HESSE AND NASSAU. 205 



after the inoffensive adders which abound there, lies to the west, in a wooded gap 

 of the mountains. The elongated Langen-Schvalbach (2,731 inhabitants) lies 

 beyond the watershed, in a valley tributary to the Lahn. Nieder Sellers, and 

 many other springs charged with carbonic acid, rise in another side valley of the 

 Lahn, and furnish the popular Saltzer- water, of which nearly 5,000,000 stone 

 bottles are annually exported. Towards the east, within easy reach of Franhfort, 

 are the thermal or mineral springs of Hofheim (2,097 inhabitants), Weilbach, 

 Soden, Konigsstein, Kronierg {2,4:17 inhabitants), Kroitfhal, and Ilomhurg-vor-der- 

 Hohe (8,290 inhabitants), a favourite resort of the Frankforters, the gambling- 

 rooms of which formerly attracted visitors from all parts of Europe. Other springs 

 rise in the Wetterau, to the east of the Taunus, the most important being those of 

 Nauheim (2,391 inhabitants). Friedrichsdorf, a village near Homburg, was 

 founded in 1689 by French Huguenots, whose descendants still speak French. 



A short distance below Biebrich commences the most famous wine district of 

 the Rheingau. Successively we pass the vine-clad hills of Eltville (2,883 inha- 

 bitants), Jo/iannisberg, and Rudesheim (3,455 inhabitants). Excellent wine is 

 likewise grown in the gorge below Bingen, more especially near Asmannshaiisen. 

 All these wines have a slaty flavour, highly appreciated by connoisseurs. There 

 are no large towns along this part of the right bank of the Rhine, only a narrow 

 ledge of level land intervening between the foot of the hills and the river. 



Populous towns, however, abound in the valley of the Lahn, which joins the 

 Rhine between the castle-crowned rocks of Upper and Lower Lahnstein (conjointly 

 7,319 inhabitants). The Lahn rises in the same group of hills as the Sieg. It 

 at first takes an easterly direction, but then turns south, flowing past the university 

 town of Marburg (9,600 inhabitants) to Giessen (13,858 inhabitants), likewise the 

 seat of a university, and situate in the centre of an ancient lake basin. Wetzlar 

 (6,837 inhabitants), lower down the river, was a place of greater importance 

 formerly, when it was the seat, between 1698 and 1806, of the Supreme Court of 

 Justice of the empire, whilst now it is mainly dependent upon its tan-yards and iron 

 mines. Limburg (5,157 inhabitants), the veritable capital of the valley of the 

 Lahn, was a great place of commerce in former times, rich enough to support 

 2,000 troopers for the protection of its merchants, and to build one of the finest 

 cathedrals of Germany. Mines of argentiferous lead, zinc, copper, iron, and coal 

 are worked in the environs, and there are also slate and marble quarries. Fine 

 potter's clay is found in this part of Nassau, and the manufacture of earthenware 

 is carried on with success. 



Still descending the Lahn, we pass the village of Nassau, with its old castle, 

 and reach Ems (6,077 inhabitants), the famous watering-place so often referred to 

 in the annals of diplomacy. No town would ever have been built in this narrow 

 valley if it were not for the thermal springs ; yet the environs abound in 

 delightful walks, one of which conducts us to the village of Frlicht, where the 

 tomb of the statesman Stein is shown to visitors. 



Btrkenfeld. — The valley of the Nahe is partly occupied by the principality 

 of Birkenfeld, which the collective wisdom of the Congress of Vienna assigned to 



