exists.
Here we noticed St. Werner's Church, a most superb ruin of the florid
Gothic. Those lancet-arched windows are the admiration of all who pass
by. Lorchausen is a small place, and just away from it are the ruins of
the Castle of Nollingen. On the other side, or right bank, are the ruins
of the old Keep Tower of Fuerstenberg, destroyed in 1689. Here we enter
on the region where the best Rhenish wine is produced. The Rheingau, or
valley of the river, is divided into upper and lower departments; and
from about Lorch, on the left bank, up to Biberich, are the choicest
vineyards. On our right lay the ruins of Heimberg, and the restored
Castle of Sonneck. Then comes old Falkenberg, and near to it is the
splendid Gothic Church of St. Clement. All these fortresses were the
abodes of wholesale highwaymen, and then might made right. Most of them
became such nuisances that, at the close of the thirteenth century, they
were hurled down, and their places made desolate. Here, too, is
Rheinstein, on the very bank of the river. Its early owner was hanged by
the Emperor Rudolph. One of the Prussian princes has fitted up the
fortress in magnificent style; and I learn that there is no palace in
Europe that can boast of such mediaeval splendor. Every thing that can
serve to illustrate the dark ages is carefully collected for this
charming spot, which seems a rival to Stolzenfels.

Just across, on the opposite bank, is Assmanshausen, famous for hot
baths and red wine. Here you see terrace upon terrace, up to the summits
of the hills; and some of these, the guide books say, are one thousand
or twelve hundred feet. You will often see fifteen or twenty of these
terraces supported by brick and stone fences, and the terrace is often
not more than six feet wide; and the soil and manure have all to be
carried up on the shoulders of the vine-dressers. The value of this
region-arises from its aspect, owing to the bend of the river, which
gives _this left bank, as you ascend_, a direct exposure to the sun at
midday.

The vintage of the Rhine, I am told, is generally gathered in during
October and November, but it is put off as late as possible. Grapes were
introduced here by the Romans.

We now came to Ehrenfels, in its venerable decay, the beautiful tower of
Rosel, and the ruins of Bromseberg; while on our right are the ruins of
Vautsberg, and just beyond we come upon "Bingen of the Rhine," at the
mouth of the Nahe; and close by is the cele