We had a strong desire to visit the ruin, which puts that of Habsburg altogether in the shade, but were prevented by a thunder-shower which shook the principality to its centre.  The Knight’s Hall, the chapel and the clock-tower are said to have been restored, and to be now in good condition.  We could do no more, however, than cast longing eyes upward as we drove under the hill, the ground being still too wet for female accoutrements to venture.  We had a Hechingen postilion in a Hechingen livery, and, although the man was sensible of his dignity and moved with due deliberation, we were just one hour in crossing his master’s dominions.

Re-entering Wurtemberg, we slept that night at the village of Bahlingen.  The country next morning was particularly tame, though uneven, until near noon, when it gradually took more interesting forms and spread itself in pretty valleys and wooded hills.  The day was pleasant; and, as we trotted merrily through one of the vales, A——­ pointed to a little rivulet that meandered through the meadows on our right, and praised its beauty.  “I dare say it has a name; inquire of the postilion.”  “Wie ist diesen fluschen?” “Mein Herr, der Donau.”  The Danube!  There was something startling in so unexpectedly meeting this mighty stream, which we had seen rolling its dark flow through cities and kingdoms, a rivulet that I could almost leap across.  It was to us like meeting one we had known a monarch, reduced to the condition of a private man.  I was musing on the particles of water that were gliding past us on their way to the Black Sea, when we drove up to the door of the inn at Tuttlingen.

This was in the Black Forest, and what is more, there were some trees in it.  The wood was chiefly larches, whence I presume the name.  Our host discovered from the servants that we were Americans, and he immediately introduced the subject of emigration.  He told us that many people went from Wurtemberg to America, and gave us to understand that we ought to be glad of it—­they were all so well educated!  This was a new idea, certainly, and yet I will not take it on myself to say that the fact is otherwise.

While we were at breakfast, the innkeeper, who was also the postmaster, inquired where we meant to sleep, and I told him at Schaffhausen, on the Rhine.  He then gave me to understand that there was a long, but not a steep mountain to ascend, which separated the waters of the Danube from those of the Rhine, and that two extra horses would add greatly to the facility of getting along.  Taking a look at the road, I assented, so that we left the inn with the honours of a coach and six.  The effect was evident from the start, and after entering Wurtemberg and travelling through it complaining of the dullness of the teams, we left it with eclat, and at the rate of ten miles the hour.  The frontier of Baden met us again on the summit of the mountain.  Here we got a line and extensive view, that included the lake