Charles Eastlake

“ Muggendorf is in the heart of Franconian Switzerland, and is often made the rendezvous for tourists. In addition to the lovely scenery by which it is surrounded, it is famous for a cave called the Rosenmüller’s Höhle, which they say is interesting to the geologist. But a far more remarkable feature in this neighbourhood is the Riesenburg, or Giant’s Castle, an enormous natural vault, intersected by arches formed by the decomposition of the rock. It is open at the top, like the Pantheon at Rome, and is surrounded by crags and rugged soil. ”

“ Such is the view which the inmates of the Golden Kreutz have before them every fine summer’s evening as they pace the terrace in front of their hotel after supper. That meal usually consists of trout, the ubiquitous veal cutlet, and the beer of the country, which has a peculiar smoky flavour not unlike that of Irish whisky, and rather unpalatable until one is accustomed to it. The trout is much larger than our own, though not so delicate in flavour. ”

“ With a skilful tug at the reins, and a vigorous application of the butt-end of the whip in the neighbourhood of the crupper, he sets us en route again, jolting and tumbling over ruts and stones until we come in sight of Streitberg, where a strong pull up a tough bit of hill lands us in front of the hotel, wondering that the wheels of our carriage, fore and aft, have held on so long together. ”

“ Lichens, ferns, and tufts of grass are plentifully scattered, and spring from crevices in the rock, and the sun gleams in through little chinks, casting purple shadows here and there, across which long green lizards dart at the first approach of footsteps, and scramble out of sight. ”

“ Look on the grim old mountains,
⁠And learn of them repose,
They flame in the Morgen-glimmer,
⁠But never melt their snows.
X.
To them we seem no stronger
⁠Than foam on a wintry sea;
Our lives will soon be covered
⁠By the snows of eternity. ”

“ The male portion of the audience lounge smoking at the entrance door which opens on the terrace. The non-performing ladies—at least those who can, for their crinolines are beyond belief and almost beyond control—sit down and knit. ”

“ Those to whom time and economy are objects, will find it more accessible and infinitely cheaper than Switzerland. Five francs a day will cover the traveller’s expenses at the inns of Muggendorf or Streitberg, and it is even possible to live for less, en pension, at a lodging-house. ”

“ Hard by the inn lives the doctor. It is the business of this gentleman to attend those patients who believe in the Molkenkur, or efficacy of whey in cases of indisposition (chiefly ennui with the ladies) . The doctor is the general friend and confidant of all the visitors. He sits at the head of the table d’hôte, and has a pleasant word or a prescription for everybody. He is something of an artist: he is something of an angler: he is something of a naturalist, and has a wonderful taste for shells and fossils. ”

“ Accidents of colour, form, and composition, which delight the artist’s eye, are here in all variety, and have this advantage over the details of most landscape, that for the most part they are upon unbeaten ground, at least by English painters. ”

“ On the road to Rabenstein there is a little wirtschaft, or beershop, where we stayed to lunch, and the owner of which was one of those insatiable old ladies who, come of what nation they may, look upon the rest of mankind, and tourists in particular, as their legitimate prey, from whom the greatest bonus of remuneration is expected in return for the least possible amount of civility. ”

“ Some of them taper like huge obelisks, others resemble elongated cromlechs, and seem to rest on such slight foundations, that nothing but long acquaintance with the genius loci would allow one to forget the apparent danger which they threaten. ”

“ I do not say that these warriors, as a class, are such fine gentlemen as those who lounge in Hyde Park, and, strange as it may sound in English ears, they are rarely seen out of uniform, but they are good soldiers, with a keen sense of discipline ”

“ Unfortunately for her, a German friend who was with me took her at her word, coolly pocketed the money, and drove off. As we returned that day the carriage stopped by the house, and she assailed us again, but in a different tone. She had discovered that she was a poor woman, that times were bad, and that she had a large family. Finally, she said that she would be very glad to take what we had offered. At first my German friend was inexorable, and, indeed, would have driven off without giving her a kreuzer, if I had not begged that this argumentum ad misericordiam might prevail. ”