Kaub, a Palatine town on the right bank of the river, is also
fortified, and claims a toll upon the Rhine, notwithstanding its
neighbourhood to Bacharach; an oppression, of which the expence is
almost the least inconvenience, for the toll-gatherers do not come to
the boats, but demand, that each should stop, while one at least of
the crew goes on shore, and tells the number of his passengers, who
are also sometimes required to appear. The officers do not even think
it necessary to wait at home for this information, and our boatmen
had frequently to search for them throughout the towns. So familiar,
however, is this injustice, that it never appeared to excite surprise,
or anger. The boatman dares not proceed till he has found and
satisfied the officers; nor has he any means of compelling them to be
punctual. Ours was astonished when we enquired, whether the merchants,
to whom such delays might be important, could not have redress for
them.
The stay we made at Kaub enabled us, however, to perceive that fine
slate made a considerable part of its traffic.
The Rhine, at Bacharach and Kaub, is of great breadth; and the dark
mountains, that ascend from its margin, form a grand vista, with
antient chateaux still appearing on the heights, and frequent villages
edging the stream, or studded among the cliffs.
Though the district of the Rheingau, the vines of which are the most
celebrated, terminated some miles past, the vineyards are scarcely
less abundant here, covering the lower rocks of the mountains, and
creeping along the fractures of their upper crags. These, however,
sometimes exhibit huge projecting masses and walls of granite, so
entire and perpendicular, that not an handful of soil can lodge for the
nourishment of any plant. They lie in vast oblique strata; and, as in
the valley of Andernach, the angles of the promontories on one shore of
the river frequently correspond with the recesses on the other.