. First impressions of Europe. e above another, form-ing irregular striw along the steep slopes. Whereverforests are cleared, and the soil is not denuded, appearthe terrace and vine. Opposite Bingen rises a greatbare hill, treeless and shrubless, where this peculiarcultivation extends to the very summit; and halfwayup, of stone of like color with the terraces, stands afine old ruin, fairly saturated with poetic in the crimson sunset glow, the whole land-scape creates the dreamy impression that you must beon Mars, or some other strange planet. At Bingen,so delightfully situat
. First impressions of Europe. e above another, form-ing irregular striw along the steep slopes. Whereverforests are cleared, and the soil is not denuded, appearthe terrace and vine. Opposite Bingen rises a greatbare hill, treeless and shrubless, where this peculiarcultivation extends to the very summit; and halfwayup, of stone of like color with the terraces, stands afine old ruin, fairly saturated with poetic in the crimson sunset glow, the whole land-scape creates the dreamy impression that you must beon Mars, or some other strange planet. At Bingen,so delightfully situated, the Rhine-gorge ends, and theriver suddenly expands, becoming bounded by lowlands,with distant hills, yet retaining much beauty. BelowCoblence black volcanic basalts, rifted, fissured andmarkedly columnar, largely compose the Rhine cliffs,a formation conducive to picturesqueness and fertility,and probably contemporaneous with the Giants Cause-way and the Hudson Palisades. The St. John or Hudson, in exceptional parts, might. The Rhine 55 rival the Rhine if restored to its purely natural state,but, as it is, probably no other river so perfectly com-bines enchanting scenery with human interest. More-over, the Rhine, in its castellated portion, is a trueriver, while the St. John below Gagetown, and the Hud-son below Troy, are, strictly speaking, estuaries. Ariver may, like the Saguenay, be impressive to the vergeof awe, yet withal monotonous; but on the Rhine notwo views correspond. Sharp and frequent bendsalways bring out the serrated contours in fine reliefand afford many contrasting views of the same towns and villages big and little, which nestlesnugly under the cliffs or cover picturesque intervales,usually contain one or more old stone watch-towers ofNorman aspect, and ecclesiastical edifices, some yet inuse, others exhibiting tottering walls and brokenGothic windows. Some Rhine slopes are whollywooded. Of the castles, a few are surrounded by trueforest, others
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