ture of
its foam-decked course by means of the master's harmonies.

Montaigne was of a more practical turn of mind. He said: "_Cela arrete
le cours des bateaux et interrompt la navigation de ladite riviere_."

Compared with Niagara, Victoria Nyanza, or the great cataract at
Yosemite, the falls of Schaffhausen depict no great splendour of aspect,
though they are tumultuous and unqualifiedly picturesque. Furthermore,
they form a pretty setting for the little city of some five thousand
souls which bears the same name.

With Basel, Schaffhausen has preserved its mediaeval character far more
than the other cities of Switzerland. Its streets are narrow and
irregular, and most of its houses are of the deep-gabled variety, many
of them having their fronts frescoed in truly theatrical fashion, the
effect, as might be supposed, being highly pleasing.

Schaffhausen owes its prominence in the commercial world to its falls,
which make it necessary for merchandise making its way between Constance
and the Lower Rhine to be transshipped at this point. The traffic is by
no means so large as that which goes on in the Lower Rhine, but it does
exist in proportions so considerable as to justify a certain activity in
this old-world town which is noticeable to-day, and which has existed
for many centuries. The name Schaffhausen (Schiffhausen) comes, it is
claimed, from the houses of the boatmen, and this seems sufficiently
plausible to be accepted without question.

The Fortress of Munoth dominates the city, crowning the height of Mont
Emmers. It occupies the site of an ancient Roman stronghold, and, like
its fellows which crown the heights bordering upon the German Rhine, is
formidable in its grimness if not for its actual value in modern
warfare.

In 1052, Count Eberhardt of Nellenburg founded an abbey here, and
accorded to the abbot rights and powers without limitation, so far as
the count's seigneurial lands were concerned. To-day, however,
Schaffhausen is not rich in ecclesiastical monuments. Its cathedral is a
Byzantine edifice of the twelfth century, and is a development from the
church of the ancient abbey founded by Count Eberhardt.

There are no constructive or decorative details which call for remark,
save twelve columns, each cut from a solid block of sandstone. They
measure perhaps twenty feet in height, and are three feet or more in
circumference.

There is no resemblance between the architecture of this church and
oth