The Danube: its history, scenery and topography / [William Beattie].

  • William Beattie
Date:
[1844?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The Danube: its history, scenery and topography / [William Beattie]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    [33nft0r(a. tlian snail-soup, however skilfuUj' prepai’ed.' Every coimtry, however, has its par- tialities— “ If corn or oil be scarce;—if vintage fails, France has her frogs, and Germany her snails. What need to fast ? Explore the marsh and wood, And find in snail and frog a luscious food ! ‘ Eat flesh and perish !’ cries my grave confessor, But feed on snails, and thou art no transgressor. ” .M . . . But it is now time to proceed, and, leaving tliis item in the pubhc revenue under the protection of goveniment, we shall notice the various subjects selected for illustra- tion as tlicjy occm’ in our progress down the river. ULM TO LINZ. “ Le Fleuve, en son heureux passage, R^fl^chit de ses bords la fertile beaute, Et baigne de ses eaux lentement fugitives Tous ces monts de verdure eleves sur ses rives.”—La Harpe. Leaving Ulm by the bridge, we have Whtembiu'g on the left, and Bavaria on the right, a broad and Hat expanse of country, bounded by a distant chain of mountains, wliich mark the bold outhne of the Tyrol. The objects which diversify the landscape are few and inconsiderable; the countiy has the appearance of a vast plain, with here and there shght undulations of siu’face, a clump of wood, a hamlet-church, a grey convent, a cluster of peasants’ houses, the scliloss of a ‘ freyherr,’ groups of peasants at labom- in the field, cattle at pasture ; but aU so scattered that the animation wliich they would otherwise com- municate to the landscape is lost; and the traveller feels as if he had commenced his journey through a province from which the ancient settlers had been suddenly expelled or withdrawn. Except in the more southern districts of the kingdom, where it com- prises the Alpine range, Bavaiia is generally flat, but well watered, and fertile in nearly aU the vaiieties of agricidtural produce. The marshes, however, ai'e very ex- tensive ; that called the Donaumoos or great fen of the Danube, covers about thirty squai’e leagues. The climate varies according to the districts, which ai’e divided into upper and lower; but in general the ah is salubrious and of this the robust ajipearance of the inhabitants affords the best evidence. The soU, however, is much neglected; and were it cultivated agreeably to the new system of agiicultm’e now so ' Falheim, and Leipliim, on tlie Bavarian side of the river, enjoy a sort of hereditary renown as the best snail-feeding districts.
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