in the far horizon; they were covered with snow. The evening being cloudy, we could not at first clearly distinguish their forms; but as the setting sun gleamed upon them, gradually lighting up mountain after mountain with the brightest hues of gold, their forms became apparent, and, in the most extraordinary manner, produced effects that were truly magnificent.

Sometimes, like the lifting of a veil, as the clouds were partially dispelled, they seemed to rise before us, when the gleams of sun on the snowy tops presented a glow of light and gold that had in its brilliancy even a transparent effect; it was not unlike the hues presented by painted glass - dazzling. And then again, here and there, some partial rays of the sun made the mountain tops look like a jewelled crown of carbuncles and to say this is no extravagant expression; for I observed the light upon those lofty summits seemed as the warm rich rays which that jewel sends forth. My husband, at one moment, compared them to the varied, bright, and beautiful hues of the mother

of-pearl shell; and I said (and to this remark both my companions assented) that they reminded me of St. John's description, in the island of Patmos, of jasper ana sardine stone.

We had alighted from the carriage, and we continued to watch the mountains as, one after the other, they were gradually lighted up, till the outline of the Reghi became in part distinctly visible, the rest being hidden by clouds. The chain of heights that presented these wonderful effects were at least sixty miles distant from the spot whence we beheld them.

There was also a chain of fine hills that formed the middle distance; these were now of one perfect ultra-marine tint, and the hills yet nearer to us of pure purple or the deepest brown. A picturesque village and the spire of its church were seen in the foreground, with the Rhine (here of an emerald green, its natural colour) winding its way between banks clothed with wood and verdure. This completed the picture-a picture such as neither poet nor painter could pourtray; since, to give the bright jewel-like effect of the setting sun

reflected by the snow on the distant mountains, would require a depth of tone in the other parts of the painting that would be almost black; and even then the light, obtained by the contrast, would not be of sufficient brightness. Even a transparency could not produce such an effect, because in such a work the air-tints, and the surrounding infinite hues of the most delicate kind, mingling with the earth, sky, and mountains, would be lost. Nature, and nature only, could produce such a picture. one believe it to be possible?·

Yet - would

on the very

summit of the hill which commands this most wonderful scene, there stands a permanent gallows for the benefit of the good, and the exit of the good-for-nothing, of Schaffhausen ! What a total want of being capable of appreciating the poetic charm of such a scene does this indicate in those who gave "the gallowstree" such a station!- to pollute such an eminence with an object of disgust, and to unite to our impressions and recollections of the spot that of the hangman and the hanged!

The entrance to Schaffhausen, down a steep

hill, struck me as highly picturesque; and greatly did I admire the Rhine, which, green as grass in itself, ran foaming past the walls and through the town. A more bright, animating, or beautiful river I have never seen thus intersecting a city; it was cheering to look upon it. The houses were very old; many so picturesqe, that they seemed built for a Stanfield or a Prout. We were all much pleased, and hastened to the Crown Inn, where we took up our quarters. I must now say good night, and so ends my letter, with the assurance that I am

ever

Most affectionately yours,

ANNA ELIZA Bray.

LETTER X.

TO A. J. KEMPE, ESQ., F.S. A.

Schaffhausen.-Swiss Inns.-Their Characteristics, -A Landlord in Trouble-consoled. Romantic Incident. A Swiss young Lady of Condition and her Father. - Excursion to visit the Falls of the Rhine. — An Account of the same. Tower of Worth. Glass Crucifix.

My dear Brother,

SCHAFFHAUSEN, though a place of considerable interest, will not make much figure in description, since all its interest is for the eye; no accounts in writing could give you any adequate idea of the picturesque combinations of its old houses, with their Gothie carvings or curious windows, or their old-fashioned and stuccopainted fronts, some of which are thus decorated from the very top to the bottom. These are objects of curiosity that belong to the ancient parts of the city, and are every day giving place to modern taste and improvement,