A Visit to Iceland and the Scandinavian North | Page 5

the journey by water is the more agreeable; the way lies
through very picturesque scenery, and at length through "Saxon
Switzerland" itself. The commencement of the journey is, however, far

from pleasing. On the right are naked hills, and on the left large plains,
over which, last spring, the swollen stream rolled, partly covering the
trees and the roofs of the cottages. Here I could for the first time see the
whole extent of the calamity. Many houses had been completely torn
down, and the crops, and even the loose alluvial earth swept away; as
we glided by each dreary scene of devastation, another yet more dismal
would appear in its place.
This continued till we reached Melnick, where the trees become higher,
and groups of houses peer forth from among the innumerable vineyards.
Opposite this little town the Moldau falls into the Elbe. On the left, in
the far distance, the traveller can descry St. George's Mount, from
which, as the story goes, Czech took possession of all Bohemia.
Below the little town of Raudnitz the hills gave place to mountains, and
as many enthusiasts can only find those regions romantic where the
mountains are crowned with half-ruined castles and strongholds, good
old Time has taken care to plant there two fine ruins, Hafenberg and
Skalt, for the delectation of such sentimental observers.
Near Leitmeritz, a small town with a handsome castle, and a church
and convent, the Eger flows into the Elbe, and a high-arched wooden
bridge connects the two banks. Here our poor sailors had difficult work
to lower the mast and the funnel.
The rather pretty village of Gross-Czernoseck is remarkable for its
gigantic cellars, hewn out of the rock. A post-carriage could easily turn
round in one of these. The vats are of course proportioned to the cellars,
particularly the barrels called the "twelve apostles," each of which
holds between three and four thousand gallons. It would be no more
than fair to stop here awhile, to give every hero of the bottle an
opportunity to enjoy a sight of these palace-cellars, and to offer a
libation to the twelve apostles; but the steamer passed on, and we were
obliged to make the most of the descriptions furnished by those who
were more at home in these parts, and had no doubt frequently emerged
in an inspired state from the depths of the cellars in question.
The view now becomes more and more charming: the mountains

appear to draw closer together, and shut in the bed of the stream;
romantic groups of rocks, with summits crowned by rains yet more
romantic, tower between. The ancient but well-preserved castle of
Schreckenstein, built on a rock rising boldly out of the Elbe, is
particularly striking; the approaches to it are by serpentine walks hewn
out of the rock.
Near the small town of Aussig we find the most considerable
coal-mines in Bohemia. In their neighbourhood is situated the little
mountain estate Paschkal, which produces a kind of wine said to
resemble champagne.
The mountains now become higher and higher, but above them all
towers the gigantic Jungfernsprung (Maiden's Leap). The beauty of this
region is only surpassed by the situation of the town and castle of
Tetschen. The castle stands on a rock, between twenty and thirty feet
high, which seems to rise out of the Elbe; it is surrounded by
hot-houses and charming gardens, shelving downwards as far as the
town, which lies in a blooming valley, near a little harbour. The valley
itself, encompassed by a chain of lofty mountains, seems quite shut out
from the rest of the world.
The left bank of the river is here so crowded with masses and walls of
rock, that there is only room at intervals for an isolated farm or hut.
Suddenly the tops of masts appear between the high rocks, a
phenomenon which is soon explained; a large gap in one of the rocky
walls forms a beautiful basin.
And now we come to Schandau, a place consisting only of a few
houses; it is a frontier town of the Saxon dominions. Custom-house
officers, a race of beings ever associated with frontier towns, here
boarded our vessel, and rummaged every thing. My daguerreotype
apparatus, which I had locked up in a small box, was looked upon with
an eye of suspicion; but upon my assertion that it was exclusively
intended for my own use, I and my apparatus were graciously
dismissed.
In our onward journey we frequently observed rocks of peculiar shapes,

which have appropriate names, such as the "Zirkelstein," "Lilienstein,"
&c. The Konigstein is a collection of jagged masses of rock, on which
is built the fortress of the same name, used at present as a prison for
great criminals. At the foot of the rocks lies the