37 



who had at no previous time visited the volcanic Eifel. Instead; 

 of finding themselves amongst a range of mountain peaJis as 

 they would have done had they climbed a similar height in the 

 Lake districts of Cumberland or Wales, they looked down upon 

 a flat plateau reaching in all directions as far as the eye could 

 see, and more singular still, they saw villages, towns, churches, 

 highways, farms, and orchards. Looking round the distant 

 horizon they saw several large mounds which, upon enquiry, 

 they found to be extinct volcanoes. Seeing a village about a 

 mile distant on the Eifel they walked down to it and found its 

 name to be Kenfus. It looked picturesque enough at the dis- 

 tance, but instead of the cleanliness of the English village, 

 they found a huge refuse heap, several feet high, on each side 

 of the road through the village. It was impossible to describe 

 the horrible unsanitary condition of Kenfus, and it was difficult 

 to understand why its inhabitants were not swept away by the 

 first epidemic which found its way to the Eifel. The next wan- 

 dering was from Alf to Cochem. Afterwards they reached the 

 city of Ediger. There was something amusing in speaking of 

 the city of Ediger it was like speaking of the city of Worsthorne, 

 but nevertheless Ediger was a city in the strictest sense of 

 the word, and had more points of interest in it than many 

 cities ten times its size. The city walls frowned upon them 

 as they drove up to it, and the old watch tower stood grimly 

 warning them to be careful lest they awoke the slumbering., 

 garrison. They passed underneath its stern gateway, but the 

 portcuUis was up and no sentry challenged them for the pass- 

 word. Entering into daylight they found themselves in a narrow 

 old-fashioned street, with its quaint gables and old-fasbioned 

 roofs. Walking onward they saw no signs of life and soon 

 came to the old church, which stood upon an eminence, but 

 on reaching the steps leading to the church they found to 

 their surprise they had really crossed the entire width of the 

 city and reached the walls on the other side of Ediger. The 

 church thus seemed to form a part of the fortifications of the : 

 city, and was so constructed that it could easily be turned into a 

 castle in time of war. The interior of the church had a strange 

 old world look and was well worthy of examination by those 

 fond of ecclesiastical architecture and ornamentation. They did 

 not see more than four or five people while wandering over the 

 city, and anyone walking its streets felt as if somehow or other 

 he had entered on a previous stage of existence and was living 

 in the Middle Ages. A description was then given of Cochem . 

 with its Capuchin monastery and its magnificent castle. A fair 

 was being held at the time of the visit, and afforded many 

 interesting pictures of the manners and customs of the natives . 

 of the Moselle country. The succeeding wandering was .to. the. 



