54 A CONTINENTAL TOUE. 



lonely nest in some willowy isle to the still region above 

 the clouds. Without other sight or sound I stood alone 

 in this majestic wilderness. I soon found, however, that 

 I had unfortunately wandered so long and so far among 

 the low brushwood near the river, that I had entirely lost 

 all trace of anything resembling the footsteps of the human 

 race. If I turned towards the land I might walk into one 

 of those deep pools filled with water to defend the frontier 

 — if I bent my course in the other direction, one step into 

 the Rhine would be my first and last, and I might find 

 myself off the Dogger-bank by the morning of the ensuing * 

 day. What was to be done ? I was about to ruminate 

 seriously on this important subject, when I heard the 

 vociferous shout of a ferryman within a few yards of my 

 forlorn post. I accosted him in good Scotch and bad 

 French, supposing if he were a German he would probably 

 understand the one, if a Frenchman, possibly the other. 

 He seemed to comprehend both, and with his assistance 

 and direction I succeeded in returning to the town which 

 I had left a few hours before, my head-quarters for the 

 night" 



PE^E-ETJSKINITE REMAKES ON LANDSCAPE-PAINTING, AND 



A GHOST STOEY. 



Next to Wordsworth's Poems, there were few books 

 which Mr Wilson received with such ardour, and read 



