66 valley, or basin, on our right hand, into which "we looked down, is called the Wald Rauschen"bach, that is, the Valley of the Roaring Brook; "and roar it did, indeed, most solemnly! The "road on which we walked was weedy with "infant fir-trees, an inch or two high; and now, on our left hand, came before us a most "tremendous precipice of yellow and black rock, called the Rehberg, that is, the Moun"tain of the Roe. Now again is nothing but 66 66 66 firs and pines, above, below, around us! How "awful is the deep unison of their undividable "murmur; what a one thing it is-it is a sound "that impresses the dim notion of the Omnipresent! In various parts of the deep vale "below us, we beheld little dancing waterfalls gleaming through the branches, and now, on "our left hand, from the very summit of the hill "above us, a powerful stream flung itself down, leaping and foaming, and now concealed, and now not concealed, and now half concealed by the fir-trees, till, towards the road, it “became a visible sheet of water, within whose “immediate neighbourhood no pine could have "permanent abiding place. The snow lay every "where on the sides of the roads, and glim"mered in company with the waterfall foam, snow patches and waterbreaks glimmering through the branches in the hill above, the deep basin below, and the hill opposite. 66 66 66 66 66 66 "Over the high opposite hills, so dark in their pine forests, a far higher round barren stony "mountain looked in upon the prospect from "a distant country. Through this scenery we passed on, till our road was crossed by a "second waterfall, or rather, aggregation of little dancing waterfalls, one by the side of the "other for a considerable breadth, and all came "at once out of the dark wood above, and rolled over the mossy rock fragments, little firs, growing in islets, scattered among them. The 66 66 66 same scenery continued till we came to the "Oder Seich, a lake, half made by man, and "half by nature. It is two miles in length, and "but a few hundred yards in breadth, and winds "between banks, or rather through walls, of pine trees. It has the appearance of a most "calm and majestic river. It crosses the road, goes into a wood, and there at once plunges "itself down into a most magnificent cascade, "and runs into the vale, to which it gives the "name of the Vale of the Roaring Brook.' "We descended into the vale, and stood at "the bottom of the cascade, and climbed up 66 66 again by its side. The rocks over which it plunged were unusually wild in their shape, giving fantastic resemblances of men and "animals, and the fir-boughs by the side were 'kept almost in a swing, which unruly motion 66 " contrasted well with the stern quietness of the huge forest-sea every where else. 66 "In nature all things are individual, but a "word is but an arbitrary character for a whole "class of things; so that the same description "may in almost all cases be applied to twenty "different appearances; and in addition to the difficulty of the thing itself, I neither am, nor "ever was, a good hand at description. I see "what I write, but, alas! I cannot write what "I see. From the Oder Seich we entered a "second wood; and now the snow met us in large masses, and we walked for two miles knee-deep in it, with an inexpressible fatigue, till we came to the mount called Little "Brocken; here even the firs deserted us, or only now and then a patch of them, windshorn, no higher than one's knee, matted and "cowering to the ground, like our thorn bushes "on the highest sea-hills. The soil was plashy "and boggy; we descended and came to the 86 foot of the Great Brocken without a river-the highest mountain in all the north of Germany, " and the seat of innumerable superstitions. On "the first of May all the witches dance here at "midnight; and those who go may see their "own ghosts walking up and down, with a little billet on the back, giving the names of those 66 66 "who had wished them there; for I wish you "on the top of the Brocken,' is a common "curse throughout the whole empire. Well, we "ascended-the soil boggy-and at last reached "the height, which is 573 toises above the level of the sea. We visited the Blocksberg, a sort "of bowling-green, inclosed by huge stones, something like those at Stonehenge, and this "is the witches' ball-room; thence proceeded to "the house on the hill, where we dined; and now we descended. In the evening about seven we arrived at Elbingerode. At the inn they brought us an album, or stamm-buch, 'requesting that we would write our names, and something or other as a remembrance that we "had been there. I wrote the following lines, "which contain a true account of my journey "from the Brocken to Elbingerode. 66 66 66 66 66 "I stood on Brocken's sovran height, and saw By the blue distance. Wearily my way "Downward I dragged, through fir groves evermore, "Where bright green moss moved in sepulchral forms, Speckled with sunshine; and, but seldom heard, "The sweet bird's song become a hollow sound ; "The dingy kidling, with its tinkling bell, "Sat, his white beard slow waving. I moved on Holy remembrances of child or friend, "Or gentle maid, our first and early love, "O'dear, dear' England! how my longing eyes "Turned westward, shaping in the steady clouds Thy sands and high white cliffs! Sweet native isle, "To think of thee; and all the goodly view 66 From sovran Brocken, woods and woody hills Floated away, like a departing dream, "We left Elbingerode, May 14th, and travelled "for half a mile through a wild country, of "bleak stony hills by our side, with several "caverns, or rather mouths of caverns, visible "in their breasts; and now we came to Rubil"land, Oh, it was a lovely scene! Our road "was at the foot of low hills, and here were a "few neat cottages; behind us were high hills, "with a few scattered firs, and flocks of goats "visible on the topmost crags. On our right |