Frowns o’er the wide and winding Rhine
Whose breast of waters broadly smiles
Between the banks which bear the vine;
And hills all rich with blossom’d trees,
And fields which produce corn and wine,
And scatter’d cities crowning these,
Whose far white walls along them shine,
Have strew’d a scene which I should see
With double joy wert thou with me.”
We land at Konigswinter (King’s Winter), and ascend the bluff, nine hundred and eighty feet above the Rhine, to the Castle of Drachenfels, or dragon’s rock. This Castle commands the most extensive view of any on the Rhine. In descending, we visit the curious cave which, according to a mythical story, was once the dwelling-place of a huge serpent who jealously guarded the pass and allowed no one to ascend the cliff. A brave knight slew the dragon, and after bathing himself in its blood, became invulnerable and mighty in strength. He then built the Castle on the uplifted rock, and made himself lord of the surrounding country.