ween
the captain and their daughter, and they separated only when it was
time to retire.

After breakfast the next morning, Professor Mapps had something to say
about Cologne, and with the consent of Herr Deitzman, the landlord, it
was said in the coffee-room.

"As many of you do not study German, you would not know what was meant
by the name of the city if you saw it printed in that language," the
professor began. "It is written Koeln, with the _umlaut_, or diaeresis,
over the vowel, which gives it a sound similar to, but not the same as,
the _e_ in the word _met_. It is the third city of Prussia, Berlin and
Breslau alone being larger, and has a population of one hundred and
twenty thousand. On the opposite bank of the Rhine is Deutz, with which
Cologne is connected by an iron bridge and by a bridge of boats. The
former is a grand structure, and worthy of your attention.

"Cologne was originally a colony of Rome, from which comes its name.
Portions of walls built by the Romans will be pointed out to you, and
in the Museum are many relics of the same ancient origin. Agrippina,
the mother of Nero, was born here, her father, the Emperor Germanicus,
being a resident of Cologne at the time. Trajan was here when he was
called to the throne. Clovis was declared king of the Franks at
Cologne. In the fourteenth century it was the most flourishing city of
Northern Europe, and one of the principal depots of the Hanseatic
League, of which I spoke to you on a former occasion. It was called the
Rome of the North, and many Italian customs, such as the carnival, are
still retained in Cologne, though in no other city of this part of
Europe. Several causes--the principal of which was the closing of the
Rhine by the Dutch in the sixteenth century--nearly destroyed the
commercial importance of the place; but the river was opened in 1837
and the city is now growing rapidly.

"One of the principal objects of interest in Cologne is the great
cathedral, called in German the _Domkirche_. It is one of the largest
churches in the world, and if completed on the original plan, it will
rival St. Peter's at Rome. It is five hundred and eleven feet long by
two hundred and thirty-one feet wide. The choir is one hundred and
sixty-one feet high. It has two towers in process of erection, which
will be five hundred feet high, if they are ever completed. It was
commenced in the year 1248, and the work went on, with occasional
interruptions, till about