THE RHINE AND THE MOSELLE. I93 



rocks, one of which forms the Katzenbuckel (Cat's Back, 2,060 feet). The Western 

 Odenwald is a varied region of gentle hills, well-cultivated valleys, and numerous 

 villages, whilst the East is generally sterile, and covered with forests. One of the 

 most remarkable summits in the former is the Felsberg (1,695 feet), risino- in the 

 midst of a " sea of rocks," or Felsenmeer. It is but little inferior in height to 

 the Malchus, or Melibocus (1,700 feet), the culminating point of the entire rano-e. 

 Emigration has> been very active in the Odenwald, and whilst the " emigration 

 fever" was at its height, the inhabitants of entire villages, headed by the burgo- 

 master, quitted their homes. 



The Spessart, to the east of the Main, is geologically looked upon as a pendant 

 of the Black Forest, but is equally a member of the mountain system of Central 

 Germany. A Avide alluvial plain stretches from the Odenwald northward beyond 

 the Main to the foot of the Taunus (2,890 feet), the reverse slope of which sinks 

 down gently towards the Lahn. It is pierced in many places by basalt, which 

 apparently has some connection with the mineral springs which abound in that 

 part of Germany. 



The Hunsruck (2,672 feet), to the west of the gorge of the Rhine, is a 

 continuation of the Taunus, filling the country between the Nahe and the Moselle. 

 Like the Taunus, it is composed of argillaceous schists, and wooded, and it forms 

 bold cliffs towards the valleys which bound it. On the south it joins the Hardt, a 

 northern continuation of the Vosges, extending into the Bavarian Palatinate. 

 The Hardt rises steeply from the plain of the Rhine, and slopes away gently 

 towards the north and w^est. A large cavity in its centre is now a peat moss, but 

 was formerly occupied by a lake. Upon the table-land of the Hardt rises the 

 isolated porphyritic cone known as the Donnersberg, or Thunderer (2,260 feet). 

 Upon its summit may still be traced a line of ancient fortification, and many Celtic 

 coins have been discovered there. 



Vast tracts of the Hardt are sterile and incapable of cultivation, and the 

 climate, more especially in the " Westrich," is very inclement, hardly anything but 

 potatoes succeeding there. Ever since 1689, when the Palatinate was for the first 

 time laid waste by the French, its inhabitants have emigrated in large numbers. 

 Recentlj^, however, the discovery of a productive coal basin around Saarbriicken 

 has led to the foundation of numerous industrial establishments, which provide 

 employment for the surplus population. This coal basin covers an area of 1,200 

 square miles, and the coal beds are supposed to extend to a depth of 25,000 feet 

 below the sea-level. 



The country between the Moselle and the Meuse (Maas) is hilly, and deep 

 valleys, with limpid streams flowing over rocky beds, intersect it. The cold and 

 dreary plateau of the Ardennes extends into Germany. It is only sparsely 

 wooded now, but is nevertheless superior in that respect to the arid mountain 

 group of the Hohe Venn (2,280 feet), to the north of it. Wide tracts there are 

 covered with peat mosses, and in 1684 and 1825, when the summer was excep- 

 tionally dry, the turf caught fire, and burnt for several months, until extinguished 

 by the winter's snow. The Eifel, which extends from the Ardennes and the Venn 



