he wished to see while he was at Bingen. 
One was the famous castle of Rheinstein, which 
stood on the bank of the river, a few miles be 
low the town. 

<; But it is too late to go there to-night," said 
Mr. George. " We will take that for to-morrow. 



THE RUIN IN THE GARDEN. 195 

Mr. George and the children trying to find their way to the ruins. 

But there is an old ruin back here in the village, 
which I think we can see to-night." 

When they reached the door of the hotel, 
Minnie met them, and said that she could go ; 
and so they walked along together. 

Mr. George groped about- a long time among 
the narrow streets and passage ways of the 
town, to find some way of access to the ruin, 
but in vain. He obtained frequent views of it, 
and of the rocky hill that it stood upon, which 
was seen here and there, by chance glimpses, 
rising in massive grandeur above the houses of 
the town ; but he could not find any way to 
get to it. 

" It is in a private garden," said Mr. George, 
" I know ; but how to find the way to it I can 
not imagine." 

" Perhaps it is here," said Minnie. 

So saying, Minnie ran up to a gate by the side 
of the street, which led into a very pretty yard, 
all shaded with trees and shrubbery, and having 
a large and handsome house by the side of it. 
The gate was shut and fastened, but Minnie could 
look through the bars. 

There was a woman standing near one of the 
doors of the house, and Minnie beckoned to her. 
The woman came immediately down towards the 
gate. Minnie pointed in towards a walk "which 



196 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

Admission to the garden. An unintelligible guide. 

seemed to lead back among the trees, and said 
to the woman, 

" Schloss ? " 

Schloss is the German word for castle. Minnie 
could not speak German ; but she knew some 
words of that language, and the words that she 
did know she was always perfectly ready to use, 
whenever an occasion presented. 

" /a, Ja" said the woman ; and immediately 
she opened the gate. By this time Minnie had 
beckoned Mr. George and Rollo to come up 
from the road, and they all three went in through 
the gate. 

The woman called to a man who was then 
just coming down out of the garden, and said 
something to him in German. None of our party 
could understand what she said ; but they knew 
from the circumstances of the case, and from her 
actions, that she was saying to him that the 
strangers wished to see the ruins. So, the man 
leading the way, and the three visitors following 
him, they all went on along a broad gravel walk 
which led up into the garden. 

Mr. George asked the guide if he could speak 
English, and he said, "JVewi." Then he asked 
him if he could speak French, and he said, 
Nein." He said he could only speak German. 

" He can t explain any thing to us, children/ 



THE RUIN IN THE GARDEN. 197 

Tlie sombre aspect of the ruins. The grated window. 

said Mr. George ; " we shall have to judge for 
ourselves." 

The walk was very shady that led along the 
garden, and as it was now long past eight o clock, 
it was nearly dark walking there, though it was 
still pretty light under the open sky. The walk 
gradually ascended, and it soon brought the party 
to a place where they could see, rising up among 
fie trees, fragments of ancient walls of stupen 
dous height. Rollo looked up to them with 
wonder. He even felt a degree of awe, as well 
as wonder, for the strange and uncouth forms of 
windows and doors, which were seen here and 
there ; the embrasures, and the yawning arches 
which appeared below, leading apparently to sub 
terranean dungeons, being all dimly seen in the 
obscurity of the night, suggested to his mind 
ideas of prisoners confined there in ancient times, 
and wearing out their lives in a dreadful and 
hopeless captivity, or being put to death by 
horrid tortures. 

Minnie was still more afraid of these gloomy 
remains than Rollo. She was afraid to look up 
at them. 

" Look up there, Minnie," said Rollo. " See that 
old broken window with iron gratings in the walls." 

" No," replied Minnie, " I do not want to see it 
at all." 



198 HOLLO ON THE RHINE. 

Climbing up to the old castle. Entering. The feelings of the travellers. 

So saying she looked straight down upon the 
path before her, and walked on as fast aa 
possible. 

" If I should look up there, I should see some 
dreadful thing mowing and chowing at me," she 
added. 

Hollo laughed, and they all walked on. 

Presently the path began to ascend more 
rapidly, and soon it brought the whole party out 
into the light, on the slope of an elevation which 
was covered with the main body of the ruined 
castle. The man led the way up a steep path, 
and then up a flight of ancient stone steps built 
against a wall, until he came to an iron gateway. 
This he unlocked, and the whole party went in, 
or rather went through, for as the roofs were 
gone from the ruins, they were almost as much 
out of doors after passing through the gateway 
as they were before. 

Mr. George and the children gazed around 
upon the confused mass of ruined bastions, towers, 
battlements, and archways, that lay before them, 
with a feeling of awe which it is impossible to 
describe. The grass waved and flowers bloomed 
on the tops of the walls, on the sills of the 
windows, and on every projecting cornice, or 
angle, where a seed could have lodged. In 
many places thick clusters of herbage were seen 



THE RUIN IN THE GAKDEN. 199 

The tower remaining. Its interior. Antique carving 

growing luxuriantly from crumbling interstices 
of the stones in the perpendicular face of the 
masonry, fifty feet from the ground. Large trees 
were growing on what had formerly been the 
floors of the halls, or of the chambers, and tall 
grass waved there, ready for the scythe. 

There was one tower which still had a roof 
upon it. A steep flight of stone steps led up to 
a door in this tower. The door was under a 
deep archway. The guide led the way up this 
stairway, and unlocking the door, admitted his 
party into the tower. 

They found themselves, when they had entered, 
in a small, square room. It occupied the whole 
extent of the tower on that story, and yet it was 
very small. This room was in good condition, 
having been carefully preserved, and was now 
the only remaining room of the whole castle 
which was not dismantled and in ruins. But 
this room, though still shut in from the weather, 
and protected in a measure from further decay, 
presented an appearance of age wholly inde 
scribable. The door where the party had come 
in was on one side of it, and there was a window 
on the opposite side, leading out to a little stone 
balcony. On the other two sides were two an 
tique cabinets of carved oak, most aged and ven 
erable in appearance, and of the most quaint 



200 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

The trap door. Prison. Minnie does not like ruins. 

construction. The walls and the floor were of 
stone. In the middle of the floor, however, was 
a heavy trap door. The guide lifted up this 
door by means of a ponderous ring of rusty iron, 
and let Mr. George and the children look down. 
It was a dark and dismal dungeon. 

" Prison" said the guide. 

This, it seemed, was the only English word that 
he could speak. 

" Yes," said Mr. George, speaking to Rollo 
and Minnie. " He means that this was the prison 
of the castle." 

The guide shut down the trap door, and the 
children, after gazing around upon the room 
a few minutes longer, were glad to go away. 

Just before reaching the hotel on their way 
home, Rollo told Minnie that he and Mr. George 
were going down the next day to see Rheinstein, 
a beautiful castle down the river, and he asked 
her if she would not like to go too. 

Mr. George was walking on before them at 
this time, and he did not hear this conversation. 

" No," said Minnie, "I believe not. It makes 
me afraid to go and see these old ruins." 

" But this one that we are going to see is not 
an old ruin," said Rollo. " It has been all made 
over again as good as new, and is full of beauti 
ful rooms and beautiful furniture. Besides, it 



THE RUIN IN THE GAKDEN. 201 

Minnie s inconsistency 

stands out in a good clear place on the bank 
of the river, and you will not be afraid at all. 
I mean to ask uncle George if I may ask you 
to go." 

That evening, in reflecting on the adventures 
of the day, Rollo wondered that Minnie, who 
seemed to have so much courage about going out 
in a boat on the water, and in clambering about 
into all sorts of dangerous places, should be so 
afraid of old ruins ; but the fact is, that people 
are in nothing more inconsistent than in their 
fears. 




202 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

The invitation to Minnie. Mr. George s permission. 



CHAPTER X Y. 
RHEINSTEIN. 

ROLLO determined to ask his uncle George at 
breakfast if he might invite Minnie to accompany 
them on their visit to the castle of Rheinstein. 
He was sorry, however, when he came to reflect 
a little, that he had not first asked his uncle 
George, before mentioning the subject to Minnie 
at all. 

" For," said he to himself, " if there should be 
any difficulty or objection to prevent her going 
with us, then I shall have to go and tell her 
that I can t invite her, after all ; and that 
would be worse than not to have said any thing 
about it." 

When, at length, Rollo and Mr. George were 
seated at table at breakfast, Rollo asked his 
uncle if he was willing that Minnie should go 
with them to the castle. 

" I told her," said he, " last night, that we were 
going, and I said I intended to ask you if she 
might go with us. But I thought afterwards that 



RHEINSTEIN. 203 

Starting for Rneinstein. Bishop Hatto s Tower again. 

it would have been better to have spoken about 
it to you first." 

" Yes," said Mr. George, " that would be much 
the best mode generally, though in this case it 
makes no difference, for I shall be very glad to 
have Minnie go." 

So Rollo immediately after breakfast went to 
renew his invitation to Minnie, and about an 
hour afterwards the party set out on their excur 
sion. They went in a fine open barouche with 
two horses, which Mr. George selected from sev 
eral that were standing near the hotel, waiting 
to be hired. Mr. George took the back seat, and 
Rollo and Minnie sat together on the front seat. 
Thus they rode through the streets of the town, 
and over the old stone bridge which led across 
the Nahe near its junction with the Rhine. 

From the bridge Rollo could see the little green 
island on which stood Bishop Hatto s Tower. 

" There is Bishop Hatto s Tower," said Rollo, 
" and you promised, uncle George, to tell me the 
story of it." 

" Well," said Mr. George, " I will tell it to 
you now." 

So Mr. George began to relate the story as 
follows : 

" There was a famine coming on at one tim$ 
during Bishop Hatto s life, and the people were 



204 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

The Ftory of Bishop Hatto and his treatment of the poor people. 

becoming very destitute, though the bishop s gran 
aries were well supplied with corn. The poor 
flocked and crowded around his door. At last 
the bishop appointed a time when, he told them, 
they should have food for the winter, if they 
would repair to his great barn. Young and old, 
from far and near, did so, and when the barn 
could hold no more, he made fast the door, and 
set fire to it, and burned them all. He then re 
turned to his palace, congratulating himself that 
the country was rid of the rats/ as he called 
them. He ate a good supper, went to bed, and 
slept like an innocent man ; but he never slept 
again. In the morning, when he entered a room 
where hung his picture, he found it entirely eaten 
by rats. Presently a man came and told him 
that the rats had entirely consumed his corn ; and 
while the man was telling him this, another man 
came running, pale as death, to tell him that ten 
thousand rats were coming. * I ll go to my 
tower on the Rhine, said the bishop ; * tis the 
safest place in Germany. He immediately has 
tened to the shore, and crossed to his tower, and 
very carefully barred all the doors and windows. 
After he had retired for the night, he had hardly 
closed his eyes, when he heard a fearful scream. 
He started up, and saw the cat sitting by his pil 
low, screaming with fear of the army of rats 



RHEINSTEIN. 205 

The retribution. The army of rats 

that were approaching. They had swum over the 
river, climbed the shore, and were scaling the 
walls of his tower by thousands. The bishop, 
half dead with fright, fell on his knees, and 
began counting his beads. The rats soon gained 
the room, fell upon the bishop, and in a short 
time nothing was left of him but his bones. 

" There is an account of it in poetry too, in 
my book." said Mr. George. 

" Read it to us," said Minnie. 

So Mr. George opened his book, and read the 
account in poetry, as follows : 

BISHOP HATTO. 

The summer and autumn had been so wet, 
That in winter the corn was growing yet ; 
Twas 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 neighborhood could tell 
His granaries were furnished 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 flocked from far and near ; 
The great barn was full as it could hold 
Of women and children, and young and old. 



206 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

The legend of Bishop Hatto in verse. 

Then, when they 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 burned 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 entered 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 looked there came a man from his farm ; 
He had a countenance white with alarm. 
" My lord, I opened your granaries this morn, 
And the rats had eaten all your corn." 

Another came running presently, 
And he was pale as pale could be : 
" Fly, my lord bishop, fly," quoth he ; 
" Ten thousand rats are coming this way ; 
The Lord forgive you for yesterday." 

" I ll go to my tower on the Rhine," replied he, 
" Tis the safest place in Germany ; 
The walls are high, and the shores are steep, 
And the stream is strong, and the water deep." 

Bishop Hatto fearfully hastened away, 
And he crossed the Rhine without delay, 
And reached his tower, and barred with care 
All the windows, doors, and loopholes there. 



RHEINSTEIN. 207 

What Rollo and Minnie thought of the bishop s punishment. 

He laid him down and closed his eyes ; 

But soon a scream made him arise. 

He started, and saw two eyes of flame 

On his pillow, from whence the screaming came. 

He listened and looked : it was only the cat : 
But the bishop he grew more fearful for that ; 
For she sat screaming, mad with fear 
At the army of rats that were drawing near. 

For they have swum over the river so deep, 
And they have climbed 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 pour, 

And down through the ceiling and up through the floor, 

From the right and the left, from behind and before, 

From within and without, from above and below ; 

And all at once at the bishop they go. 

They have whetted their teeth against the stones, 
And now they pick the bishop s bones ; 
They gnawed the flesh from every limb, 
For they were sent to do judgment on him. 

"I m glad they ate him up," said Minnie, as 
goon as Mr. George had finished reading the 
poetry. I am very glad indeed." 

" Yes," said Rollo, " so am I." 

"What a pleasant ride this is!" said Rollo, 



208 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

The scenery on the way to the castle. 

after a little pause. It was, indeed, a delightful 
ride. The road was carried along the bank of 
the river a short distance above the level of the 
water. It was very hard, and smooth, and level ; 
and on the side of it opposite to the water, the 
land rose abruptly in a steep ascent, which was 
covered with forest trees. At the distance of 
about a mile before them, down the river, they 
could see the towers and battlements of the cas 
tle which they were going to visit, rising among 
the tops of the trees, on a projecting promontory. 

" I like the ride very much," said Rollo ; " but 
I don t care much about the castle. I m tired 
of castles." 

" So am I," said Mr. George ; " but this is dif 
ferent from the rest. This is a castle restored." 

" What do you mean by that ? " said Rollo. 

" Why, nearly all the old castles on the Rhine," 
replied Mr. George, " have been abandoned, and 
have gone to decay ; or else, if they have been 
repaired or rebuilt, they have been finished and 
furnished in the fashion of modern times. But 
this castle of Rheinstein, which we are now 
going to see, has been restored, as nearly as pos 
sible, to its ancient condition. The rooms, and 
the courts, and the towers, and battlements are 
all arranged as they used to be in former ages ; 
and the furniture contained within is of the 



RHEINSTEIN . 



The castle of Rhemstein is a castle restored. 



ancient fashion. The chairs, and tables, and 
cabinets, and all the other articles, are such as 
the barons used when the castles on the Rhine 
were inhabited." 

" Where do they get such things nowadays ? " 
asked Rollo. 

" Some of the furniture which they have in 
this castle," said Mr. George, "originally be 
longed there, and has been kept there all the 
time, for hundreds of years. When they repaired 
and rebuilt the castle, they repaired this furniture 
too, and put it in perfect order. Some other 
furniture they bought from other old castles 
which the owners did not intend to repair, and 
some they had made new, after the ancient 
patterns. But here we are, close under the 
castle." 

A few minutes after this, the carriage stopped 
in the road at the entrance to a broad, gravelled 
pathway, which diverged from the road directly 
under the castle walls, and began to ascend at 
once through the woods in zigzags. Mr. George 
and his party got out, and began to go up. The 
carriage, in the mean time, went on a few steps 
farther, to a smooth and level place by the road 
side, under the shade of some trees, there to 
await the return of the party from their visit to 
the castle above. 



210 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

Hard climbing. The broken cliff chained up. 

" Now, children," said Mr. George r " we will 
see how you can stand hard climbing." 

Rollo and Minnie looked up, and they could 
see the walls and battlements of the castle, rest 
ing upon and crowning the crags and precipices 
of the rock, far above their heads. 

The road, or rather the pathway, for it was 
not wide enough for a carriage, and was besides 
too steep, and turned too many sharp corners for 
wheels, was very smooth and hard, and the 
children ascended it without any difficulty. They 
stopped frequently to look up, for at every turn 
there was some new view of the walls or battle 
ments, or towers above, or of the crags and 
precipices of the rock on which the various con 
structions of masonry rested. The cliffs and 
precipices in many places overhung the path, and 
seemed ready to fall. In fact, in one place, an 
immense mass had cracked off, and was all ready 
to come down, but was retained in its place by a 
heavy iron chain, which passed around it r and 
was secured by clamps and staples to the more 
solid portion of the rock behind it. Rollo and 
Minnie looked up to this cliff, as they passed 
beneath it, with something like a feeling of 
terror. 

"I should not like to have that rock come 
down upon our heads," said Minnie. 



RHEINSTEIN. 211 

The servant at the castle gate. 

" No," said Rollo, " nor I ; but I should like 
to see it come down if we were out of the 
way." 

At length the road, after many winding zig 
zags and convolutions, came out upon a gravelled 
area in front of a great iron gate at an angle 
between two towers. 

A man came from a courtyard within, and 
opened a small gate, which formed a part of the 
great one. He seemed to be a servant. Mr. 
George asked him in French if they could come 
in and see the castle. The man smiled and 
shook his head, but at the same time opened the 
loor wide, and stood on one side, as if to make 
way for them to come in. 

" He says no," whispered Rollo. 

" No," replied Mr. George, " his no means that 
he does not understand us ; but he wishes us to 
come in." 

As Mr. George said these words, he passed 
through the gate, leading Minnie by the hand, 
and followed by Rollo. 

The man shut the gate after them, and then 
began to say something to them, very fluently 
and earnestly, pointing at the same time to a 
door which opened upon a gallery that extended 
along the wall of a tower near by. As soon aa 
he had finished what seemed to be some sort of 



212 ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 

The servant s explanation interpreted by Mr. George. 

explanation, he left the party standing in the 
court, and returned to his work. 

" He says," remarked Mr. George, " that there 
is a man coming to show us the castle." 

" How do you know ? " asked Rollo. 

" I know by the signs that he made," replied 
Mr. George. " Besides, I heard him say schloss- 
vogt." 

" What is schloss-vogt ? " asked Rollo. 

" That was the ancient name for the officer who 
kept the keys of a castle," replied Mr. George, 
" and in restoring this castle they thought they 
would reestablish the old office. So they call the 
man who keeps the keys the schloss-vogt." 

In a few minutes the schloss-vogt came. He 
was dressed in the ancient costume. He wore a 
black velvet frock coat, and green velvet cap, 
both made in a very antique and curious fashion, 
after the pattern of those worn, in ancient days, 
by the officers who had the custody of the keys 
in the baronial castles. 

The schloss-vogt conducted his visitors all over 
the edifice that was under his charge. It would 
be impossible to describe the variety of halls, 
corridors, courts, towers, ramparts, and battle 
ments which Rollo and Minnie were led to see. 
They went from one to another, until they were 
at length completely bewildered with the in- 



RHEINSTEIN. 213 

A description of the details of the restored castle. 

tricacy, as well as dazzled by the magnificence, of 
the place. There were suites of most beautiful 
apartments, with polished floors, and painted 
walls, and furniture of the most curious and an 
tique description. The chairs, the tables, the 
cabinets, and the beds of these rooms were all 
of the strangest forms ; aiid though they were of 
very elaborate and splendid workmanship, being 
richly carved and inlaid with mosaic work, and 
often ornamented with mountings of silver, they 
all wore a very antique and venerable air, which 
was extremely imposing. The rooms were of all 
shapes and sizes, and were arranged and con 
nected with each other in the most odd and sin 
gular fashion, as the external walls which enclosed 
them were extremely irregular in plan, being 
conformed in a great measure to the shape of the 
rocks on which the castle was founded. The 
schloss-vogt was continually leading his party, as 
he guided them through the rooms, into some 
unexpected and curious place a little cabinet, 
built on an angle of the wall ; a winding stair 
case, opening suddenly in a corner, and leading 
up to a watchtower, or down to a court ; a 
balcony overhanging a precipice, and command 
ing a most magnificent view up and down the 
river ; or some other curious nook or corner, 
which in the snugness and coziness of its seclu 



214 HOLLO ON THE RHINE. 

The ancient armor. The iron gauntlet. 

si on, and the beauty of its adornments, filled the 
hearts of Rollo and Minnie with delight. 

There were a great many specimens of ancient 
arms and armor, hung up in various halls in 
the castle, all of the most quaint and curious 
forms, but yet of the most elaborate and beau 
tiful workmanship. There were swords, and 
daggers, and bows and arrows, and spurs, and 
shields, and coats of mail, and every other species 
of weapons, offensive and defensive, that the war 
riors of the middle ages were accustomed to use. 
Rollo was most interested in the bows and arrows. 
They were of great size, and were made in a 
style of workmanship, and ornamented witb 
mountings and decorations, which Rollo had 
never dreamed of seeing in bows and arrows. 
Among the other articles of armor, the schloss- 
vogt showed the party a gauntlet, as it is called ; 
that is, an iron glove, which was worn in ancient 
times to defend the hand from the cuts of swords 
and sabres. The inside of the glove I mean 
the part which covered the inside of the hand 
was of leather ; but the back was formed of iron 
scales made to slide over each other, so as to 
allow the hand to open and shut freely, without 
making any opening in the iron. Mr. George 
tried this glove on, and so, in fact, did Rollo and 
Minnie. They were all surprised to find how 



RHEINSTEIN. 215 

The furniture. The rooms. Queer corners. 

well it fitted to the hand, and how freely the 
fingers could be moved while it was on. The 
schloss-vogt said that a man could write with it ; 
and Mr. George placed his hand, with the glove 
upon it, in the proper position for writing, and 
then moved his fingers to and fro, as if there had 
been a pen between them. 

" Yes," said he, " I think I could write with it 
very well." 

All the furniture of the rooms was of a very 
quaint and curious description, while yet it was 
very rich and magnificent. There were elegant 
bedsteads of carved ebony surmounted with 
silken curtains and canopies of the most gorgeous 
description. There were cabinets inlaid with 
silver and pearl, and elegant cameos and mosaics, 
and a profusion of other such articles, all of 
which Rollo had very little time to examine, as 
the schloss-vogt led the party forward from one 
room to another without much delay. 

The rooms themselves, in respect to form and 
arrangement, were almost as curious as the arti 
cles which they contained. Every one seemed 
different from the rest. You were constantly 
coming into the strangest and most unexpected 
places. There were cabinets, and wide halls, and 
intricate winding corridors, and open courts, and 
vaulted passages, and balconies, paved below and 



216 ROLI>O ON THE RHINE. 

The airy staircase. Minnie s bouquet of flowers. 

arched over above. At one place there was a 
light iron staircase built on the outside of a round 
tower, and as the tower itself was built on the 
pinnacle of an overhanging rock, you seemed, in 
ascending the staircase, to be poised in the air, 
with the rocks that lined the shore of the river 
beneath your feet, hundreds of feet below. 

After rambling about the castle for half an 
hour, the party returned to the gate where they 
had come in, and the schloss-vogt bade them good 
by. He gave Minnie a little bouquet of flowers 
as she came away. They were flowers which he 
had gathered for her, one by one, from the plants 
growing in the various balconies, and in little 
parterres in the courtyards, which they passed in 
going about the castle. Minnie was very much 
pleased with this bouquet. 

" I mean to press some of the flowers," said 
she, " and keep them for a souvenir." 

" Yes," said Rollo, " HI help you press them. 
I ve got a pressing apparatus at home." 

" Well," said Minnie, in a tone of great satis 
faction. " And then, when they are pressed, I ll 
give you one of them." 

So the party went down the zigzag path till 
they came to the main road at the bank of the 
river, and there getting into their carriage again, 
they rode home to the hotel. 



RHEINSTEIN. 217 



The scenery of the Rhine above Bingen. 



CONCLUSION. 

OUR travellers had now passed through all 
that portion of the Rhine which contains the 
castles and the romantic scenery. Above Bin- 
gen the valley of the Rhine widens ; that is, the 
mountains, instead of crowding in close to the 
river, recede from it many miles, enclosing a 
broad and level, but very fertile plain, through 
the midst of which the river flows between low 
banks, and with endless meanderings. The level 
country through which the river thus flows is in 
expressibly beautiful, being divided into magnifi 
cent fields, and cultivated every where like a 
garden. It presents to the view a broad expanse 
of the richest verdure and beauty, but it cannot 
be seen from the steamboats on the river. Trav 
ellers are, accordingly, accustomed to leave the 
river at Mayence, a short distance above Bingen, 
and to go on up to Strasbourg by the railway. 
This was the plan which Mr. George and Rollo 
pursued. 

From Strasbourg, Mr. George took passage 
for Paris by a railway train which left Stras- 



218 



ROLLO ON THE RHINE. 



Returning to Paris. 



The night train. 



Rollo asleep. 



bourg in the afternoon, so that they travelled all 
night. This was Rollo s plan. He wished to 
see how " it would seem," he said, to be travel 
ling in the cars at midnight. 




THE NIGHT JOURNEY. 



He, however, fell asleep soon after dark, and 
Blept soundly all the way. 



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