being Anti-Napoleonites.

Now for the Rhine. At 10 o'clock on Friday, July 22nd, in a little
rotten, picturesque-looking boat and two men (preferring a private
conveyance to the public passage boats for the convenience of stopping
at pleasure) we left Mayence; the river here is about half a mile
across, traversable by a bridge of boats. The Maine falls into it just
above the town, and there appears nothing on the Frankfort or Strasburgh
side to interest a traveller's eye, the country being flat vine or corn
land. The Stream runs with a steady rapidity of about three and a half
or 4 miles an hour, so that in a boat, with the addition of oars, you
may proceed at the rate of about 6 miles an hour. The distance to
Cologne is about 120 miles. On the bank of the River we saw some of
those immense floats preparing which are composed of timbers for the
Holland markets. We glided with an imperceptible motion down the stream,
expecting as we proceeded to behold the magnificent ruins of which we
had heard so much. But, alas! village succeeded village, town followed
town, and yet not a single turret made its appearance. We sat with our
sketch books in battle array, but our pencils were asleep; we began to
regret the uninteresting, even country we had passed from Metz to
Mayence, and the time which might be called lost in coming so far for so
useless a purpose, and to make vow after vow that we would never in
future believe the account given by others respecting people and places.
By this time our appetites began to grow keen, luckily, just at the time
when our spirits began to flag, and, accordingly, we went on shore at
Rudesheim, famous for its excellent hock, and having dispatched a dinner
and bottle of hock we ventured forth to explore, and, luckily, fell in
with a little Gothic round tower, which, with the dinner, rather raised
our spirits and enabled us to proceed 4 or 5 miles further to Bingen
when we turned a Corner....

I verily believe such another corner does not exist in the world. From
the corner of Bingen must be dated the beauties of the Rhine, and from
the corner of Bingen I commence my next letter; suffice it now to say
that the moment we turned the Corner we both, with one impulse, called
out, "Oh!" and sat in the boat with our hands uplifted in speechless
astonishment....

LETTER X.

AIX LA CHAPELLE, _July 27, 1814_.

I left you turning the corner of Bingen, now let me describe what there
presented itself.