THE TRAUN. 315 



defect, it is certainly the most perfect of Eu- 

 ropean falls. This cascade of the Traun, 

 though not so elevated as that of Terni, and 

 not so large as that of Schaffhausen, yet, 

 from its perfect clearness, and the harmony 

 of the surrounding objects, ranks high, as to 

 picturesque effect, amongst the waterfalls of 

 Europe ; and the wonderful transparency of 

 its pale green water gives it a peculiar charm 

 in my eyes, enhanced as it is now by the 

 light of the glowing western sky ; and the 

 tints of the quadrant iris on its spray are not 

 brighter than those of its stream and foam. 



Orn. — We have now followed this water 

 at least thirty miles, and wherever we have 

 seen it, it has always displayed the same cha- 

 racters of clearness and rapidity — of green 

 stream and white foam ; and we have traced 

 it from the snowy mountains of Styria to the 

 plains of Upper Austria, where it serves to 

 purify the darker Danube. How is it, that, 

 it has preserved its transparency, though so 

 many of its tributary streams have been foul, 

 either from the thunder storm, or from the 

 sudden melting of snows ? 



Hal. — The three small lakes and the two 



