The town of Z. is about a mile from the Rhine. I often went to admire that magnificent river, and I whiled away entire hours at the foot of a gigantic ash, dwelling, in my reveries, upon many things, among others, but not without a certain effort, upon the image of my faithless widow. A little madonna, with almost infantine features, whose breast showed a red heart, pierced with swords, looked at me in a melancholy way from the midst of the branches. Upon the opposite side of the river, rose up the town of L., a little larger than that in which I was living. I went one evening as usual to take my seat upon my favorite bench; I looked in turn at the water, the heavens, and the vines. Opposite me some tow-headed children clambered over the tarred hull of a boat that had been left upon the sands of the river, bottom up. Little boats, with sails puffed out by the breeze, advanced slowly; greenish waves passed before me, creeping along, swelling out a little, and then going down with a feeble murmur. Suddenly I thought I distinguished the sound of an orchestra, which re-echoed in the distance. I listened; they were playing a waltz in the town of L. The double bass pealed out at intervals, the violin squeaked confusedly, the whistlings of the flute were quite distinct. "What is it?" I asked of an old man who was approaching me. He wore, after the custom of the country, a plush waistcoat, blue stockings, and buckled shoes. "They are students, who have come from B. for a _commersch_," he replied, after shifting his pipe to the other side of his mouth. "Let us see what is a _commersch_," I said to myself: "besides I have not seen the town of L." I hailed a boatman, and had him take me across the river. II. Many people, no doubt, are ignorant of what this word _commersch_ means. Thus they designate a _fête_ to which come all the students of the same country or of the same society to take part (_Landsmannschaft_). Most of the young men who resort to these gatherings wear the traditional costume of the German students, a frogged surtout, large boots, and a small cap, the lace of which is of the color of the country. The students assemble for the banquet, over which presides a _Senior_, or the oldest of the band, and remain at table until morning. They drink; they sing the _Landesvater_, the _Gaudeamus_; they smoke; they laugh at the Philistines, and often indulge in the luxury of an orchestra.