Camping Voyages on German Rivers, etc

Front matter

CAMPING VOYAGES ON GERMAN EIVEES THE WERRA AT MEININGEN CAMPING VOYAGES ox GERMAN RIVERS BY ARTHUR A. MACDONELL, M.A. CORPUS CHRISTI COLLEGE, OXFORD Olli remig-io noctemque diemque fatigant Et longos superant flexus variisque tegwntur Arboribus, viridesque secant placido aequore silras. Vergil. WITH FRONTISPIECE AND TWENTY MAPS LONDON: EDWARD STANFORD 26 & 27 COCKSPUR STREET, CHARING CROSS, S.W. 1890 [The right of translation is reserved] DEDICATED TO the five frten&s OWING TO WHOSE COMPANIONSHIP THESE VOYAGES ARE AMONG THE PLEASANTEST MEMORIES OF MY LIFE.

Preface

The subject of German rivers from the point of view of boating expeditions has never before been treated as a whole. The author having navigated a distance of nearly 2000 miles in Germany has at least the qualification of a more extensive knowledge of that subject than is possessed, he believes, by any one else. Brief accounts of the whole or part of some of the streams described in the following pages have been written by others. The Weser is treated of in a small work entitled Camp Life on the Weser (pp. 53 ; London, 1879). The experiences of a voyage on a part of the Ehine and on the Main from Wurzburg in flood -time are narrated in the Log of the Waterlily (pp. 59 ; London, 1852). The Waterlily on the Danube (pp. 216 ; London, 1853), and a chapter of A Thousand Miles in the Rob Roy Canoe (pp. 318 ;

PREFACE.

London, 1866), by my countryman, Mr. John Mac- Gregor, contain accounts of excursions on different parts of the Danube. The present work, on the other hand, may claim a certain completeness as describing, with one ex ception, all the German rivers which it would be worth the while of Englishmen to attempt to navi gate. The Oder, as well as the lower courses of the Elbe and Ehine, traverses regions so extremely flat and uninteresting that no one would think of going down it except for the purpose of rowing or sail ing only. But the streams treated of in the following pages flow through all the finest river scenery in Germany, constituting in fact a large proportion of the natural beauties of that country in general. The one exception above referred to is the Lahn. The course of that tributary passes through a very picturesque region.

It is navigable from Wetzlar, a distance of from seventy to eighty miles. The locks on it between that town and its confluence with the Ehine are, however, said to be rather old and neglected. It would doubtless be possible to come down this stream from Marburg, a town about 100 miles from its mouth, in a canoe if not in a rowing-boat.

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IX The writer hopes that the perusal of his book may suggest some charming haunts to many of those who prefer to recruit their strength far from the madding crowd. A boating excursion is, how ever, certainly the most delightful way of spending a holiday in the regions he describes. It combines the most healthy form of physical exercise with absolute freedom from the dust, the stifling heat, and the worry of railway travelling in summer. The voyager, while passing through some of the finest scenery in the country, is always at liberty to refresh himself with a bathe or rest in the shade on the banks whenever and wherever he pleases. He also enjoys many opportunities of visiting interesting places, often not easily accessible in any other way, as well as of becoming acquainted with the natives in a manner which would otherwise not be possible.

If the expedition is a camping voyage, it is at the same time the cheapest form of travelling on the Con tinent. The expense of a month's holiday thus spent need not amount to more than £20 at the outside for each member of the party. This sum would include railway fares, freight of boat and luggage, cost of boat, tent, and the remaining requisites for camp-

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X ing. It is in the long-run decidedly cheaper to buy one's equipment. For it could be sold on one's return at a loss amounting to less than the sum paid for hire ; while if it be retained till used again, the expense of each subsequent voyage would be reduced to half that of the first. The cost of living when camping is extremely small. The writer, for instance, remembers once spending during the voyage on the Neckar no more than five shillings on a twenty-four hours' supply of provisions, including beer, for five men. The author trusts that the reader may also derive some amusement from the experiences re corded in the following pages, as well as a certain amount of instruction from the information which, scattered throughout the book, and in many cases not otherwise accessible, bears on the characteristics, the scenery, the inhabitants, and the historical associations of the river valleys described.

He only regrets that owing to the press of work entailed by professional duties, no less than by various necessary avocations, he has been enabled to devote but a very small amount of leisure to writing this book, much less to rendering its style

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XI as attractive as he might have hoped to make it under more favourable conditions. The work is based on notes taken down each day during the course of the voyages which it records. The maps of the Werra and the Neckar, as well as of the upper courses of the Main and the Danube, which it contains, may be regarded as thoroughly trustworthy, being reproduced from the maps of the German Ordnance Survey. The additional details as to obstructions, such as weirs and mills, given in them, being supplied from the personal observation of the writer, are not obtainable elsewhere, and should therefore prove of value to those who may use them for practical purposes. The large general map, besides affording a com prehensive view of the river system of Germany, furnishes, along with the letterpress, as much in formation as the navigator wants with regard to the railways and towns on the banks of the larger rivers.

An Appendix, giving tables of distances and lists of obstructions, besides other practical details, has been added. The book concludes with an Index, which will

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XII probably enhance both its practical value and its general interest. In conclusion, the author ventures to express a hope that such of his readers as may navigate the streams he describes, or other German waters, will, through his publisher, bring to his knowledge any inaccuracies they may discover, or new information they may acquire. He would gladly incorporate their notes in a second edition, should this work ever attain to that distinction. London, 2%th June, 1890. CONTENTS Preface Pages vii-xii

Chapter I Introductory

Early voyages— India— Germany— English rivers— Preparations for a continental voyage !*"

Chapter II The Werua

Meiningen— The start— First camp— Wading for four hours in the dark— Wernshausen— CampatSalzungen— Trespassing— Vacha —Camp near Philippsthal— Lengers— Shooting mill -weirs- Swampy camp at Berka— Herleshausen— Transformation scene in the train— Visit to the Wartburg— Beautiful scenery near Falken— Inn at Falken— Wannfried— Accident in mill-stream —Eschwege : first lock— Allendorf— Lindewerra— Old scenes— Witzenhausen— Cherry country— Miinden . . . 10-41

Chapter III The Weser

Start from Miinden-First sail-Holzminden-German view of exercise— Struggle with an adverse gale— Hameln— The Professor's despair— Rinteln— Mistaken for raftsmen— The Pro- CONTENTS fessor's wrath — Porta Westphalica — Delay at Minden — Row and sail all night — Accidents — Renewed struggle with haul wind — Pitiless rain — Leak — Exhaustion — Triumph — Bremen : 105 miles in twenty-six hours .... Pages 42-59

Chapter IV The Neckar

The crew — Preparations — Strange influence of curry-powder — The Neckar gradus — Start from Cannstatt — Camp near Munster — Sleeplessness — Merry jests — Bad leak — Tlie Neckar a great bathing river — Hoheneek — Camp above Marbach, Schiller's birthplace — Mundelsheimer wine — Its effects — Third camp — The miller's erroneous views about Englishmen corrected — The sentimental singer — An outrageous snorer — Heron Reach — Besigheim — Dangerous rapid at Eirchheim — Camp above Lauffen — Heilbronn — The Captain's oratory — Wurtemberg v. Imperial post-cards — Camp near Neckarsulm — Chain-steamers — Their diabolical nature — Repairing boat — Stay at Wimpfen — Fine scenery steadily increasing in beauty — Woods nearBinau — Eberbach — First Officer's illness — Row on in the dark — Stop at Neckarsteinach — Magnificent scenery — Heidelberg — First Officer rests there for a day — Camp below Heidelberg — Dangers from towing-ropes — Beturn to Heidelberg — Start again — Rain — Camp below Ladenburg — Mannheim — Confluence of the Neckar and the Bhine 60-91

Chapter V The Rhine

Uninteresting scenery below Mannheim — Break an oar — Worms — Historical and legendary associations — Rowing-club — Camp below Worms — Visit of gendarme — The Interpreter's irritation — Flings one of his garments into the Rhine — Nierstein — Futile attempt to camp on an island — Nieder - Walluf — Fine scenery — Statue of Germania at Niederwald — Romantic ruins — Rhine inferior to some other German rivers in natural beauty — Bacharach — Dangerous race with a steamer— Bathe opposite Lurlei rocks — St. Goar — Boppard — Coblenz . . 92-106 CONTENTS XV

Chapter VI The Moselle

Treves — Characteristics of the Moselle audits advantages for a boating excursion — Mistaken politeness of the inhabitants of Treves towards strangers — The start — Keel-music — Camp in an imperial meadow — Visit of country policeman — Keel-mending — Heavy rain — Stay at Neumagen — Rudersportliqueur — Tortuousness of the river — The Braune Berg — Berncastel — Beautiful scenery near Trarbach — Camp near Burg — Plague of white moths — Visit of German sculler and of two Englishmen — Great curve in the Moselle round the Marienburg — Alf — Bow's opinion about it — Cochem — Camp above Pommern — Photographic surprise — Different character of the Moselle below Cochem — Disagreeable odour accelerates the pace of the boat — Coblenz again — Dispersal of the crew Pages 107-131

Chapter VII The Main

Bayreuth — Advantages of the Main as a boating river — Camp belowDrossenfeld — Wind — Eain — Loss of sleep andumbrellas — Water-wheels — Toilsome day — Upset — Losses — Miller at Steinhausen — Second upset — Boat damaged — Repaired at Kulmbach — Lichtenfels — Bamberg — Hassfurt — Schweinfurt — Wiirzburg — Beautiful scenery — Gemunden — Lohr — Miltenberg — Aschaffenburg — Beturn 132-165

Chapter VIII The Moldau And The Elbe

Prague — Long hunt for the boat — Bohemian officials — The start — Kralup — Bohemian barrel-organist — Melnik — Its fine situation — Junction of the Moldau and Elbe — Leitmeritz, the garden of Bohemia — Schreckenstein — Crossing the line — Publican's compensation bill : sixpence — Aussig, the coal-port of Bohemia — Its odious character — Sleepless night — Rain — Bodenbach — Beautiful scenery — Herrnskretschen — Prebischthor — Schandau — Pabststein — Bastei — Pirna — Old friends — Floods — Dresden ......... 166-1S3 CONTENTS XVI