teresting chat with the landlord about America, he having resided some time in New Orleans with his wife and child.

We had pulled in here only just in time to avoid another smart storm, and were more than delighted to return once again to our semi-bargee style of life.

The next day, Sunday, we staid on board, floating towards Mannheim on the broad bosom of the mighty river. With a beautifully bright sun above us and an atmosphere cooled by last night's rain, everything looked fresh and happy. No one could have mistaken that morning for any other morning of the week; for from the quiet appearance of the sky, and the earth, and the trees, and the cattle, one would have declared that it was Sunday, such an air of rest pervaded everything-save the river,but even this having now collected itself into one broad stream, swells in silent majesty onwards in its course towards the ocean. So profoundly quiet did everything seem, that when we no longer broke the silence with our voices, not a sound fell on the ear, even of a ripple against the boat side. Now and then, perhaps, we should hear the splash of some fish which had risen above the water in pursuit of its prey, or the faint booming of some dis

tant church bell; but beyond these all was stillness. It proved so thoroughly enjoyable during the whole of the day, that we were not tempted to land once; we did not even visit the Cathedral of Speyer, which, we understood, had lately undergone extensive restorations. Between Philipsburg and Mannheim there are many artificial cuttings, through which the greater part of the stream now flows, and these being more direct than the original bed of the river, the distance is much shortened.

On reaching Mannheim in the evening, we shot the bridge of boats, to the delight and astonishment of those who happened to be crossing, as well as many other persons on the banks of the river. It was rather amusing too, being compelled to introduce a hitherto unknown phrase in boating, for the bridges are so low that we were obliged to lie flat in the boat whilst passing under, to avoid a blow which would otherwise peril our heads. The Captain was wont therefore to give his orders— 'Ship-Duck !'—which were as promptly obeyed. It was not always that we could shoot these bridges, some of them, like one we passed to-day at Rhein-bad, being so very low that we were compelled to lift the boat out and carry her over.

We stopped just outside the Hôtel de l'Europe,

and the proprietor in ecstacy informed us that 'this was the two English boat that have here been;' in allusion, no doubt, to the first Water Lily,' the performance of her crew having left a wonderful impression on the minds of the good folks of Mannheim, although the stories they tell about her are sometimes scarcely credible; for instance, we were informed that she was no thicker than paper, and that it had only taken her crew little more than an hour to row from Mannheim to Heidelberg, a distance of twelve miles, against a strong current.

The hotel keeper paid us every attention, took us to see the Bier Keller' (where we discovered from two to three hundred people of all classes unanimously occupied in imbibing beer), and amused us in the course of the evening by telling us how much beer a Bavarian can drink at a sitting, and how many barrels of beer were consumed every Sunday at the 'Keller.'

CHAPTER X.

HEIDELBERG- -A SCHLAGER FECHT.

Lied der Lieder, hall'es wieder:
Gross und deutsch sei unsre Muth.
Seht hier den geweihten Degen,
Thut, wie brave Burschen pflegen
Und durchbohrt den freien Hut!

Seht ihn blinken in den Linken,
Diesen Schläger, nie entweiht
Ich durchbohr' den Hut und schwöre,
Halten will Ich stets auf Ehre,
Stets ein braver Bursche sein.

W

E had stowed the boat for the night in the same stable that the • Water

Lily,' during her so

journ at Mannheim, had used for a boathouse; and in the

morning the waiters,

&c., of the Hôtel

de l'Europe, being somewhat too gentlemanly, in their own opinion, to lend a hand in carrying

the boat to the water, we shouldered her ourselves, to the surprise of the Kelner, who seemed to think that the least that we could have done would have been to have hired four porters for the purpose. The flood gates of the canal, which here joins the Rhine with the Neckar by a short cut, were closed, owing to the great height of the water in the former river; we therefore pulled down to the mouth of the Neckar, and once more commenced work against stream.

Near the suspension bridge, which carries the main road to Groszsachsen, we discovered a small steamer ready to start for Heidelberg; we therefore commenced a race with her, and after pulling away for about a quarter of an hour, we had drawn ahead of her; but of course we had put on a pace that we could not keep up for any length of time, so we laid on our oars, and dropped astern again. The few passengers on board the steamer wished us very much to renew the race, and endeavour to overtake them, but we respectfully declined, for we found the stream getting much stronger as we advanced. In fact, we had as great difficulty in pulling through the railway bridge at Ladenberg, as we formerly had at Melun. There are very frequent shallows in this river also, for being small it