The Park in Muskai 



125 



consisted, as I have already remarked, of boundless 

 pine and fir woods on all sides, in whose center, in 

 a hilly region, the little country town of Muskau 

 lies. The town is especially distinguished by 

 houses w^hich are, without exception, massive, 

 by several pretty churches and towers, and by a 

 certain general neatness, and lies picturesquely 

 on the side of a mountain, up to whose summit 

 the terrace gardens of the burghers climb. Fruit 

 gardens and little summer houses make the aspect 

 very pleasant. On the wide eastern mountain 

 plateau over the town, and in its immediate 

 neighborhood, one sees hidden, in limes and 

 oaks, the village of Berg with one of the oldest 

 church ruins in the Lausitz. Farther south, at 

 the end of the little town, the slope becomes 

 steeper and describes a half-circle, where it is 

 covered by tall beeches, oaks, and isolated ever- 

 greens, and presents many romantic ravines. Here 

 is an alum mine with large buildings, refining 

 and other works. The ridge of the chain of hills 

 here turns south again, and reaches its highest 

 point at an old vineyard where there is an exten- 

 sive view over the river Neisse and the moun- 

 tains of Silesia, Gorlitz, and Bautzen. Here the 

 hills disappear by degrees into the thick forest. 



If one follows the same chain of hills from 

 the other end of the town, toward the north, 

 one arrives at the steep wooded shore of the 

 Neisse; a road runs alongside which from here 

 discloses a view of a bridge and a village crowned 

 by a forest. 



