THE EHINE AND THE MOSELLE. 



185 



Rhine. 



They speak of it as " Vater Hhein," and insensible though it he, is it not 

 virtually the " father " of the towns which rise upon its banks ? 



But the Rhine has not only played an important part in the struggles 

 between Gaul and German, it has also largely influenced the commercial history 

 of Western Europe. The other rivers of Germany rise far away from the 

 Mediterranean watershed, but the 

 Rhine descends from the Alps, its ^'-- I^^.-The Density of Population along the 



head-streams rising near the jjasses 

 affording the easiest access to Italy. 

 The plain of Switzerland connects the 

 valley of the Rhine with that of the 

 Rhône, thus forming a great natural 

 highway extending from the Mediter- 

 ranean to the German Ocean. More- 

 over, the Main and other affluents place 

 the Rhine in easy communication with 

 the basin of the Danube, thus facili- 

 tating commercial intercourse. 



It is a curious feature that most of 

 the great towns should have been built 

 on the left bank of the Rhine, instead 

 of at the mouths of its eastern tribu- 

 taries. The fact that the left bank 

 was formerly occupied by the Romans 

 accounts for this. The military camps 

 established by Drusus and others grew 

 in process of time into cities. Three 

 great high-roads passing through Gaul 

 debouched upon the Rhine at Strass- 

 burg, Mayence, and Cologne, and a 

 military road ran along its left bank. 

 The right bank, at that time, had but 

 few inhabitants, and the Romans only 

 ventured across the river in their 

 military expeditions. At that period 

 it formed a veritable political boundary. 

 The western bank maintained its supe- I I I | F I 



riority m civilisation throughout the P I U 1 [ 1 ^^g 



f^ _ itiu-i,!-^ byj-uei ie.i-.iis UicrÀie 



Middle Ages ; but an equality has in 



course of time been established. Of the two lines of railway which now skirt 

 the banks of the Rhine, that on the right side is virtually far more important 

 than the one which supersedes the old Roman road. 



The Upper Rhine terminates in the Lake of Constanz, which separates 

 Germany from Switzerland, but lies for the most part within German territory. 

 85 



Inhabitants to a Sijuare Mile 



