564 



NEW ENGLAND FAEMER. 



Dec. 



that we could not bring home his daguerreotype. 

 He was evidently out as a tourist from the middle of 

 London. He wore, for exteriors, an overcoat with 

 large sleeves turned up with red silk about a foot in 

 ■width, a high-crowned, stiff, narrow-brimmed hat, an 

 opera-glass suspended by a strap across his shoul- 

 der, and a small leather bag filled with maps and 

 guide-books, across the other shoulder. He car- 

 ried an umbrella, and sat on the smallest kind of a 

 donkey, his feet nearly touching the ground, while 

 a girl of about fourteen, bare-footed and bare-head- 

 ed, followed the donkey, constantly beating the 

 poor creature with a stick, and talking to him in 

 unknown tongues. She was the only female driver 

 in the party, and she ran along the whole distance, 

 some five or six miles, showing no signs of fatigue. 

 We were met on top of the hill by women and 

 girls, who at various places offered us cherries, pears, 

 apricots, apples and mulberries, of very good quali- 

 ty, of which we were glad to partake. 



Both in ascending and descending, we passed 

 through the vineyards, upon which, from the steam- 

 er, we had looked with so much interest. I got 

 over the fences, and walked a long distance among 

 the vines to observe carefully the mode of culture. 

 Each vine is tied to a single stake three or four feet 

 high and the vines are planted at about four feet dis- 

 tance, like our Indian corn in rows and hills. The 

 vine is annually cut down nearly to the ground, a 

 few spurs being left, and the fruit grows in a few 

 clusters, very low and close together. On the out- 

 side of each enclosure, frequently is a trellis, on 

 which the vines are allowed to run at greater length, 

 forming a sort of border to the field. 



On the top of the Neiderwald is a natural heavy 

 forest growth, mostly of oak and beech, just like a 

 hard wood forest in New England, on good land 

 free from stones, the first natural forest I have seen 

 since I crossed the ocean. From the top of the 

 hill, we had a fine view of the level country south 

 of Bingen, a fertile region covered in great part 

 Vfiih. fields of wheat nearly ripe. On the Rhine 

 below, we watched the huge rafts of timber, with 

 small houses on them, slowly moving with the cur- 

 rent down towards Cologne, and perhaps to Am- 

 sterdam, and thence across the ocean. We saw 

 also boats loaded with cattle for the markets, and 

 occasionally a small steamer towing a fleet of gon- 

 dolas, up against the strong current. 



On the whole. Father Rhine is a useful institu- 

 tion, as well as an ornamental, and no wonder the 

 children of his shores have attached the paternal 

 appellation to him. 



Here again I saw oxen, single or in pairs, work- 

 ing by the horns, and sometimes also a single cow 

 drawing a market-cart through the streets. All 

 their agricultural implements and arrangements are 

 extremely rude and simple, indicating a low state 

 of education and a low standard of comfort. 



From Bingen, we again took a steamer up the 

 river to Manheim. Above Bingen, the river be- 

 comes less rapid, the hills sink to a lower level, 

 and recede from the banks, and through much of 

 the distance the country adjacent appears flat, but 

 fertile. Still there is great beauty on this part of 

 the Rhine, in the fine estates here and there, the 

 occasional hills rich with vineyards, and the classical 

 storks standing motionless on the islands of sand. 

 The rougher features of the days before gave place 

 to a softer landscape, and as the bright sun hung 

 near the horizon in setting, he threw a rich crim- 

 son hue on the river behind us, while the moon in 

 her full glory shed silver light on our pathway for- 

 ward, forming a rare scene of beauty on the placid 

 water. Between Bingen and Manheim we ])a8sed 

 the city of Worms, in sight of the old cathedral 

 where Luther posted his defiance. 



Spending a night at Manheim, we came on to 

 Heidelberg, about twelve miles, over a railway 

 owned by the Duke of Baden, and said to be the 

 best in Europe. We passed over a finely cultivat- 

 ed plain, on which are large fields of hops, and of 

 beets for sugar, a few patches of Indian corn and 

 some fields of tobacco of a few acres each, the first 

 corn or tobacco I have observed in Europe. The 

 highways here are not fenced, but are marked out 

 by fruit or ornamental trees planted at regular dis- 

 tances. Large barns are connected here with the 

 farm-hoi/ses, capable of containing all the crops, so 

 that the system of stacking hay and grain which 

 is universal in England is probably not practised in 

 this region. And here at Heidelberg, we have 

 passed the Sabbath, attending an English church. 

 This is a city famous for its five hundred students 

 of law and divinity, famous for their duels and beer 

 drinking, famous for its wonderful old castle on the 

 rock and the celebrated "tun of Heidelburg," the 

 largest wine cask in the world, capable of holding 

 six hundred hogsheads. The city is known to fame 

 by its thousand legends, of the Black Forest which 

 lies behind it, and of ghosts and goblins which fre- 

 quent German Universities, and are produced in 

 history by German students. 



We found several young Americans here, stu- 

 dents in the University, who gave me a cordial 

 greeting, and to whom I am indebted for as much 

 attention as it was possible for them to show to 

 one of their countrymen. 



I may say here that the Englishmen with whom 

 I travelled through the continent were struck with 

 surprise at the brotherly feeling manifested towards 

 me by every American we met. Englishmen passed 

 each other, in a strange land like priests and Le- 

 vites, but in Americans from North or South, West 

 or East, I met always friends and brethren, and to- 

 gether we thanked Heaven that we had so goodly 

 a heritage. 



Your friend, H. F. French. 



