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    ^3 THE JL JEABI! R. [No. 382, Sattfuday,

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    LAKE JSTGAMI. Lake Naomi; or, Exploratio...

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    Sight-Seeing In Germany. Siyht-Seeing In...

    of a aiaale morning is an odious and stultifying process , and ± hat to . cany a & S 5 ^ tS ^ KwiS- & rIin beautiful , " and apparently * toSo ^^ Tto ^ dmire them and make a list of their subjects ( he has a ST &« iiUy 5 br making lists ) , that he had no time to notice the grand Iromreioraes in-front of the Schloss . . ^ However 'the preface claims for the volume no higher character than that -of a ^ err simile record of the author ' s travelling experience , and as such we may commend it to -the notice of those persons Tvhoare bent on accom-^; Aw »» inn < rftroiite as Sir John Forbes ' s in as short a space of time .

    That route of which he has given an excellent , map , lay from Aix-la-Cha-. pelle to Leipzig , from Leipzig to Berlin , from Berlin to Dresden , Prague , and Vienna From Vienna he went down the Danube to Pestli , which was -the extreme point of his route , and , returning to Vienna the next day , went up the Danube by steamer to Linz and Passau . Then by " Stellwagen to Salzbure , whence he proceeded by a circuit through the Tyrol to Augsburg and Munich . Next , to Nuremberg , Baireuth , Frankfort , Worms , and Speyer A magnificent tour ! And we have no doubt that in his proper person , Sir John Forbes would be the -most satisfactory companion on a light-seeing scamper—always in time for railway and steamer , always able -to make up his mind as well as his luggage at the right moment , always -vigorous , alwavs awake . It is amusing to imagine such a man allowing lamself to be taken in tow by some deliberate Germans , who have quite a ^ different way of enjoying " die schone Natur . " Any one who has travelled in . Gtenaanyjoan fill . up the details of the following sketch : —

    At the request of some German gentlemen whom I met at the village , I agreed to join their party on the lake , and left the arrangements to them . They chose a very comfortable but most clumsy and heavy boat , which , though rowed by three women ^ nd one man , allowed itself to be passed by all the smaller boats that left the shore long -after us . The fare was & $ gulden . In returning , also , my companions thought it necessary to have a substantial dinner after their . labours , and . accordingly detained the boat more than an hour at St . Bartholoma . The loss of time by- these dilatory . proceedings prevented me accomplishing my original purpose of visiting Hallein , by tossing the i intervening ridge of mountains , and also procrastinated my return to Salzburg by some hours . No doubt the German gentlemen were quite right in tafedng jtihiiogs easy ; it was my fault , or misfortune , not to be able to do so , and Jheyefoie "we were Hi-assorted companions . '* : & foreigner would think it characteristic of the Englishman that Sir John Forbes notes this adventure in his table of contents as " Evils of Sociality kx Travellers . " . . . . , .. ¦ .. < intimatednot that of

    Such value as this volume possesses is , as we have , a hook to be read or quoted , but to be consulted for quite a special purpose . It is difficult to find a passage that will warrant the emphasis of citation , but ; perhaps this description of the view of Buda and Pesth from the BlocksfoergBiay ; be read -withsome interest : — - In walking up this path , on the Sunday afternoon , among other companions I had * . you ^ B ^ Sdi ? tine monk and his brother , the former recently from Italy on Ins wavtoCracow aud only stopping here for a few days to see his relations . In the ^ nve ^ kmThad with these two brothers I could not help being struck with the Influence their respective positions in life exerted over their tastes and aspirations . 'The knowledge that I had recently come from England was the source of great intlrestto boS but interest of a very different kind . All the curiosity of the monk ^ as to have t dings of C ardinal Wiseman , and to kno ^ the extent of the progress of Se English nation towards Catholicism , nnder his influence All the interest of the layman was centred in Kossuth and his fortunes in the land of the straager . Would he ever come again to his native land to free and regenerate ltj On reaching the top of the Blocksberg , I found the vast fortress surrounding it was yet far from being completed , although a large body of men had been empkq ™! < m it ever-since the revolt in Hungary . It was from thifl eminence hat the insurgents * red upon Buda , and destroyed a large part of the palace and other building * ,, Iriroumstance which , no doubt , gave rise to its being fortified . The new fortress is -of immenae extent and of most solid construction . It is casemated in two stories all round , besides having open batteries at top . Under its guns Pesth and Buda lie tor

    Aa . aU ? eady stated , the view from this point is extremely fine . Immediately beneath lie the twin cities spread out in all their extent . Peath on its low level floor , Bu < la on its lofty Tidge and in its valleys ; while the Danube between and beyond , on eitner side , epreads out its waters in * a broad , bright band . Upwards or to the north , tie river can bo traced to a considerable distance as it comes along the base of the hills among its islands , while nearer at hand , in the very centre of the picture , the beautiful » u » p « n 8 lon * bridgG is seen uniting the citieB as by a Blender cham . 1 csth lies so immediately . beneath that its streets and open places can bo distinctly seen into , beautifully xmtlined on their further aide "by the bright walls of the houses seen to their veiybas * . , . .. , Qn tha inland aide of Buda , the country is rather wild , woody , ana irregular , and at-no , great distance ia bounded b y * range of hills of moderate height . Bey owl Pesth , © a the other hand , an unbroken and boundless plain stretches Itself out in all -diroctiojDfl » 6 far as the oye « an reach .

    , No one , I think , who has ' looked from Pesth on the heights of Buda and the Blocksberg , when lying bright in the morning sun , or who haa had tho good fortune to see the landscape j oat-noticed , as I saw it , under tho blueat of aides and in all tho ¦ brilliancy t ) f a cloudless afternoon in August , -will rogret the long journoy that led him hither , evon if the tract of theDanube from Vienna were much , lesa interesting 4 han ' lt'iB , or the twin capitals of Hungary had loea to ahow in their interior than '• tkoyi'have . And here is a comparison of the banks of tho Rhino with those of the DauulQe , which < mll g ivo the reader a fair idea of Sir John Forbes ' s most attractive / writing : ~ - - ^ f tlie thx ««> Ototlnctive qualities of landscape / named . above , . grandeur ia that in wl « iMi ^ tlie ? fllrtB « 48 vinoBt . < kefeotive .. Its immediate boundaries , taken aa a whole , uro

    iftTT flrftr Umnn nniapmrod m llh Uhuuu of tlio Danube . Lower they aro in reality ; and they a « em 4 aw « r than -rthty aro from the much groatcr width of tho valley they on-< olawu * wMl © tkeir grtftter , » lppe -. lmokwards , their bluff rounded fronts and summits , « ndt ! i » fipOQmpaBaUv « wrAnt . i > f ^ woQd , glvo an improosion of tamonoas aud commonnoas which , is strongly , felt . ,. 4 a ,-the qualityM natural , pipturosqueneaa , tho Rhino , when compared with tho Danube , ia almost aa defective as la that o * grandeur . Except in a few epotB of

    small extent , as at St . Goar , Goarhausen , the Lurlei , & c , the whole tract of the river from Bonn to Coblentz , if deprived of its castellated ruins and romantic towns would show but a very moderate sprinkling of this kind of scenery . The Danube * on the other hand , over a vastly greater extent of space , exhibits almost a constant succession of it . In one of the forms of picturesque landscape , indeed , that which is constituted by nature and art combined , and principally ' ¦ by art , the Rhine excels the Danube What with the constant succession of ruined castles on every height and out-juttimj rock , < and -with its beautiful steeple-crowned towns and villages on every haugh by the water's brink , the Rhine leaves little to be desired in pictorial effects of this kind . Still , I think that , even in this particular , it excels the Danube much more in the number than in the quality of such scenes . I do not think there is anything on the Rhine to compare with a good many of the views mentioned by me on the Upper Danube , as at Gottweib , Diirrenstein , Aggstein , Molk , "NVeideneck , Neuliaus , & c ., and even with Gran and Vissegrad , on the Lower Danube . In all these scenes on the Danube , there is an admixture of grandexir aud majesty with what is simply picturesque , which hardly exists , or exists only in a much smaller degree , iu the landscapes of the Rhine .

    In the landscape element of mere beauty , the Rhine is perhaps less inferior to the Danube , than in the other qualities just noticed ; although , many spots on the latter river , viewed in reference to this quality only , are , in my opinion , unapproachable by anything seen on the Rhine . And yet it is , I believe , more for its beauty than for its grandeur or natural picturesqueness , that the admirers of the Rhine most contend . Indeed , next to the artificial picturesqueness of its castellated ruins , the parts I most admire , on this river are those portions of the landscape in which the grander elements have no place ; as where the boundary hills begin to recede almost immediately at the river's brink , leaving , first , a foreground of brilliant meadow

    intermixed with trees , and then slope gently upwards clothed ia natural wood . Neither will it be denied that the vineyards , so profusely covering the slopes , on their graceful terraces , and climbing up to the very summit of the hills , are , in their kind , very beautiful objects—certainly the most beautiful species of cultivation presented by art ; yet they can hardly be compared , in this respect , with the bright green , brilliant , and living woods that cover the slopes and steeps of the Danube . No doubt the Rhine , here and there , presents the natural charm of these natural woods climbing up and crowning the hills ; but they do not exhibit that vigour and brilliant beauty which characterize the productions of nature where no trace of art is nigh .

    In comparing the two rivers for their natural qualities , and for the attractions they offer to the traveller , the extent of the field of beauty presented by each must not be overlooked . The beauties of the Rhine-are confined to a very small portion of its tract , that between Mainz and Bonn ; while those of the Danube extend almost over its whole course , from Regensburg to Vienna , not to name : the additional tract of some fifteen or twenty miles on the Lower Danube .

    ^3 The Jl Jeabi! R. [No. 382, Sattfuday,

    ^ 3 THE JL JEABI ! R . [ No . 382 , Sattfuday ,

    Lake Jstgami. Lake Naomi; Or, Exploratio...

    LAKE JSTGAMI . Lake Naomi ; or , Explorations in South Western Africa . By Charles John Andersson . y Hurst and Blackett . Albeit no sportsmen ourselves—not even " gentlemen riders "—we can fully appreciate the services rendered to mankind by those resolute hunters who have gone forth as the pioneers of civilization , from the time of Niuirod the Gordon Cumming of the patriarchal ages—to that of Charles John Andersson . The last-named gentleman , indeed , describes himself as being as much a naturalist as a sportsman , but from his book he hardly appears to have been more than a collector of objects of natural history . However

    this may be , he has certainly succeeded in furnishing much curious information respecting the habits and manners of various primitive tribes hitherto comparatively unknown , and in depicting both the romance and the reality of African adventure in an exceedingly graphic and interesting manner . The lithographs and wood-engravings with which bis narrative is profusely illustrated , are beautifully executed , and give that precise idea which words always fail to impart . There is something almost awesome about the plate entitled " The Approach of Elephants , " which rep resents a troop of those huge animals looming on a distant hill on the opposite side of a large pool . In the foreground several hyenas are gnawing at a well-picked carcase , lo their left stands a monstrous rhinoceros sniffing up the mr . A little -further ,

    a group of zebras is seen in an unquiet , unsettled state , as it under a presentiment of danger . Still further , the spectral forms of a herd ol "indies are restlessly moving to and fro , while , on a jutting promontory , the gnoo and the antelope arc lightly escaping from the unwelcome visitors . hucn scenes as this , the author assures us , are of frequent occurrence at , night . All animals , he says , appear to have an instinctive dread of the elephant , and " remain at a respectful distance until tho giants have quenched their thirst *"Thus , long before I have seen , or even heard , the elephants , I have been warned of their approach by tho symptoms of uneasiness displayed by such animals as happened to be drinking « t the time . The giraffe , for instance , begins to sway his long nock to and fro ; tho zebra utters subdued plaintive cries ; the fii . oo K li < l « s > " } «> with a noiseless step , and oven the ponderous and quarrelsome Muck rliiiioc « nw , when he haa time for reflection , will pull up short in his walk to listen ; then , turning round , he liBtena again and , if ho feel satisfied that hia auspicious arc correct , lie »» variuuiy makes off , usually giving vont to his fear , or ire , by one of his vicious and j . ocuIibi

    snorts . . iii It is frequently alleged as an argument in favour of one universal deluge , that in no other way could the bones of bo many animals , of . such ye y different habits , have heen mingled together in one thin stratum . J n s " » Mo ment micht perhaps have some force were these iossil remains found u > oniy one particular spot , however largo . But the phenomenon is easily ayro . m Jed for by supposing a lake or large pool to have existed on the Mlo oi imvarious bone-abounding localities . To such spots animals of every * , > ..-c « £ and character are wont , in hot climates , to proceed at night , to nluk « « ' cii burning thirst ; and it must bo remembered that where man has noi . established his do minion the very bensta of prey wander about in UniuuUxu ^ troops It is only when game haa become scarce that they hunt m coupa-a and lose their gregarious habits . Tho shores of African ponds nro evci strewed with tho shattered skeletons of animals , some pulled down lor tiiei carcases , otherelkilled in strife , and others , again , Unit have alowly urngf toj themselves hither to die . A storm arises , a flood of waters descends , an * when they have subsided , a deep masa of dotritus lioa thickly spread ovci

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 2, 1856, page 18, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_02081856/page/18/