BAVARIA. 231 



and hence known as " Bavarian Sea," it lies wholly in the plain, and swamps and 

 reeds render it inaccessible in many places. Numerous erratic blocks are found near 

 it, and on Herrenworth, the largest of its three islands, rises an old monastery, 

 now converted into a brewery.* 



The actual lakes of Upper Bavaria are but the remnants of ancient lakes of far 

 larger extent, Avhose position is vaguely indicated by the swamps which cover 

 a great part of the country. To the north of Munich bogs or mosses stretch in 

 narrow strips towards the Isar and the Amper, through which they discharge 

 their surplus waters. For a long time these swampy tracts resisted all cultivation. 

 The few inhabitants lived in wretched villages built on mounds rising like islands 

 above the swamps. They were lean and emaciated like their cattle, and led a life 

 of great hardship. Of late years extensive drainage works have converted many 

 of these bogs into fertile land, and fine villages have taken the place of miserable 

 hovels. Still much remains to be done before the work of amelioration has been 

 accomplished, and curiously enough, the immediate vicinity of the capital, owing 

 to these swamps, is the least-peopled portion of the whole kingdom. Fogs, one of 

 the most unpleasant features of the climate of Bavaria, are rendered more dense 

 and frequent by the humid soil. The fogs in the district known as the Danubian 

 " Eied" are notorious, and how prejudicial these swamps are to the health of the 

 inhabitants may be judged from the fact that out of every 100 conscripts of 

 Bavarian Swabia, 54 arc found on examination to be physically unfit for service, t 



The rivers rising in the Alps all resemble each other. Alternately flooded by rains 

 or melting snow, or reduced to trickling streams, they take their course through the 

 accumulations of pebbles, which oifer but little resistance to their erosive action. 

 Hence they frequently change their beds, and whilst at one place they are confined 

 between steep banks, they spread elsewhere over the plain. The Lech, which has 

 an average width of 200 feet, is over 3,000 wide where it is joined by the Wertach, 

 below Augsburg. The Isar has frequently changed its course, and appears 

 formerly to have been tributary to the Inn, which it joined at Rosenheim. The 

 old channel of the Isar can still be traced, and is known as the " Devil's Ditch." 



But though they wander over the pebbly plain, the Alpine affluents of the Danube 

 nevertheless exhibit in their more general features the pervading influence of a 

 law common to all. The Hier, the first Alpine torrent which joins the Danube, 



* The principal lakes of Bavaria : — 



Altitude. Area. Depth. 



Feet. Sq. Miles. Feet. 



Walchensee 2,625 6-1 700 



Tegernsee 2,400 3-0 305 



Konigsee 1,980 1-9 626 



Ammersee ..... 1,768 16-2 803 



Wurmsee (Lake of Starnberg) .1,915 20-8 272 



Chieinsee 1,725 73-4 460 



t Mean temperature in Upper Bavaria : — • 



Altitude. Spring. Summer. Autumn. Winter. Year. 



Feet. Deg. F. Beg. F. Deg. F. Deg. F. iJeg. F. 



Tegernsee . . 2,400 41-0 55-U 42-9 296 41-1 



Munich . . 1,675 45 3 57-3 50-4 31-6 451 



Augsburg. . 1,610 44-5 66-9 44-2 30-0 43-9 



Ratisbon . . 1,665 45-5 57-9 44-5 29-9 44-5 



