of St. John. Here the river is wide again,—perhaps two thousand fire hundred feet,—and we begin to see fine meadows. This is where Prince Metternich has his seat, where once was a priory, and various have been its vicissitudes. In 1816, it was given to Metternich by the Emperor of Austria. The mountain contains only seventy-five acres, and the choicest wine comes only from vines growing near the castle, on the crown of the bill. The wine of the village is very inferior to that of this estate. The place has but few inhabitants—say five or eight hundred. The house is white, and not very castle-like. The grape is called the Riesslingen.
Here we found several islands. Erbach and Hattenheim are both famous for vineyards, and between them grows the famous Marcobrünner; and the Steinberg vineyard, a fortune to the Duke of Nassau, lies upon a slope of the hill close to the convent, of Eberbach or Erbach. This convent was founded in 1131, but is now a lunatic asylum. The churches here are very fine. Opposite the shore lies Rhine Island, and forms a noble park. Walluff, with few inhabitants, is regarded as the commencement of the Rheingau, or wine district, along which we had coasted. Biberich, on the duchy of Nassau, now comes upon our view; and the noble château of the duke presents one of the finest mansions on the river. Here some of our passengers left for Frankfort, and took the rail; but we wished to see Mayence, and so went in the boat. The city looks finely, and its red towers and steeples make quite a show. This city belongs to the Duke of Hesse Darmstadt, and is garrisoned by Austrians and Prussians, in equal force, generally eight or ten thousand. Exclusive of these, the population is nearly forty thousand. We walked about, and looked at the fine Cathedral, which was sadly shut up by houses and shanties. It was too late to enter it. You may be sure, Charley, that we found out the monument to John Guttemberg, the inventor of movable types. It is of bronze, and was designed by Thorwaldsen, and stands in front of the Theatre, once a university. After perambulating the town till weary, we came to the bridge of boats, sixteen hundred and sixty-six feet long, and which connects Mayence with Cassel, a strongly fortified place, where the railroad depot is located. At this bridge are several boat mills, or tide mills, where grain is ground by the tidal action. They look strangely, but work well. On the bridge we met many Austrian officers in rich uniforms, most of them young, and, I thought, very aristocratical in their bearing. Our dinner on board the boat was as profuse as the day before; and I must not forget to tell you that we had an English lordling, son of a former premier, on board, with his lady, on their matrimonial tour. He was the worst-mannered young man that I have seen in Europe; and when he had ogled the company sufficiently with his glass, and manifested his contempt pretty plainly, he and his betook themselves to the interior of his carriage. He was quite young, and may grow better behaved. We took the ears at dark, and after riding twenty-two miles found ourselves at Frankfort, having passed through Hochheim, where the vineyards are so costly that the railroad company had to pay well for the passage-way. Here we put up at the Hotel Angleterre. Forgive this long letter; but I could not well shorten it, and I want you to know just what we saw.
Always yours,
james.
Letter 42.
Strasburg.
Dear Charley:—