celebrated Roman arched gate; but the lancet form would indicate a
later date. On our left, we came to a pleasantly-situated town, called
Neuwied, with some five thousand inhabitants. The streets lie wide; the
houses looked bright, and very much like those in an American town. Here
is a Moravian settlement. On our right is a cheerful little place,
called Weisenthurm, and an ancient tower stands near it. It is said that
here the Romans first made the crossing of this river. This was the spot
where General Hoch passed in 1797; and on a height, at this village, is
a monument to celebrate Hoch's achievement. Here we met with an enormous
raft; and I assure you, Charley, it was a sight. We had seen two or
three small ones before, but here was a monster. These rafts come from
the woods on the tributary rivers--the Moselle, Neckar, Maine, &c. These
prodigious flotillas are bound to Dordrecht, and are there broken up.
This one looked like a town. It had at least twenty-five huts, and some
of them tolerably large shanties; and I should think there were all of
three hundred and fifty persons upon it. On the raft were women,
children, cows, pigs, and sheep. This one was thought to be seven
hundred feet long and two hundred wide, at the least. On our left, as we
ascended the river, we now saw Sain and Muehlhofen, just at the point
where two small rivers enter the Rhine; and on a hill top are the ruins
of a castle of the Counts of Sain. Farther up is the quiet-looking
hamlet of Engers; and we pass the islands of Niederwoerth and Graswoerth.
On the former is a ruined convent, founded in 1242, and a population of
nearly seven hundred. They seem to have a fine old church. I very much
admired the village of Kesselhein, and I think it must be a charming
spot. Close by it is the Palace of Schoenbornhest, where the Bourbon
family retreated at the revolution in the last century. It is now sadly
dilapidated. Just as we were looking at Nuendorf, on our right, we were
all called, by a bend in the river, to gaze on the giant rock of
Ehrenbreitstein, bristling to its very summit with fortifications. O,
how it towers up, and smiles or frowns--which you please--upon Coblentz,
sweetly reposing on the banks of the Rhine and the Moselle! I think the
view from the deck of the steamer, up and down the river, and on each
side, is the noblest panoramic view that I have seen. Just before us is
a bridge of boats, which connects the fortress with Coblentz; and,