overed that I was the author, and rose to greet
me in the most amiable manner. I complimented the travellers that
during the past century the Rhine had become the home of romance for
the English speaking nations, the same as Italy for the Germans. The
girl smiled, and remarked that I must pay that compliment to her
mother in particular, as she was by birth an Englishwoman. But the
head of the family hastened to add that among Americans, whom he might
speak for, the enthusiasm for the beauties of the Rhine was not less
than among their Anglo-Saxon cousins. These two nations which are
bound by so many ties to each other, and also to ourselves, were thus
represented before me. The English-speaking people undoubtedly form by
far the largest contingent of our Rhine travellers, and it was
pleasant indeed to receive so fine a testimonial to the beauties of my
birth place.

We had a most interesting conversation, and I was not a little moved,
as I observed that these foreigners who had travelled over half the
world, and had seen the grandeur of Switzerland and the charms of
Italy, should have such an unaffected admiration for our grand old
river. I am rather sorry for those who neglect the Rhine. "Aren't
Lohengrin and Siegfried, immortalised by the great Master of Bayreuth,
also heroic figures in your Rhine legends?" remarked the young
Anglo-American enthusiastically. It was the first time I had seriously
thought of this. I was indeed touched, and my thoughts travelled back
to the days of "long, long ago" when as a little chap in my native
Bonn, I had first listened with interest to the charming voices of the
golden-haired daughters of old Albion who came in large numbers to
reside in the famous Beethoven-town.

As I separated from my friends at the foot of the Drachenfels I gave
them a small present to keep as a memento of the Rhine and one of its
poets.

Muenchen, Mai 1906. Dr. Wilhelm Ruland.

Contents

=St. Gotthard.= The Petrified Alp 7

=Thusis on the Hinter Rhine.= The Last Hohenraetier 10

=Bodensee.= The Island of Mainau 13

=Basle.= One Hour in Advance 18

=Castle Niedeck.= The Toy of the young Giantess 20

=Strassburg.= The Cathedral Clock 22

The little Man at the Angel's Pillar