HE railway journey from Bregenz to Bludenz occupies 3 hours. Leaving that place the road goes up the valley of the Klosterthal. Near Bratz, 2 hours, is the cascade of Fallbach. Passing Dalaas, 1 hour, we reach, 3 hours, STUBEN, near which is another cascade. The route now rises rapidly and affords fine views of the valley below. One and a half hour from Stuben we reach the COL of the ARLBERG, 5850 feet, the frontier between the Vorarlberg and the Tyrol. This part of the route is frequently covered with snow even in summer. A little way from the summit is the Hospice of St Christopher with a chapel.

The road now descends in a long winding to the valley of Fervall. St Anton, 1 hour, is in the valley of Stanz. We pass now Fadisen, 13 hour, Petneu, hour, Schnau, hour, and reach Flirsch, 11 hour (Inn: Post). Near this we see several cascades. We now pass Strengen, 1 hour, near which is the ruined castle of Wiesberg, Pians, 1 hour, and LANDECK, 14 hour (Hotel: Post), the point of meeting of several routes. (For description of that to Meran, see below.) For those travellers preferring to drive to Innsbruck from Landeck, we give a description of the old diligence route.

Landeck is a considerable village; above it is the old fortress of Landeck, now inhabited by poor families. Leaving Landeck the valley, hour, contracts, and the road follows the left bank. At the right, upon a high conical hill, are the ruins of the castle of Kronburg. Mils, 1 hour, is passed when the road ascends rapidly, goes along the edge of a precipice on the bank of the Inn (fine view), and we reach, 1 hour, IMST (Inn: Post).

From this place the road descends slightly, and in 20 minutes we reach Brennbuchl where Frederick Augustus, King of Saxony, died in 1854, from injuries received from the upsetting of his carriage. We now ascend to the foot of Tschurgant, 7,500 feet, and in 20 minutes farther reach Karress. The route now reaches the Inn, and in 2 hours Haimingen. On the right is the Petersberg, with a new castle and the ruins of an ancient one. hour we reach Silz, with a large monastery and a pretty new church, Telfs, 3 hours, Zire, 3 hours, after which the route descends, affording fine views. We pass, 1 hour, Kranenbitten, and then, crossing a wide plain,

In

reach, in 1 hour, INNSBRUCK, for description of which, see Route 151.

2. BREGENZ to MERAN and BOTZEN.

The route from Bregenz to Landeck is the same as the next above.

From Landeck to Meran is 79 miles, diligence every day in 15 hours, fare 10 f. 20 kr. (Meran to Botzen, 6 times a day, see Route 151.)

The route follows the Inn. Ried, 1 hour, is passed with its castle and a convent of Capuchins, then Toesens, 1 hour, Pfunds, 1 hour, near which is the Glacier of Mondin. Crossing the Inn we reach in hour from Pfunds, Hoch-Finstermunz, a group of houses, below which at the bottom of the valley is the ancient Finstermunz, with a tower and a bridge over the river. There is a splendid view of the bridge and the narrow gorge of the Inn and the mountains in the background. Nauders, 1 hour, after which the road ascends and crosses the ReschenScheideck, the line of separation between the waters flowing into the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. Beyond Reschen and

the lake of the same name, we have a fine view of the glaciers of the Ortler. Close by this spot is the source of the Adige. Graun, hour, St Valentine, 1 hour, are passed, and several little hamlets, and in 24 hours we reach MÁLS (Inn: Post). We see, on leaving, the old tower of Froelichsburg, and in the distance the half-ruined castle of Lichtenberg, and farther on, on our route, the castle of Churburg. Neu-Spondinig, 2 hours, EYRS, 20 minutes. At this place we reach the line of the famous STELVIO PASS, which crosses here the valley of the Adige. (Diligence, Eyrs to Bormio over the Stelvio in 11 hours (fare, 6 florins), also to Sondrio and Colico on the Lake of Como.) Schlanders, 3 hours, Latsch, 13 hour, Tschars and Staben, 1 hour. Upon a height near this is the castle of Juval, and a little farther on we enter the valley of the Schnalse. Naturns, 1 hour, with the ruins of a castle. At the right, on a height, the castle of Tarandsberg. Rabland, 1 hour, after which the route crosses the Adige and descends in long windings into the valley of MERAN. For description of Meran and the route thence to Botzen, see Route 151.

and the Baltic; on the west by Holland, Belgium, and France; on the south by Switzerland and Austrian territories; and on the east by Hungary, Gallicia, Poland, and Prussia.

These boundaries embrace 600 miles of latitude, and nearly 700 miles of longitude, the total area being little less than a quarter of a million of square miles (206,575).

Within this extensive range the people are nearly all German, and with some minor modifications, the language, customs, usages, and manners, are the same. The northern part of Germany, towards the shores of the Baltic and the North sea, is a level plain, but the greater part of the country, the middle and western portions, are hilly, and the southern parts mountainous.

The most important ranges are the Black Forest, parallel to the course of the Rhine, the "Giant Mountains," on the borders of Bohemia and Saxony, the Steiger Wald, the Spessart, Thuringer Wald, the Taunus, Harz Mountains, &c. The higher summits of the Schwarz Wald fall little short of 5000 feet, and are covered with dense forests, while the lower slopes are covered with vineyards and fertile fields. The mountain chains that lie around the plains of Bohemia, enclosing the valley of the Upper Elbe, rise in their highest points to upwards of 5000 feet. The Harz, which are on the southern border of Hanover, form the outlying range of the German mountain system to the northward, and advance far into the great plain that extends along the Baltic coasts. Both the Eiz-gebirge, on the borders of Saxony and Bohemia, and the Harz mountains, are celebrated for their metalliferous wealth. The latter group is also remarkable for an

atmospheric illusion, the famous spectre of the Brocken. The chief rivers are the Danube and the Rhine, which belong to Southern and Western Germany: the Oder, the Elbe, the Weser, and the Ems to Northern Germany. The mineral wealth of Germany is very considerable. Gold is found in Austria and Baden; silver in Saxony and Hanover; copper, iron, and tin in Prussia and Austria; antimony and bismuth in Austria; mercury in Austria and Bavaria. Coal, marble, zinc, kaolin, sulphur, arsenic, &c., have also been found in various localities.

THE GERMAN EMPIRE, as finally settled in May 1871, comprises 26 States, in the order of precedence indicated by the numbers, and divided into North and South Germany by the River Main, as follows: NORTH GERMAN STATES. -1, Kingdom of Prussia. 3, Kingdom of Saxony. 7, Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. 8, Grand Duchy of Saxe-WeimarEisenach. 9, Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. 10, Grand Duchy of Oldenburg. 11, Duchy of Brunswick and Luneburg. 12, Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen and Hildburghausen. 13, Saxe-Altenburg. 14, Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. 15, Duchy of Anhalt. 16, Principality of SchwarzburgRudolstadt. 17, Principality of Schwarzburg-Sonderhausen. 18, Principality of Waldeck and Pyrmont. 19, Principality of Reuss (Elder line). 20, Principality of Reuss (Younger line). 21, Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe. 22, Principality of Lippe-Detmold. 23, Free Town of Lubeck. 24, Free Town of Bremen. 25, Free Town of Hamburg. 26, Alsace-Lorraine, annexed to the Empire 1871. SOUTH GERMAN STATES.-2, Kingdom of Bavaria. 4, Kingdom of Wurtemberg. 5, Grand Duchy of Baden. 6, Grand