as the students were crossing the bridge to mayence, they obtained a full view of one of the great rafts of timber which float down the rhine, and of which professor mapps had spoken to them at dort, in holland. however, it was much smaller than those of which they had heard, and they hoped to see another. the students were not disposed to "do" mayence, being too impatient to witness the glories of the rhine. but most of them, from a sense of duty rather than from an interest in the place, visited the principal attractions of the city.
"mayence is the french name of the town," said the professor of geography and history, as the students collected in the railroad station, previous to the tramp. "the german name is mainz, which is pronounced mynts—y like long i. if you pronounce it in any other way, a german will not know what you mean. it was an old roman town. a fortress was established here to keep back the barbarians. it was formerly a larger and more important city than at present, having now a population of only forty thousand.
"this place has done two grand things for civilization and for europe. it was the cradle of the art of printing, and furnished the man who suppressed the robber knights. as you go down the rhine, you will see the ruins of many old castles on the hills by the banks of the river. the nobles, who occupied them as strongholds, carried on a system of robbery, levying duties upon all who travelled on its waters or passed through their territory. arnold von walpoden suggested the plan which led to a confederation of the cities for the driving out of the knightly highwaymen, and the destruction of their strongholds. they were feudal lords, and the breaking of their power opened the way for the progress of civilization.
"mayence was the birthplace of gutemberg, who invented movable types for printing, and reduced the art to practice. you will see the site of the house where he was born, and the building which contained his first printing-office."
after this brief explanation the party walked to the cathedral, a very ancient structure, possessing much historical interest. opposite the theatre they saw the statue of gutemberg, and the guide pointed out the place where his house stood, and the old building in which he and faust took their first proofs from types.
at twelve o'clock the tourists went on board of the steamer königin von preussen, and realized that they had actually embarked for the trip down the rhine. they had seen the river at basle, constance, and schaffhausen, had crossed it at strasburg, and obtained views of it from different points on their route. the steamer was unworthy of the noble river, and if the palatial boats of the hudson could be run upon its waters, they would lend a new charm to the scenery. the rhine steamers are small, compared with the hudson river boats, and far from being elegant. they have no saloon on deck, though a couple of small apartments, abaft the paddle-boxes, are pretentiously called "pavilions." they are appropriated to first class passengers, and are seldom used except by travellers who wish to be very exclusive. the second class passengers occupy the main cabin and the deck abaft the wheels. meals are served below, or, for an extra price, upon little tables on deck. the third class travellers have the forward deck, with piles of luggage to lounge upon. the relative fares are as the ratios four, six, and nine. from mayence to bingen the time is about two hours, and the fares are eight, twelve, and eighteen silver groschen. the steamers stop at all the principal landings, and passengers are occasionally brought off in small boats from other places.
the company dined in the cabin before the königin started, so as not to lose a single view. the dinner was an excellent one, and cheap, the ordinary price being seventeen silver groschen, or about forty-one cents. when served to private parties on deck, the price is one thaler, or seventy-two cents.
"are those steamboats?" asked paul, pointing to a number of boats with houses on deck, and having immense wheels.
"no," replied dr. winstock. "they are mills for grinding grain."
"but what turns the wheels?"
"they are moored as you see them in the river, and the current turns the wheels, which are very large, so as to gain power."
"that's a new idea to me," added paul.
"i have seen just such in the alabama river, in our own country," replied the surgeon.
"it is certainly a very good way to obtain the power."
the boat started, and soon made a landing at biebrich, on the other side of the river, where passengers from frankfurt, homburg, and wiesbaden usually take the steamers. as the königin proceeded on her way, a feeling of general disappointment pervaded the minds of the party, who had not seen the river before.
"it does not compare with the hudson," protested paul.
"wait, paul!" said the doctor, with a smile.
"how long shall i wait?"
"two hours. you must not be hasty in your judgment."
"what is this town on the right?" asked grace.
"eltville. do you see the white building in the midst of the vineyards, some distance down the river?" said the doctor, pointing to the shore.
"i see it."
"that is the château of johannisberg, belonging to prince metternich, formerly a celebrated prime minister of austria. those vineyards are the most noted in the world. the famous johannisberger wine is made from these grapes. it sells here for five or six dollars a bottle, where ordinary kinds can be bought for twenty cents, and even less. the grapes are very precious, and are kept upon the vines till they are nearly rotten. those that fall off are picked up with a kind of fork, so valuable are they deemed. of the seventy acres contained in the vineyard, only a small portion produces the best wine, which is not found except in the cellars of kings and princes. this is rüdesheim, where the boat will make a landing," added dr. winstock, as the steamer stopped her wheels. "a famous wine is also made here. it is said that charlemagne, seeing from his castle windows, near mayence, how early the snow disappeared from the heights below us, ordered vines from france to be set out here; and from these vines is produced the noted rüdesheimer wine.
"what place is this?" inquired paul, at a point where the course of the river seemed to be obstructed by rocks and hills.
"bingen on the rhine," said the surgeon. "here the waters of the river are crowded in a narrow space. look upon the hills around you, and see how every foot of ground is economized for the vineyards. where the hill-sides are too steep for cultivation, they are formed into terraces, as you see them."
the steamer stopped a few moments at bingen, which contains about seventy-five hundred inhabitants.
"on our left, now, are the dominions of the king of prussia—the rhenish provinces. on our right, as before, is the duchy of nassau. what do you think of the rhine now?" asked dr. winstock.
"it is improving, certainly," laughed paul. "the scenery is really very grand and very fine. i will give it up now. it is finer than the hudson. but where are the old castles?"
"there is one of them," answered the doctor, pointing to a ruin which crowned a hill on the right. "that is the castle of ehrenfels. there is a legend connected with about every one of them. there is the mouse tower."
the doctor pointed to a stone structure rising from the river a short distance from the shore. it was certainly a very romantic building, and in a very romantic situation.
"what is the story about this tower?" asked paul.
"if you take southey's works when you return to the ship, you will find in them, 'the tradition of bishop hatto.' he was the archbishop of mayence, and during a famine kept his granaries, well filled with food, locked, and, by his own profusion and high living, excited his starving subjects to revolt. the prelate ordered the rebels to be arrested, confined them in a building, and set it on fire. not content with this outrage, he added insult to injury by mocking the wail of the sufferers, and comparing their cries with the squeaking of mice. in the night which followed the diabolical deed, a swarm of mice penetrated to the apartments of the archbishop's palace, attacked him, and tried to tear the flesh from his bones. appalled by this poetic justice, the cruel prelate fled, and, taking to the river, reached this insulated tower. suspending his bed in the upper part of the structure, he struggled to escape from the mice, as merciless as he had himself been. but the mice followed him, and he could not avoid the doom that was in store for him. vainly he resisted. the rats attacked him, and he suffered a lingering and horrible death. it is but fair to add that history gives the archbishop a different character. do you happen to know the meaning of the german word mauth?"
"a duty, or a toll," replied grace.
"the german for mouse is maus, and probably it is in this instance corrupted from mauth; for nothing could have made the tower and its owners more odious than the collection of duties from voyagers on the river. there is a sad story connected with the brömserberg castle, which we saw above. brömser of rüdesheim went to palestine with the crusaders, and, while there, distinguished himself by slaying a dragon which made itself very annoying to the christian army. he was immediately after captured by the saracen forces, and reduced to slavery. while in this condition, he made a solemn vow, that if he were ever permitted to return to his castle again, he would give his only daughter to the church. improving an opportunity to kill his guard, he succeeded in reaching his home, where he was met by his daughter, a lovely young woman, who was betrothed to a young knight. her father told her of the vow he had taken. tearfully she entreated him to change his purpose; but his pledge to the church could not be set aside. brömser threatened her with his curse if she refused to obey. life had no charms apart from the young knight, and she determined to die. in the midst of a violent storm, she threw herself from the castle battlements into the river, and her corpse was found the next day, by a fisherman, near the mouse tower. the boatmen and peasants say, to this day, that they sometimes see the pale form of gisela hovering above the castle, mingling her wails with the moanings of the storm."
"that's a very pretty story, and i suppose young ladies in that age were like those of the present," added paul. "perhaps more so, for now they don't throw themselves from walls into a damp river for such a cause."
"there's another castle!" exclaimed grace, pointing to the left.
"that is rheinstein, a castle which has been restored, and is the summer residence of a prussian prince. below the castle, where the road runs between the rock and the river, tolls were levied upon jews who passed that way. and it is even said that the collectors had little dogs trained to know a jew from a christian, and to seize him with their teeth."
castle-crowned heights succeeded each other in rapid succession; and in this part of the river they are so thick, that our students had to keep their eyes wide open in order to see them all. rocky steeps rose from the verge of the water; and wherever there was any soil, or any earth could find a resting-place, the spot was made into a vineyard. sometimes the vines have to be planted in baskets, while all the steep hillsides are terraced to the height of a thousand feet above the river. to reach these plats of ground, the peasants, male and female, must climb the steeps, and everything used there must be carried up on the shoulders. the vine-dressers are a very industrious people, and nothing but the most determined perseverance could induce them to cultivate these lofty artificial beds.
the towns on the banks of the rhine are picturesque, and one never tires of looking at them. indeed, half a dozen voyages down the rhine no more than enable the tourist to see all its wonders and all its beauties.
"stahlech castle," said dr. winstock, pointing to a ruin on the left. "it was the palace of the elector palatine. between the castle and the hill are the remains of st. werner's chapel. in the middle ages, it is said that the jews at oberwesel, farther down the river, crucified a christian named werner, and threw the body into the stream. instead of descending with the current, it was carried by a supernatural agency up the river, from which it was taken at bacharach, the town we are approaching, interred, and afterwards canonized. the chapel was built over the grave. doubtless the story was invented to afford a pretext to rob and persecute the hebrews, though in former ages such excuses seem to have been hardly needed."
"there is another castle in the river," said grace, as the boat left bacharach. "it is an odd-looking building."
"that is the pfalz, and the town on the right is caub. a toll was paid here by all vessels navigating the river. the duke of nassau inherited the right to levy this tax, and exercised the right to collect it, until three or four years ago. the pfalz was his toll-house. in the middle ages, thirty-two tolls were levied at the different stations on the river. schönberg castle is on the left. what does the word mean?"
"beautiful hill," replied grace.
"it is called so because the occupant had seven beautiful daughters, who were sad flirts. all the young knights in the vicinity were bewitched by their beauty, but they were so hard-hearted that they would accept none of them; and, as the penalty of their obduracy, they were changed into seven rocks, and planted in the middle of the river, where you will presently see them."
passing oberwesel and the seven sisters, the water was considerably agitated where the current had formerly produced a whirlpool, in its course among the rocks, which have now been removed by blasting. there was also a rapid just above it, and the place was very perilous for the long rafts, which were sometimes dashed to pieces upon the sunken rocks. the bank of the river on the right rises abruptly to a great height, and the precipice is called the lurlei. it has an echo which gives back fifteen repetitions of the original sound. it sometimes makes intelligent replies; and wicked students put to it the question, "who is the burgomaster of oberwesel?" to which it responds, "esel," which, in english, means an ass. the burgomaster intends to have it indicted for slander.
this echo, which repeats the sounds from below, and the wild character of the region, have produced a legend that the place is haunted by a beautiful but wicked water nymph, who lured the voyager, by her witching voice, to the rocks and the whirlpool, where his boat was dashed to pieces.
st. goar and st. goarhausen are opposite each other, on little shelves under the brow of the continuous range of hills which wall in the rhine for miles. the railroad extends along the left bank of the river, in the rear of which is rheinfels castle,—the most extensive ruin on the river,—nearly four hundred feet above the water. the mouse, on the other side, is supposed to have some unpleasant relations with the cat, farther up the stream. on the right, opposite the small town of salzig, are two twin castles, which go by the name of the brothers. their owners, bearing this relation to each other, unfortunately fell in love with the same beautiful lady, fought for her, and both were killed.
"this is boppart, a very old place, occupied by the romans," said dr. winstock, as the steamer made a landing. "you have noticed that the shelf of land on each side of the river, grows wider and the hills are farther from the stream. between this point and bingen, the rhine makes its passage through the mountains. some suppose the river, at a remote period, forced its way through the range, and formed the narrow gorge which we have passed, and that the country as far back as basle was a vast lake, for various sea shells and fossils are found there. marksburg castle, on your right, is very much like the one you saw at baden-baden; and a walk through its deep dungeons hewn out of the rock, its torture-rooms, and its subterranean galleries, is enough to inspire a sensation novel."
"dear me!" yawned grace, "i am almost tired of castles."
"i think captain shuffles is also," added paul. "i notice that he hardly looks at them. well, he has something better to look at."
"what?"
"lady feodora," laughed paul.
"the best way to go down the rhine, if one has the time, is to go from town to town by railway, and then pass through the region in a steamer, to put the effects together. i am sorry you are tired of it," said the surgeon.
"i enjoy the scenery, but i have had about castles enough for one day."
"there are not so many below coblenz. you have now 'done' the most beautiful portion of the river, and the trip to-morrow will be hardly more interesting than the same distance on the hudson."
the young people devoted some time to conversation with each other; but the doctor pointed out the königstuhl, where the seven electors used to sit, and where emperors were elected, and sometimes dethroned.
"lahnech castle has a peculiar interest," he continued, as he called the attention of the group to a château on the right. "it belonged to the order of knights templars, which was founded, in 1118, for the protection of pilgrims, and the defence of the holy sepulchre at jerusalem. the institution became renowned, and extended all over the world. it was very rich and powerful, and therefore disliked by the clergy, who finally overthrew it. those residing here were attacked in their castle, which was captured only after the last of its brave defenders had been slain. on the other side is stotzenfels, or proud rock—a title which it deserves. upon it is the beautiful château of the king of prussia."
a short time after, the steamer reached coblenz, where the excursionists were to spend the night.
