CASTLE OF FURSTENFELS.

THE ruins of the castle of Fürstenfels, or Fiirstenberg,stand on a rocky eminence above the little village of Rhein -Diebach, on the left bank of the Rhine, and within a mileof Bacharach. A deep and narrow ravine, enclosed by re-markably steep hills, opens out into the broad valley of theRhine, close at the foot of this castle-crowned rock, renderingthe little fortress almost inaccessible on that side. A fosseor cleft has been cut through the solid rock, to insulate thecastle hill from the adjoining heights ; and the only approachto it seems to have been over a narrow bridge across thischasm. Thus fortified by nature and art, the proprietors ofFiirstenberg were enabled to exact tribute from passengers ;and it is recorded that one of the counts of Nassau, newlyelected king of the Romans, was detained here and com-pelled to pay tribute. There is no certain record of thedate when this castle was built, but it appears to have beenoften occupied by the Palsgraves. It was finally burnt downby the French in the time of Lewis XIV.