Germany, Bohemia, and Hungary, Visited in 1837. Vol. IIGleig, G. R. (George Robert)
History
Germany, Bohemia, and Hungary, Visited in 1837. Vol. II
Gleig, G. R. (George Robert)
Austria -- Description and travel; Bohemia (Czech Republic) -- Description and travel; Germany -- Description and travel
Though I have, perhaps, said more respecting the scenery of this part
of Bohemia than was necessary, I cannot omit to mention, that from the
brow of a hill which we ascended soon after our host quitted us, we
obtained as glorious a view of a cultivated mountain district as the
eye of man will probably rest upon in any quarter of the world. The
abundant wood of this fine country gives, indeed, to all its
landscapes, a charm which there needs but the presence of water to
complete, and to the particular scene on which we now looked down,
water happened not to be wanting. From the bosom of the river which
flows past Troutenau, the sun's rays were reflected; and as its course
lay through groves and fells,--now hidden between overhanging rocks,
now emerging again into a wide valley,--the effect was altogether very
striking. Moreover, to a varied and picturesque extent of hill and
vale, forest and green meadow, hamlet and town,--the latter either cast
into the recess of some deep glen, or straggling upwards along the
mountain side,--the Riesengebirgen formed the back ground; bald, and
frowning in all the majesty of rocky shoulders and snow-clad summits.
It was, indeed, a glorious view, and it tempted us to linger so long in
the enjoyment of it, that we did not reach our quarters,--the
comfortable inn at Aderspach,--till near eight o'clock.
There befel nothing during our progress from this beautiful spot, till
we arrived at the place where we had resolved to pass the night, of
which I need be expected to give a detailed account. All travellers on
foot, through strange countries, must expect to lose their way
occasionally; and we formed no exception to the general rule. Moreover,
our mishaps, this day, were the more provoking, that we chanced to have
penetrated into a comparatively thinly-peopled region, the two villages
which we traversed lying far apart one from the other, and there being
no hamlets nor detached houses to keep up the communication. Nor were
we, as it seemed, the only pedestrians to whom the district was
strange. As we were passing through a deep forest, at a point admirably
suited to deeds of violence, we met a couple of Torpindas, who stopped
us to inquire the way to the nearest town; at least I conclude that
this was their object, from the peculiar gestures which they used, and
the intonation which they gave to their voices; for as to their words,
of these I could make nothing. Having just been stuffed with a tale of
their lawless habits, the sight of these persons threw me, of course,
on the alert. I grasped the butt of my gaff-stick,--an excellent
weapon, about the length and weight of a policeman's staff,--and braced
up my nerves for the melee. But when we stood face to face, all idea
that they would venture to begin the fray vanished. Though they were
young men, in the prime of life, probably not more than five or
six-and-twenty, I verily believe, that with the weapons which nature
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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