There was the rock upon which the Lorelei used to sit and comb her
golden hair, and sing her wondrous melodies, and lure men to
destruction? Near St. Graz, there have been and are, I suppose, Loreleis
enough in the world besides the famous maiden of the poem. We found an
admirable place for one, yesterday, on the top of the great rock that
stands quivering in the Falls of the Rhine. We had sent our heavy
luggage on to Zurich, with that wisdom which often characterizes us,
and, free as air except for hand-bags, went to see the Rhine Falls.
And first we saw Schaffhausen, which has a pretty, picturesque,
mediaeval air, as it lies among the hills and vineyards on the banks of
the Rhine. It has its old cathedral, with the celebrated bell cast in
1486, which bears the inscription that suggested to Schiller--as
everybody knows--his "Song of the Bell,"--"Vivas voco, mortuos plango,
fulgura frango"; but besides this there is not much to see except the
tranquil landscape, and that, fortunately, one does not lose by going
farther.
Most people are, I presume, disappointed in the Falls of the Rhine. At
least, I know that many of my own countrymen pronounce them not worth
seeing "after Niagara." But--dare I make this mortifying
confession?--what if it is not, "after Niagara"? What if Niagara is
still to you in the indefinite distance? It ought not to be, of course.
(We all know very well "nobody should go to Europe who has not seen
Niagara.") But what if it _is_? Under such circumstances may not one
find beauty here?
And even with the remembrance of Niagara clear in your mind, I do not
know why the Rhine Falls, so utterly different in character, may not
still be lovely.
Their height is estimated, including the rapids and whirlpools and all,
at about one hundred feet, which must be very generous measurement, and
they are three hundred and eighty feet broad. It may have been in part
owing to the exquisite atmosphere of the day we visited them, it may be
we expected too little on account of the tales our friends had told us,
but certainly we found them very lovely, and Nature seems to have given
their surroundings a peculiar grace. The shores are so extremely
pretty,--the high, bold cliff on one side, the soft green slopes on the
other; the row of tall, stiff poplars, that look as prim as the typical
New England housekeeper, and give the landscape that curiously neat
appearance, as if everything were swept and dusted. Then the rocks,
clothed with vines and moss and shrubs and little trees, rise with so
fine an effect in the midst of the white foaming waters.
We saw the falls from every point,--from above on the cliff; [what a
pity there isn't a fine old, tumble-down, "ivy-mantled tower" there,
instead of the painted, restaurant-looking Schloss Laufen!] from the
little pavilion and platform at the side, where the foam dashes all over
you, and you are deafened by the roar; from the top of the central rock
in the falls; and from the Neuhausen side.
To go from shore to shore, just below the falls, is really quite an
adventure. Your funny flat-boat careens about in the most eccentric and
inconsequent manner; the spray envelops you; it all looks very
dangerous, and is not in the least. Still more eventful is a voyage to
the central rock, after which our boatman fastens his skiff--which is a
broad-bottomed scow, to be exact, but skiff sounds more
poetical--securely. You alight on the wet stones, ascend the rough steps
cut in the rock, and feel that you are doing a novel and interesting
thing. On the top, amid the shrubs and vines, where the Lorelei ought to
be, is only an upright iron rod. From here we thought the falls were
seen to the best advantage, and it was a delightful experience to be so
near and yet so far,--to stand so securely amid the foaming, seething
mass, to be actually in the deafening roar. Mother Nature was in a
complacent mood when she placed those rocks in the midst of the mighty
waters. But no,--she placed the rocks there long ago, and merely brought
Father Rhine towards them in later days. So say the wise.
There were myriads of rainbows in the spray. On one side was brilliant
sunshine flashing on soft fields and vine-covered hills; on the other,
as a most effective background, against which the whiteness of the foam
shone out, low black thunderclouds. It was a singular picture, with its
strongly contrasting hues. We could not help being glad that we had
never seen Niagara, we found so much here to delight in.
But, friends, a word of advice that comes from depths of sad experience.
See Niagara before you come here. At least, read up Niagara. Be
perfectly able to answer all questions as to Niagara's height, breadth,
and volume, and the character of the emotions created in an appreciative
soul by seeing Niagara. If you cannot, you will suffer. Somebody will
ask you a Niagara question suddenly at a dinner-party, and you will
either reply with shame that you do not know, or with the courage of
despair you will make an utterly wild guess, and say something that
cannot possibly be true. There are a great many people in
Germany--extremely intelligent, and to whom it is a delight to
listen--who are wonders of information and appreciation when they talk
about German literature and German art; are also on easy terms with the
ancient Greeks, and possibly with Sanscrit; but when they approach
America it is as if that beloved land were an undiscovered country,--an
"unsuspected isle in far-off seas." The one thing they positively know
is that it has a Niagara. Therefore arm yourselves with formidable
statistics, and pass unscathed and victorious through the inevitable
volley of questions. Personally, I feel that I owe Niagara a never-dying
grudge; for, since the harrowing examinations of school committees in my
youthful days, never have I been subjected to catechisms so pertinacious
and embarrassing as this pride of our land has caused me. I have
succeeded at last in fixing the main figures in my memory, but am always
more or less nervous when the examination threatens to embrace the
adjacent country. If it advances like heavy battalions, I can calmly
meet it. But when it comes like light cavalry, is brilliant and inclined
to skirmish, I tremble.
It is also well--may I add, for the benefit of young women contemplating
a sojourn in Europe?--to know the population of your native town, its
area, its distance from the coast, the length of the river upon which it
is situated,--above all, its latitude and longitude. This last is of
incalculable importance. It is safe to assume that the elderly German
who doesn't instantly embark upon Niagara will eagerly plunge into
latitude and longitude. Perhaps you think you know all these things;
others equally confident have been rudely torn from their false
security. Of course it is what we all learned in the primary schools,
and we are expected to know it still; but it is astonishing what clouds
of uncertainty envelop the understanding when you are suddenly asked in
a foreign tongue, before eight or ten strangers, for the very simplest
facts. Men are so stupid about such things, you know! They never ask
where the May-flowers grow, where the prettiest walks are, where you
like to drive at sunset, from what point the light and shade on the
hills over the river is loveliest,--in fact, anything of real
importance; but always they demand these dreary statistics. Was there
never a great man who hated arithmetic?
At the Falls of the Rhine people, I regret to say, make money too
palpably. You buy a ticket of a young woman in a pavilion, and she says
it will take you over the foaming billows and back again. A man rows you
across,--or, rather, propels the boat in a remarkable manner to the
opposite shore,--when another man demands some more francs for allowing
you to stand on his platform, get very wet and very enthusiastic. You
ascend to Schloss Laufen, and pay a franc for looking at the Falls from
that point of view. Eager to see them from every possible place, you
come down and tell your ferryman to take you to the great rock, that
looks so tempting, so hazardous, so altogether enticing, with the foam
dashing against it. The boat, as it makes this passage, is the most
agitated object imaginable. You survey the Falls from the rock, and at
last are content. You gather a few leaves and some of the common flowers
that grow upon it, and you almost, from force of habit, give it also a
franc. Then the boat, with convulsive lurches and dippings and bobbings,
plunges through the rough waters, and finally you reach your original
point of embarkation. The ferryman, an innocent-looking blond,--your
innocent-looking blonds are invariably the worst kind of people to deal
with,--smilingly demands a fabulous number of francs, not alone because
he has taken you to the rock, which you knew was an extra, but for the
whole trip, for which you have already paid. You are afraid of losing
your train. Your friends are high on the bank, wildly beckoning, and
waving frantic handkerchiefs from afar. There is no time for
expostulation, and already fresh victims are filling the boat. You
mutter,--
"Take, O boatman, thrice thy fee,"
which would be a greater comfort if he understood English as well as he
does extortion, and then you climb the steep bank and hurry after the
retreating figures. You depart impressed with the magnitude of the Falls
of the Rhine, and quite conscious of a not insignificant fall of francs
in your purse.