brought over by Dr. Von Martius, one of the most distinguished of the Bavarian savans, who several years ago accompanied Dr. Spix on a scientific expedition to the Brazils. Schwanthaler's studio contains some good specimens of sculpture. The bronze obelisk in the Carolinen Platz, erected to the memory of the thirty thousand Bavarians who perished in the Russian campaign, seen from a distance, especially when the sun is shining upon it, has a rich golden appearance.

An extensive park, continued from the Hof-garten, and termed the English garden, through which the water of the Isar is diverted to supply an extensive lake, is the usual place of resort for equipages and pedestrians. It is in many parts shaded by fine rows of trees, and in some measure compensates for the want of interest in the environs of the city. A railroad is now open between Munich and Augsburg, which is to be carried on to the Rhine.

CHAPTER XV.

Valhalla—Nuremberg—Erlangen—Caves of Muggendorf —Dresden—Leipsic—Homoeopathy and animal magnetism—Weimar.

About sixteen hours are required for the journey from Munich to Ratisbon, which town, however interesting it may be from its historical associations, would offer little inducement to the traveller for delaying his departure. Steamers descend the Danube in two days to Vienna, arriving the first day at Linz. Ratisbon and the adjacent territory belong to the Prince of Tour and Taxis, who has a chateau in the neighbourhood, near to which stands the Valhalla, a temple now building by the king of Bavaria, of the same dimensions, and of a similar style of architecture, as the Parthenon at Athens, intended to contain the statues and busts of the most eminent characters to which Germany has given birth. From the elevated position of the Valhalla, a good view of the course of the Danube, and of an extensive tract of country, may be enjoyed. The building itself, composed of white stone, is seen from a considerable distance, and produces a fine effect. Von Klenze, the celebrated architect under whose superintendence most of the modern buildings of Munich have been constructed, has likewise the management of this magnificent monument. About five years ago I descended the Danube to Vienna, on a wood raft, five days being required, from Straubing, by this primitive mode of conveyance: the current is more rapid than that of the Rhine, and the river is exceedingly shallow in many parts, which were the obstacles to the establishment of steam-boats till within the last few years, when iron ones, which require but little depth of water, were constructed for the purpose. The scenery is in many parts highly romantic and picturesque, the country wild, and but thinly populated. Ruined castles, shrines, and richly endowed monasteries, are ever and anon seen in conspicuous positions on the banks, but the towns and villages are few and far between. As Murray's handbook contains an account of the castles, ruins, &c, I need not enter into an enumeration of them.

A hilly drive of twelve hours from Ratisbon to Nuremberg, one of the oldest towns of Germany, and which bears internal evidence of its high antiquity. The castle crowning the hill, at the base of which the town lies, was the scene of many an historical event; it commands an extensive prosspect of the surrounding country. In the chapel are a few paintings of Albert Durer, whose house still remains in the same state as when he died. The venerable old lime tree which has weathered some hundred years in the courtyard of the castle, I found had been cut down to nearly one half since my former visit. The gothic church of St. Lawrence may vie with some of our English cathedrals, with respect to the solemn and impressive aspect of its cloistered aisles, and windows of stained glass, one of which is more than three hundred years old. St. Sebald's church is likewise a fine old building, though of a different style to St. Lawrence. In the centre is the shrine, composed of a bronze casing elaborately worked, in the form of a Gothic chapel, with niches around, containing the figures of the apostles, which are admirably executed, and enclosing a chest in which are the relics of the saint. The artist, Vischer, has introduced among the figures, at the lower part, a representation of himself in his working costume. This work, which occupied Vischer and his sons thirteen years, was finished iu 1529.

Nuremberg contains at present about forty thousand inhabitants, all of whom, with the exception of about six thousand, are Protestants; whereas at Munich the bulk of the population are Catholics, who regard with some degree of jealousy their Protestant fellow-subjects of Nuremberg, The Frauenkirch, or Catholic church, is a small

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though handsome edifice in the market-place, where also stands the Schone-brunnen, a fountain in the form of an obelisk, adorned with several figures on stone of some of the more prominent characters of antiquity.

There is a collection of pictures in the Gothic edifice, formerly the chapel of St. Maurice, though but few are particularly worth remarking, except two or three of Albert Durer. The hospital, which likewise comprises a hospice for the reception of the aged and infirm, is a dilapidated low building on the river. The treatment of disease appeared to me to be much inferior to that of Munich.

The costume of some of the inhabitants and peasantry corresponds with the antique appearance of Nuremberg. The women generally wear a cloth dress reaching half way down the leg, with a coloured kerchief (most frequently red) wrapped round the head, somewhat after the fashion of a turban. The men (as in other parts of Bavaria) wear three-cornered hats, long coats reaching nearly to the heels, and red or other coloured waistcoats with large metal buttons overlapping each other.

The first railroad constructed in Germany is that between Nuremberg and Furth, a commercial town about six miles distant, and principally inhabited by Jews. A few miles in the opposite direction lies Erlangen, a neat town of ten thousand inhabitants, and the seat of a University, which, from the reputation of some of its pro