MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 



475 



construction raore picturesque 

 than ingenious. The sides of the 

 hilis were still chequered with 

 masses of granite, of all shapes, 

 and immense size ; sometimes 

 lying so thick as to form a sort of 

 sea of rock ; at otiiers scattered 

 here and there in the corn-fields. 

 In the woods of tall young beech, 

 where the grey masses are not 

 less frequent, and covered with 

 green moss, their appearance is 

 Btill more striking. 



In the Odenwald, the great 

 granites, which are called the ribs 

 of the earth, lie scattered about 

 on the sandy surface, like wrecks 

 of some storm of the elements. 

 The whole country which is ab- 

 ruptly irregular and diversified, 

 and displays more of what has 

 been called thebeautiful deformity 

 of nature, than is often to be seen, 

 affords traces of severe convul- 

 sions of nature. Even the vast 

 plains of sand through which the 

 Rhine runs, from Basle to Bingen, 

 have hardly the character of her 

 ordinary features. Skeletons and 

 bones of gigantic animals, have 

 been found in the flats of Darm- 

 stadt, and are preserved in the 

 Grand Duke's Museum. These 

 circumstances add to the interest 

 of a country — they appear to 

 bring one more forcibly into 

 contact with nafure's primaeval 

 features. The great granites, 

 lying useless in the fertile fields, 

 defying the power of man, are so 

 many pleasing mementos of her 

 supremacy — which, in these days 

 of advancement, art appears con- 

 tinually to be questioning. 



After breakfasting for about 

 five-pence, on eggs and milk, at 

 the pretty little village of Gaden- 

 heim, we walked on to Rcichcn- 



bach, a larger village, in a fine 

 valley, the residence of a pastor. 

 We procured with difficulty rough 

 peasants' nags, to ride to Auer- 

 bach, the nearest village on the 

 Berg-strasse. The ride was ro- 

 mantic, in the highest degree ; the 

 road following the course of the 

 stream, which watered Reichen- 

 bach, and had now swollen into 

 rattling importance. A rich valley 

 of pasture, sunk between irregular 

 mountains, presented points of 

 view of constantly varying beauty, 

 in which a sequestered wildness 

 was unusually mixed with smiling 

 fertility. Schonberg, a village 

 with an old chateau, belonging to 

 the Count of Erbach, a media- 

 tized prince, now subject to the 

 grand duke of Hesse, — is the most 

 beautiful spot on the road. The 

 mountains on each side, majestic 

 in their cloathing of beeches and 

 firs, have here assumed a bolder 

 character, and nod at each other 

 across the valley at no great 

 distance. On the edge of the 

 most abrupt, nearly perpendicular, 

 and called the Altnnberg, stands 

 the castle of the count ; his plan- 

 tations sloping down the gentler 

 parts of the declivity. The village 

 lies in the valley, by the side of 

 the brook, and the road winds 

 steeply up to the castle, passing 

 through the outer court. 



From Schonberg, we descended 

 to the deep valley of Auerbach, 

 which, for its mineral waters, its 

 delightful walks and points of 

 view, was chosen by the grand 

 duke and duchess of Hesse for a 

 place of summer retirement. A 

 gravel road winds up the valley, 

 through rows of poplars, from 

 the village, to the cluster of small 

 white buildings of the court. The 



sides 



