fancy, that they are peopled by a thousand imaginary beings, and are often made the theatre of the wildest supernatural legends. This is no doubt encouraged by the occasional appearance of the "trockne nebel," (dry fogs.) of a blue colour, in one of which during my rambles in the mountains I became suddenly enveloped, as if the king of the Gnomes (Rübezahl) had cast around me his treacherous net. During its continuance the light of the sun was entirely obscured, and every object appeared clothed in a tint of mystic azure, when presently a gust of wind dispelled the illusion, and we perceived the fairy film retreating through the numerous fissures and caverns of the rocks.

The hero of the most popular legends is Rübezahl, known in our nursery tales as Number-Nip. The Germans, who generally find a foundation for every supernatural tradition, say, among a hundred other versions, that a Provençale, of the name of Rédevale, since corrupted to Rübezahl, a famous magician, arrived here, and collected vast quantities of the precious minerals among the mountains, but having made a compact with his Satanic majesty, who condescended to act as his guide, for a certain period, the treacherous demon took advantage of his agreement, and imprisoned the unlucky geologist in the interior of the mountain, where he has gone on increasing his hoards ad infinitum to the present day.

BOHEMIA.

185

CHAPTER VIII.

Liebwerda - Bohemia - Prague - Hradschin-Charles X.-CathedralMonument of St. John of Nepomuck-Fête of the saint-Queen Libussa-Valley of Scharka-St. Ivan-Castle of Carlstein - General observations-Character of the Bohemians-Moravia-Route to Vienna -Field of Austerlitz.

On the evening of the second day of my temporary confinement at the small inn of Friedrichsthal, my host announced the gratifying intelligence that the whole assembly of living barometers concurred in announcing the approach of fine weather, which proved to be most true; for the glorious sun was my cheerful companion the following day to the mineral bath Liebwerda; and, as I skirted the Bohemian side of the mountains, my route lay through scenery of uninterrupted beauty, and I might well exclaim with Rousseau, when speaking of his beloved Switzerland :-" En voyageant le peintre trouve a chaque pas un tableau, le poet un image, et le philosophe une reflexion.". If he had been here, he might also have added, the mineralogist a costly pebble, and the botanist a rare plant.

The gray shades of evening had just closed in as I entered the mountain bath. Some few of the gay visitors were still sauntering on the promenades, or dancing in the brilliantly-lighted saloons; but the

greater number had retired to seek their hotels and suppers, for the bells were tolling that most important hour in Germany, nine o'clock.

Liebwerda (Love is there), the beautiful creation of that distinguished Austrian nobleman Graf ClammGallas, is pleasantly situated at the base of the south side of the mountain called the Tafelfichte, and is the most attractive ornament of the lovely valley in which it lies. The visitors have a delightful pilgrimage to the picturesque convent of Haindorf, in its immediate vicinity; and the mineralogist may also indulge his favourite study, and perhaps increase his finances; for in this neighbourhood more precious stones have been found than in any other part of Bohemia.

After lingering a few days at Liebwerda, I bade farewell to the mountain region, and also to my little pony, from both of whom I parted with regret, and continued my route to Reichenberg, the most commercial and manufacturing town in Bohemia.

In journeying through the plains, I soon found that many of the good qualities I had prized in the inhabitants of the mountains had become extremely rare. I also learned that in the vicinity of the Saxon frontier the most sanguinary encounters frequently take place between the military and the smugglers, often terminating fatally; and yet the thirst for gain enlists hundreds in these desperate enterprises. But though bands of these lawless men are to be met with nightly, and even, in the remote places, by day,-yet violence is never offered to the unoffending traveller. These, unfortunately, are not the only marauders who disturb

the peace of the country; for the contests I have alluded to, however destructive to human life, are quite equalled by those between the game-keepers and the poachers. These misguided men justify themselves for the violence they commit by the same perverted reasoning as our own countrymen, and contend, that though it may be illegal, it is not criminal; that no government has a right to impose restrictions on commerce; and that the wild inhabitants of the forest are the property of all.

Reichenberg being the seat of a superior officer of police, I had to answer the usual interrogatories previous to travelling through the Austrian dominions; and also to make it appear to the monarch of the tolls, that I did not intend to rob his Imperial Majesty of one ounce of tobacco, the emperor reserving to himself the monopoly of this article. The officer was, however, contented with my word of honour that my baggage contained nothing contraband, and offered no vexatious annoyance. He was good-natured, as the Austrians usually are, particularly when they find themselves in contact with an Englishman.

I took my place in the Eilwagen for Prague, about twenty leagues distant. The country, although deficient in picturesque beauty, possessed the charms of novelty, after the wild scenery of the mountains, and might be said to resemble an interminable garden. There was not only a succession of orchards, but the very roads were lined with fruit-trees, bent in graceful arches, loaded with the young fruit; while the variegated fields of corn were waving in luxuriant beauty,

gently fanned by the balmy breeze. And if our eyes were thus far gratified, our ears were no less delighted; for we were not only greeted with music and singing at all the hotels on the road, but the groups of peasants in their picturesque costume returning from the market at Prague, and bands of rustics from the labours of the fields, were chanting in full chorus their national airs, with a precision that would grace any public exhibition.

COSTUMES OF THE BOHEMIANS.

The chill dews of evening, having succeeded the glowing heat of day, compelled me to withdraw my attention from the scenes of rural beauty to those of animated life among my travelling companions. A fine young man, enveloped in the capacious folds of a Hungarian mantle, and smoking out of a richly ornamented pipe, was the first to address me, with all the eager curiosity of a German; for believe me, reader, when I tell thee, that the majority of the inhabitants