HINTS of OCCURRENCES, &c. 41

They are both of the order of St. Francis. Their cells are fituated near a mineral fpring, the water of whichis four —a quality particularly pleafant to German palates. The hermits drink of it apparently with as muchluxury as if it were the moft delicious wine. The tafte for acids which univerfally prevails in this part of Ger-many, is probably acquired by the early and conftant ufe of a thin four Rhenifh, the common and almoft onlybeverage in the countries bordering on the Rhine. There is likewife, at a fmall diftance from the hermitage, afpring of hot water, which is faid to be an infallible remedy for moft of the diforders to which horfes are fub-jeCt: it is peculiarly efficacious in complaints of their heels and feet, on which it operates like a charm. There isa bath appropriated to their fervice, and is called the Horfe Bath.

The prodigious height of the mountain on which the caftle of Lonach ftands, and from whence this view wastaken, prefented the whole country beneath in what is technically called a Bird’s-Eye View; a circumftancewhich enabled me to enrich the compofition with objeCts that could not have been introduced if the drawing hadbeen made in a lefs elevated fituation. The woods which compofe the back ground of the hermitage, and forma pleafing relief to the naked brow of the immenfe rock that fupports it, would not have met the eye from anyother point. The village, the river, and even the hermitage itfelf would have loft much of their prefent effeCt, ifdeprived of the beauty and importance they derive from being comprehended and relatively contemplated in onefcene. I felt a pleafure in delineating this fubjeCt, that was perfectly new to me ; for having never afcendedin a balloon, the opportunity of taking fuch a furvey had never occurred.

I did not leave this enchanting fcene without fully gratifying my curiofity in examining the caftle. It was byfar the largeft and moft extenftve of any I had feen. The labour it muft have coft to convey the materials of fuchenormous buildings to fo vaft a height, was a natural fubjeCt of reflection and aftoniffiment; and it was hardlypoffible, whilft my mind was fo occupied, to avoid lamenting its deftruCtion. This fortrefs, indeed, having forages belonged to the Teutonic order, and confequently been devoted to hofpitality and other purpofes of bene-volence, its ruins command greater refpeCt, and excite ftronger fentiments of regret, than the fate of the numerouscaftles in the circles of the Rhine, that were ereCted for other purpofes and occupied by very different matters.For all the caftles which have been ereCted on the banks of the Rhine, and the fummits of the mountains ofGermany, were ufed as places of fecurity to petty lords, or heads of robbing parties, at a period when the lawof force alone prevailed. From thefe fttuations they frequently defcended like birds of prey from their nefts,committing depredations on all around them, and returning loaded with their booty. When attacked in theirfaftneffes, their mode of defence was by wielding an artificial rock, which they called a Fift; and the ufe of it inoffence and defence was denominated in German by a phrafe which may be tranftated the “ Right of the Fift.

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When