We left there at twelve A.M. and arrived at Schaffhausen at five P.M. Passengers dine on deck à la carte, and enjoy the varied views in passing.
I found great changes since my last visit to the falls of the Rhine. The huge rock upon which stands the castle, containing picture galleries, sale rooms and Camera Obscura, has been tunnelled, and the stone arches for the railroad bridge are being constructed across the river. We visited all the attractive points of view, and shortly after ferrying across with our light skiff, in the misty clouds of spray and the deafening roar, and getting in the large Hotel Webber, on the summit of the hill directly in front of the waterfall, there came up a severe thunderstorm, and in the dulness of the night, the repeated flashes of lightning lent additional interest to the scene. The weather cleared up, however, and the full moon’s rays gave us all the advantages of a night view. An hour’s ride brings one by diligence to the frontier of the Duchy of Baden, and seven hours more, to Freiburg, which is one of the cleanest towns I have met with. Streams of water course through all the streets. The Cathedral, built by the celebrated Erwin von Steinbach, the architect of the Strasburg edifice, with a tower almost as high as that of the Cathedral; the illuminated glass windows; things there attract even when one is fatigued with works of art.
Here we strike a lightning line, or “Schnell Zug,” which carries one to Baden-Baden.
This being my third visit, I was not induced to make a long sejour, but came by rail to Frankfort on the Main. I spent a day or two at Homburg, in the vicinity. My object was to get to this place to avail myself of the benefit of these waters for bathing and drinking; and here I am, up at six in the morning, and at the hot, boiling spring, guzzling my three or four glasses, at intervals of a short walk, with no lack of company. Then comes a bath, repose for a while, warmly covered, and afterwards a light breakfast. There are two table d’hôtes, at one and four P.M., and music in the morning at the Healing Fountain, and in the afternoon at the Kursaal, with its beautiful shady walks through the extended grounds.
CXIX.
Hanover, Nov. 15, 1856.
I came down the Rhine to Cologne and Dusseldorf, and took the road to Elberfeld, a large German manufacturing place, worth looking at. Its trade in woollen, cotton, and silk goods amounts annually to some twelve millions of our currency, and is well known to our importers.
The cross road took me to Dortmund, another manufacturing town, on the main road leading to this capital. Stopping at Ham, a branch road to the north conducted me to the old catholic city of Munster, which I had never seen, and gave me an opportunity of visiting some acquaintances with whom I had crossed the Atlantic. The gothic antiquated town hall of Munster, with its saloon, memorable for the Westphalian treaty in 1648, is of unusual interest, as well as its cathedral, three hundred and sixty feet long, and one hundred and twenty-five feet wide, with two towers. Upon the tower of the St. Lamberti church, two hundred feet high, were placed in three cages the corpses of the leaders of the rebellious Anabaptists. The arches and colonnades of the houses of the principal street are not unlike those of Bologna; they afford protection from sun and rain, and give the city a peculiar aspect. Munster has a population of twenty-five thousand. Many public and private literary and charitable institutions, and agreeable suburban walks, make it a pleasant residence.
A few hours ride brought me to the royal Prussian Salt Baths of Rehme, whose Director and wife I had promised on an ocean passage to call upon, should I ever find myself again in this part of Germany. The grounds are well laid out, and large improvements are in progress. The mineral salt works in the neighborhood are supplied with water from a depth of two thousand two hundred and fifty feet, sufficiently warm for the supply of the Baths. The season was about over, and most of the guests had departed.
An excursion to Minden, upon the river Weser, five hours from Bremen, with a population of twelve thousand; charming walks and drives in the vicinity, with old friends, with reminiscences of mutual dangers escaped at sea, and the occurrences and events of the interim; so a couple of days slipped by agreeably, and I found myself again on the road for this city, the residence of the King of Hanover, where I made a halt some two years since, of which I gave you some details at the time.