Borders of the Rhine.--Richly picturesque road from Bonn to
Andernach.--Scheme for a floating village.--Coblentz.--A winding
valley.--The river Lahn.--Ems.--The planet.--A supposed
Apparition.--A little sequestered Paradise.
July 11, 1780.
Let those who delight in picturesque country repair to the borders of
the Rhine, and follow the road from Bonn to Coblentz. In some places it
is suspended like a cornice above the waters; in others, it winds behind
lofty steeps and broken acclivities, shaded by woods and clothed with an
endless variety of plants and flowers. Several green paths lead amongst
this vegetation to the summits of the rocks, which often serve as the
foundation of abbeys and castles, whose lofty roofs and spires, rising
above the cliffs, impress passengers with ideas of their grandeur, that
might probably vanish upon a nearer approach. Not choosing to lose any
prejudice in their favour, I kept a respectful distance whenever I left
my carriage, and walked on the banks of the river.
Just before we came to Andernach, an antiquated town with strange
morisco-looking towers, I spied a raft, at least three hundred feet in
length, on which ten or twelve cottages were erected, and a great many
people employed in sawing wood. The women sat spinning at their doors,
whilst their children played among the water-lilies that bloomed in
abundance on the edge of the stream. A smoke, rising from one of these
aquatic habitations, partially obscured the mountains beyond, and added
not a little to their effect.
Altogether, the scene was so novel and amusing, that I sat half an hour
contemplating it from an eminence under the shade of some leafy walnuts;
and should like extremely to build a moveable village, people it with my
friends, and so go floating about from island to island, and from one
woody coast of the Rhine to another. Would you dislike such a party? I
am much deceived, or you would be the first to explore the shady
promontories beneath which we should be wafted along.
But I do not think you would find Coblentz, where we were obliged to
take up our night’s lodging, much to your taste. It is a mean, dirty
assemblage of plastered houses, striped with paint, and set off with
wooden galleries, in the delectable taste of old St. Giles’s. Above, on
a rock, stands the palace of the Elector, which seems to be remarkable
for nothing except situation. I did not bestow many looks on this
structure whilst ascending the mountain across which our road to Mayence
conducted us.
July 12.--Having attained the summit, we discovered a vast, irregular
range of country, and advancing, found ourselves amongst downs purpled
with thyme and bounded by forests. This sort of prospect extending for
several leagues, I walked on the turf, and inhaled with avidity the
fresh gales that blew over its herbage, till I came to a steep slope
overgrown with privet and a variety of luxuriant shrubs in blossom. A
cloudless sky and bright sunshine made me rather loth to move on; but
the charms of the landscape, increasing every instant, drew me forward.
I had not gone far, before a winding valley discovered itself, inclosed
by rocks and mountains clothed to their very summits with the thickest
woods. A broad river, flowing at the base of the cliffs, reflected the
impending vegetation, and looked so calm and glassy that I was
determined to be better acquainted with it. For this purpose we
descended by a zigzag path into the vale, and making the best of our way
on the banks of the Lahn (for so is the river called) came suddenly upon
the town of Ems, famous in mineral story; where, finding very good
lodgings, we took up our abode, and led an Indian life amongst the wilds
and mountains.
After supper I walked on a smooth lawn by the river, to observe the moon
journeying through a world of silver clouds that lay dispersed over the
face of the heavens. It was a mild genial evening; every mountain cast
its broad shadow on the surface of the stream; lights twinkled afar off
on the hills; they burnt in silence. All were asleep, except a female
figure in white, with glow-worms shining in her hair. She kept moving
disconsolately about; sometimes I heard her sigh; and if apparitions
sigh, this must have been an apparition.
July 13.--The pure air of the morning invited me abroad at an early
hour. Hiring a skiff, I rowed about a mile down the stream, and landed
on a sloping meadow, level with the waters, and newly mown. Heaps of hay
still lay dispersed under the copses which hemmed in on every side this
little sequestered paradise. What a spot for a tent! I could encamp here
for months, and never be tired. Not a day would pass by without
discovering some untrodden pasture, some unsuspected vale, where I might
remain among woods and precipices lost and forgotten. I would give you,
and two or three more, the clue of my labyrinth: nobody else should be
conscious even of its entrance. Full of such agreeable dreams, I rambled
about the meads, scarcely aware which way I was going; sometimes a
spangled fly led me astray, and, oftener, my own strange fancies.
Between both, I was perfectly bewildered, and should never have found
my boat again, had not an old German naturalist, who was collecting
fossils on the cliffs, directed me to it.
When I got home it was growing late, and I now began to perceive that I
had taken no refreshment, except the perfume of the hay and a few wood
strawberries; airy diet, you will observe, for one not yet received into
the realms of Ginnistan.