Octavius Rooke

“ There is a fine view from the cliffs behind the cloister, and the walk hence to Beilstein is very agreeable, as the banks are all richly wooded, and of a great height.
The river winds on past many a hamlet and burg; the forests and vines succeed to each other; islands are passed, and the scene constantly changes; spires rise among trees, old houses peep forth, cattle wade in the stream, and our little skiff glides along until Beilstein Castle appears, so beautifully placed, and so charmingly surrounded by forest, that we at once stay the course of our boat, and pull out our sketch-books. ”

“ Autumn had long been turning the green leaves to gold. A tinge of yellow first appeared upon the trees; then warmer and brighter grew the foliage; the vintage came and ended; the corn-harvest was long stored away, and, like the Roman Empire, more gorgeous in decay than in its prime. The forest stood crowned with a thousand hues,—crowned like a sacrifice of old [262] prepared for death,—prepared to offer up at Nature’s shrine the loveliness she gave.
The most gorgeous of the seasons, Autumn is still the saddest. We look on the fallen leaves and think of friends departed ”

“ Past little islands, and through rich fields filled with garden produce, we glide on, following the serpentine course of our river. The wood-embosomed villages peep at us as we go by, each group of houses has its church rising in the midst: gradually the banks grow steeper, hills swell up inland, and here and there come down to look on the Moselle. These reconnoiterers retire, and having told their chiefs of the approach of the glorious stream, at Trittenheim we find the right bank covered with mountain-giants, come to do homage to the spirit of the waters. ”

“ By the Moselle we have found flowers growing, beautiful in their forms and colours, but more beautiful in their uncultured wildness; we have listened to the songs of the gay birds as we rested in the woods; the clouds have fleeted through the pure blue vault, rain has freshened earth and sun has ripened her fruits: all these, and many other incidents, have striven to teach us to love and reverence the great heart of Nature; that heart which, if the Painter, with all his skill of colour or of handiwork, fail to express, he sinks back into the mere copyist ”

“ Life is a pilgrimage indeed, but not a joyless one. While the whole earth and sky teem with glory and beauty, are we to believe that these things may not be enjoyed? Our conscience answers, No; rightly to enjoy, and rightly to perform our duties, with thankfulness, and praise, and love within our hearts, such is our part to perform, and such the lesson we are taught by the fairy of the sweet Moselle. ”

“ Our hearts to where, with thankfulness, we learn
That, as the Spring and Summer cold succeed,
And morning to the night,
So will His mercy wandering footsteps lead
From darkness into light.
Between Cobern and Winningen our river makes its last great bend at a point where a splendid mass of rock towers up on the left bank. It is the last of the Eifel family of Giants we encounter; for, beyond Winningen, the scenery on that side becomes softer in character, smaller hills become undulations, and then, as we get close to Coblence, these slope into the garden with which the plain is covered. ”

“ Perhaps the greatest charm of all in descending our river is the absence of those swarms of mere sight-seers who infest the Rhine,—the trifling discomforts of a more unfrequented route being sufficient to deter these garrulous butterflies from “doing” the Moselle; and as yet Murray has not given in detail the number of turrets to each castle on this river, for eager watchers to “tell off” as the steamer breasts the stream. Still it is remarkable how few of all those that pass the mouth of the Moselle at Coblence ascend its waters. ”

“ Night is in the heavens, the still cold night of winter; the stars look down upon us with their eyes of love; the great fortress of Ehrenbreitstein looms hugely over the Rhine stream, telling of war and horrid strife, but on the shore of the Moselle rises a fair church, telling of peace. The fortress shall crumble and decay, but the church shall, in the end, remain when all else has passed away. ”

“ Nestled under the side of the hill on which the great castle of Thuron stands, this little chapel, with its sharp-pointed spire, is in fine contrast to the huge cliff and massive walls; but there is a look of age about it and the old houses near which renders the whole scene in perfect keeping.
On leaving the river to explore our way up to Thuron, we enter one of those beautiful valleys into which the hills so constantly break; a clear trout-stream runs through it, and the mountains close it in on all sides. ”

“ How she touches our hearts, and teaches us the truth; while human eloquence, with all its art, fails to impress or rouse us from our state of apathy! What lessons may be learnt, what blessings gained, in a summer’s ramble by rivers’ banks, and through the mighty forest, where the silence is more eloquent than words; or on the mountain-tops, where earth seems already left behind, and the sky appears almost within our reach!
A little below Pommern, where a large island ends, we crossed to Treis, and went through the meadow valley to the base of the rock on which Treis Castle stands. ”

“ What enjoyment there is in finding one’s self free to climb and saunter amidst delicious scenery! Now we walk briskly along, returning the “Guten tag” of the ever-polite peasants, who enunciate this phrase from the bottom of their throats. The guten is not heard at all, and the tag sounds as if, in the endeavour to swallow the word, the performer choked, and was obliged, when half-strangled, to gasp it out.
At midday we halt, and luxuriate over our hard-boiled eggs and bread and cheese, with green cloth ready spread, and gushing stream sparkling from the rock. ”

“ On this elevated table-land a refreshing breeze blows, even on the most sultry days, and the tender blue lines of the receding hills give an air of coolness which is delicious to the heated pedestrian. Such variety of scenery as the walking tourist meets on the Moselle is scarcely to be exceeded; hill and dale, mountain, river, wood, and plain, all are there combining their charms. ”

“ There is a round tower above, and lines of poplars reach out of the town; the mountain overhead is full of ravines, and bushes of stunted growth here and there appear on the surface. A little higher up stream, where the river turns round, resuming her course to the north, the hills are most beautiful; for, covered with trees, the shadows as the day lengthens creep on, and break into masses the huge cliffs and sons of the forest.
Zell is renowned for the bravery of its inhabitants, which at one time had passed into a proverb. ”

“ If then thou truly lovest me, and earnestly fulfillest the work appointed thee to do, faithfully and steadfastly pursuing the straight path in life, then will I, when thy years are full, receive thee in my arms, for so only canst thou gain perpetual youth and be a fit associate for even such as I, who am but a handmaiden of the Queen Moselle, who herself is but one of the lesser Spirits of the Universe. Go, and be just, and honourable, and brave; be kind to all, and liberal to the poor ”

“ Occasionally we pass a heap of fresh-cut wood, and across our path lie huge trunks of the fallen forest giants; a resinous odour is strongly mixed with the scent of the wild flowers,—one flower, from which the mountain bees make their delicious honey, is peculiarly fragrant and very frequent; occasionally the rivulet is quite hid by the luxuriant carpets of the false forget-me-not that line its banks.
At length we pass from the forest to the cultivated land: the little valley opens into a wider one, which is surrounded by mountains of diverse forms steeped in sunlight ”

“ The whole course of the Moselle is more or less sheeted with vineyards. Wherever a shelf of rock is accessible, or can be made so, there are the vines. Within the old walls of the mouldering castles are vineyards; upon the nearly level ground are fields of vines; hanging from every wall, and climbing round every window, are the rich green leaves and graceful tendrils of this wine-giving plant. ”

“ We wander along amid its ever-varying scenery with that delight which novelty always gives. At every turn new views break upon [158] us; at every step something calls our attention; now it is a flower, then a rock, and again a castle, a group of old houses or trees, or perhaps a little gay boat adorned with boughs of trees, in which children, celebrating a holiday, are singing: so we wander on, and find at midday that, owing to the many detentions caused by these things, and the frequent sketches the beauty of the localities have compelled us to make, we have progressed but little on our road. ”

“ From Bussang to Remiremont our infant stream gurgles plashingly along; sometimes it conceals itself in little tranquil pools, where the large trout lie deep beneath the roots of the overshadowing trees; sometimes it falls with a gentle splash over an obstruction, leaping, as we do in early life, over all difficulties with a smile, even seeming to enjoy that which at a maturer age too often frets and chafes us, though we conceal our chagrin under an unruffled surface. ”

“ Lying, as she does, within a district absolutely overrun with summer-tourists, it is altogether inexplicable that a river presenting scenery unsurpassed in Europe should be so neglected by those who in thousands pass the mouth of her stream. When the Roman Poet Ausonius visited Germany, it was not the Rhine, but the Moselle which most pleased him; and although glorious Italy was his home, yet he could spare time to explore the Moselle, and extol the loveliness of her waters in a most eloquent poem. ”

“ And so, our graceful woman-stream at Trèves ceases her girlhood and becomes more beautiful, more reflective, and more graceful; the hills draw near, and the vineyards sparkle among the rocks; her handmaidens, the brooks, wait at every turn to tend her, increasing her beauty; and following in her train, pass along in glorious procession, the trees bending and the rocks falling back before the might of innocence and love. ”

“ Through the ruined window-arches the river is seen, and the town is immediately under us: vines cover one side of the steep hill, and a little chapel nestles itself into a corner where the rock shelters it from stones; above rise the mountains, covered with cherry and other trees to near the top, where young oaks supersede the less hardy fruit-trees: a soft green lawn fills the space surrounded by the outworks of the castle; [214] in the centre stands the massive keep, beside which is a smaller tower, and in the distance, Winneburg is greyly visible. ”

“ The hill called Brauneberg is now passed; the vineyards on it produce a fine wine, called by its name.
At Muhlheim we must leave our river for a time, and explore the charming valley of Veldenz, with its ruined castle placed on the summit of a richly-wooded hill. The walk there is through miles of vineyards edged with fruit-trees, and the valley below the castle is emerald with well-watered grass.
The hills are a mass of forest, and the variously-shaped houses, which are dropped at uncertain intervals along the bubbling stream, form a pleasant picture of rural beauty. ”

“ The peasant women, in great straw hats or little close caps, work hard amidst the fields storing the hay crop; the oxen yoked together munch their fill of sweet fresh grass, that has grown in the well-watered meadows; round them the children play, piling the hay upon each other until, overcome by the heat, they hasten off to bathe in our cool stream.
Here, at a short distance above Remiremont, is the confluence of two branches of our river; and river the Moselle now becomes. ”

“ At the end of the Marienburg promontory, round which we are now passing, is the village of Kaimt, and on the opposite shore stands the bright town of Zell.
Zell is a flourishing place, extending along the bank of the river; its general aspect is cheerful and new, but here and there an old house with little quaint pinnacles reminds us of the age of the place. These little old houses seem squeezed into corners by the pretentious new-comers, whose elbows push into the ribs of the poor old fellows, until their timbers or ribs are bulged out by the pressure. ”

“ Great peaks of jagged rock start out of the green hills that surround Burg Veldenz. The stream at its base glitters through the foliage; and the neat, well-kept farm-houses (unusual in this part) that are sprinkled through the valley, make “Thal Veldenz” a perfect Arcadia.
Re-embarking at Muhlheim, and continuing our descent of the river, into which three or four streams now now from the side-valleys, we soon get a sight of the ruined castle above Berncastel, and rounding the island opposite to Cus, the town itself, with its picturesque houses and towers, comes into view. ”

“ Passing out of Cochem, as we continue on our flowery path, we find ourselves in the shade of the Kreuzberg mountain: it is covered with vineyards, which produce a small quantity of excellent wine.
The next town is Clotten; between it and Cochem a fine range of rocky precipices form an amphitheatre, that dwarfs even the gigantic works of the old Romans. What ants we appear when from a rock we look down on our human mole-hills! ”