rivals
and enemies by poison and sorcery. They may perhaps form a suitable
subject for a separate paper.

A NIGHT IN A GERMAN WOOD.

So numerous are the forests here which grow in lofty and romantic
sites, that a very extensive and interesting tour might be made,
having them alone for its object. Such fascinating excursions should
not, however, be embarked in without a guide, or a compass at the
least; for these German woods are often very intricate, and run into
one another in a most puzzling manner. This I learned to my cost a few
months ago; and as a warning to other pedestrian tourists who may be
as unpractised in such matters as I myself then was, I would now
bespeak the reader's attention to my experiences of A Night in a
German Wood.

Early in the autumn of the past year, whilst on a visit to a German
friend who resides in one of the hilliest and best-wooded districts in
Westphalia, on the confines of the classic Teutoburger Forest--after
having been engaged nearly all the day in writing, I was tempted out
by the freshness of the evening air and the glories of the setting
sun, to take a turn in the park, which, by the by, is one of the
handsomest and best laid out I have seen in any part of the continent,
and a proof in itself that such things can be done--and well done
too--even out of England. My intention was merely to stretch my
cramped legs by a stroll to the southern angle of the demesne, and so
be back in time for the quiet, early supper of the family. After
moving along for a quarter of an hour under the shade of some fine old
beech-trees, at the foot of a steep bank which overhangs the level
meadow-ground, I came upon the outskirts of the plantations; and then
turning sharp to the left, walked up along them till I had reached, as
I thought, their extremity. Here, facing round, I began to turn my
steps homeward; and by way of varying my route a little, struck into a
shady path cut through the wood, which seemed to lead, as well as I
could judge from my bearings, almost as directly back to the
_schloss_--as all great country mansions here are called--as the one
by which I had gone out. But after pushing rapidly along for some time
in my dusky alley, I eventually emerged, much to my surprise, on an
immense ploughed field, that, sloping gradually up to the spot where
the sun had just set, seemed to terminate only with the visible
horizon, which, however, from the very inclined angle at which the