196 . GERMANY. 



of its woods, and extensive tracts are now covered with peat mosses. The hilly 

 district to the north of the Sieg, pierced in many places by basalt, extends 

 westward as far as the Sauerland ; that is, " Souther Land," thus named with 

 reference to its position to the vast plains of Lower Westphalia and Hanover. 

 The Rothhaar range and the plateau of the Winterberg (2,760 feet) extend 

 eastward to the banks of the Weser, whilst the table-land of the Haarstrang rises 

 boldly on the northern bank of the Ruhr, but sinks down gently towards the 

 north until it merges in the plains of Lippe. 



Striking are the contrasts presented by the valley of the Rhine and the 

 mountains which bound it. The Suevi and Alemanni who dwell in the Black 

 Forest and the Palatinate, the Franks of the northern heights and the Catti of Hesse, 

 occupying remote regions, still represent the Germany of a bygone age. The 

 inhabitants of the plain, on the other hand, have been stirred into activity by 

 wars and commerce. The " highlanders " of some parts of the Rhine countries 

 are amongst the least civilised of Germans, whilst the dwellers in the plain occupy 

 a foremost rank by their industry and commerce. Yet all these flourishing cities 

 are more or less dependent upon the mountain valleys for their existence. It is 

 there they recruit their population, and it is the products of the mountains which 

 in a laro:e measure feed their commerce. 



Towns. 



Baden. — Constanz (12,003 inhabitants), at the lower end of the Bodensee, where 



the Rhine flows out of that lake, is the first German town we meet in a journey 



down the river. In the fifteenth century, when the famous Council was held 



there, Constanz was an important town of 40,000 inhabitants, much frequented 



by Italian merchants, and noted for its linens. Wars and sieges robbed it of its 



prosperity, and towards the close of the last century its population had dwindled 



down to 4,000 souls. Of late the town has been reviving, for its delightful environs 



attract tourists in shoals, and like its neighbours, Ueberlingen (3,864 inhabitants) 



and Meershurg, on the northern shore of the lake, it has become a favourite summer 



resort. Mainau is an island near the town, with a summer residence of the 



Grand Duke of Baden. Constanz occupies a situation on the Bodensee somewhat 



analogous to that of Geneva on the Leman, but no great commercial advantages 



accrue to it in consequence, for, owing to the Bodensee forming several large bays, 



other towns, such as Ludwigshafen on the Bay of Ueberlingen, Rodolfuzell (1,803 



inhabitants) on the TJntersee, and Stein on the Rhine, possess similar advantages. 



The great lines of traffic, moreover, cross the lake from north to south, and not from 



east to west. Siiigen, an important railway junction, lies to the west of the lake, 



and near it are the lacustrine beds of Oeningen, replete with remains of insects, 



fishes, and animals, supposed to have been killed by mephitic vapours which 



suddenly arose from the bottom of the lake. A small volcano vomited flames 



close by. 



In the upper basin of the Danube there are a few Baden towns of note, 



