thought which involuntarily presented
itself.

As we left the orchard, the doctor pointed out to us several
wheat-fields in the neighborhood, cultivated with true German love for
neatness, which formed, with the pleasant dwellings adjoining, separate
farms. The average yield per acre, he observed, was from twenty-five to
forty bushels of wheat, and from forty to fifty of oats. He then took us
into a neighboring grove, to a place where the pic-nics and holiday
feasts of the colony are held: here we paused near a grassy knoll shaded
by a sort of awning and surrounded by a moat. This, which bears the name
of "The Temple Hill," forms the centre of a number of straight roads,
which branch out from it into the woods in the shape of a fan. Not far
from it I noticed a dancing ground covered by a circular open roof, and
a pavilion for the music.

"At our public feasts," said the doctor, "I have all these branching
roads lighted with colored lanterns, and illuminate the temple, which,
with its brilliant lamps, makes quite an imposing spectacle. When we
celebrate our May-day festival it looks, after dark, like a scene out of
the _Arabian Nights_; and when, added to this, we have beautiful music
and fine singing, and the young folks are enjoying the dance, it is
really very pleasant. But none are permitted to set foot on the Temple
Hill, nor can they do it very easily if they would. Do you know the
reason, gentlemen?" Koerner opined that it might be on account of the
ditch, which would be difficult to pass, in which view I agreed.
"Exactly so," remarked the doctor. "This Temple Hill has an especial
significance: it represents the sovereign ruler of the people, on whose
head no one may tread: on that account the ditch is there."

After a walk of several hours we returned to the doctor's house, where
he invited us to take a glass of homemade wine. As we had been informed
that the sale and use of wine and spirits were strictly forbidden in the
colony, this invitation was certainly an unprecedented exception. The
wine, of which two kinds were placed before us--one made of wild grapes,
and the other of currants--was very good, and was partaken of in the
doctor's office. Here Mr. Koerner again brought forward his
life-insurance project: the doctor gave him hopes that he would go into
it, but he wished to give the matter due consideration, and to subject
the advantages and disadvantages of the speculation to a strict
investigation, bef