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xT. 28.] JOURNAL. 218 
I find in conveying any idea of it. It is without 
doubt the most wonderful thing of its kind in the 
world. 
Adelsberg itself is a little German village perched 
under a steep conical hill which is crowned with the 
ruins of an old castle ; it is at one border of a cireular 
plain, several miles in extent, dotted here and there 
with little hamlets, and surrounded with mountains, so 
that it is like a large basin, and seems wholly shut 
out from the rest of the world. It is so still and 
quiet that it would do very well for the valley of 
Rasselas, but the mountains do not form precipices 
except on one side, where they are accessible at a few 
points only, and there with much difficulty, as I had 
occasion to know. The streams that come down from 
the mountains unite to form a little river, perhaps 
nearly twice the size of the Fishkill Creek; and this, 
after running about the valley seeking an outlet in 
vain, at length in despair, as it seems, dives into the 
solid rock at the foot of hills near the village. The 
entrance for visitors is a small hole above this, which 
opens into a long gallery, perhaps two hundred yards 
in extent. From this you descend into a vast hall, 
called the Dome, more than one hundred feet high, 
and three or four hundred feet in length. As you de- 
scend you hear the roar of the waters confined in their 
deep prison-house, and at the bottom you meet the 
river which rushes swiftly to the distant extremity of 
this hall, and there sinks into the dark depths. In- 
stead of a stupid monument and inscription by the 
late emperor, placed above this, it would have been 
much better taste to have placed in the stream a piece 
of statuary representing Charon and his boat, for 
never was seen so perfect a beau-ideal of the fabled 
