HINTS of OCCURRENCES , &c.

35

Not thinking I had done fufficient juftice to the fubje£l in the two views I had taken of the caftle of Marxburgh,and of the rock on which it {lands, I went down the river in fearch of a fpot from whence a larger, and more ge-neral view of them might be taken to advantage. The refult of this little excurfion is given in the fifteenth plate,which reprefents the north-eaft front of the caftle. The vines that occupy the fore-ground were uncommonly tall;the height to which they ufually run, is about three feet, thefe grew as high at leaft as Englifh hops. The trees thatfill the intermediate fpace between the vineyard and the rock, were of various kinds, their edges on one fide be-ing beautifully illumined by a fmart light which fell principally on the rock, and infinitely improved its naturalbeauty; thefe circumftances, with the fituation and pyramidal form of the caftle, the ftyle of the country thatforms the back-ground, and of the nearer obje£ls which contribute more immediately to the pi<5lurefque beautyand luxuriancy of the fubjeft, compofe, in my judgment, a landfcape as pleafing, as interefting, and romantic, as

can be imagined.

My ftation in taking this view, was a little below Braubach ; oppofite to which was Renfe, a fmall town in theEle&orate of Cologne. Being extremely pleafed with my acquifition, I returned in high fpirits to the Inn; andhaving no further motive to prolong my ftay at Braubach, I fettled my bill with the landlord, difcharged myinterpreter, and embarked in the paflage-boat for Ober-Lahnftein, a pretty village at a fmall diftance from Brau-bach, belonging to the Ele6lor of Treves. Our Company confifted of near a hundred perfons; the boat, whichwas barge-built, was large enough to have contained a much greater number. We had not the good fortune tomeet with any perfon on board who fpoke French. The tops of the buildings of Ober-Lahnftein, which are in-troduced in the thirteenth plate, and appeared from the rock at Braubach like fteeples and towers, had flatteredus with the hopes that our fituation, with refpe6t to accommodations, would be much improved. Thefe hopes,however, vanifhed on a nearer approach.

As foon as we landed, having no interpreter, we ftrolled through the town in fearch of an Inn, but findingnone, we went into a public-houfe, as fimilar as poftible to that we had left. The landlady and her family collec-ted round us, but we could not make ourfelves at all intelligible to each other. In about half an hour the acci-dental entrance of a perfon who fpoke French, relieved us from fome part of our difficulty. I propofed immedi-ately to engage him in our fervice while we flayed; but his fituation would not allow him to attend us, or evento afford us any occafional aftiftance. He affured us likewife, with apparent concern for our diftrefs, that heknew no perfon in the town or neighbourhood, who could interpret for us. After much confultation with thelandlady, he informed me a Gentleman lodged in the room over us, who underftood French; but that lic-fcar’d, from the landlady’s account, we fhould be nothing benefited by him, as he would neither fee or fpeak

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