ness, that a portion of the hot water at length spilled over on his hand, when he dropped the vessel as if he had been bitten by a snake, and, with a dozen sacres, stood scowling over the broken fragments that lay scattered at his feet. Old and young women were walking along the promenades utterly absorbed in their cup of boiling water, which it required the nicest balancing to keep from spilling over. This intense attention of so many people to the single object of keeping their cups right end up, and yet swing them as far and rapid as possible in order to cool the water, was irresistibly comical. Almost every man's character could be discerned in the way he carried his cup, and the success which attended his operations. Your quiet lazy man sat down on a bench, put his vessel beside him, and crossing his legs, waited with the most composed mien the sure operation of the laws of nature to cool his dose, while the ardent impatient personage kept shaking and blowing his tumbler, and sipping every now and then, to the no slight burning of his lips.

After having watched for a while this to me novel spectacle, I stepped up to the spring and received from a young girl my portion of this boiling broth, and commenced my promenade, presenting, probably, to some other traveller, as ridiculous a figure as those who had just excited my mirth exhibited to me.

The taste of this water, when partially cooled, is precisely like chicken broth. Says a humorous English traveller, of this spring, (Sir Francis Head,) "If I were to say that, while drinking it, one hears in one's ears the cackling of hens, and that one sees feathers flying before one's eyes, I should certainly greatly exaggerate; but when I declare that it exactly resembles very hot chicken broth, I only say what Dr. Grenville said, and what, in fact, every body says, and must say, respecting it, and certainly I do wonder why the common people should be at the inconvenience of making bad soup, when they can get much better from nature's great stock-pot, the Kochbrunnen of Wiesbaden. At all periods of the year, summer and winter, the temperature of this broth remains the same; and when one reflects that it has been bubbling out of the ground, and boiling over, in the very same state, certainly from the time of the Romans, and probably from the time of the flood, it is really astonishing what a most wonderful apparatus

there must exist below, what an inexhaustible stock of provisions to ensure such an everlasting supply of broth always formed of the same eight or ten ingredients, always salted to exactly the same degree, and always served up at exactly the same heat. One would think that some of the particles in the recipe would be exhausted in short, to speak metaphorically, that the chickens would at last be boiled to rags, or that the fire would go out for want of coals; but the oftener one reflects on this sort of subjects, the oftener is the old fashioned observation forced upon the mind, that let a man go where he will, Omnipotence is never from his view."

This water, like that of Saratoga, is good for every thing: for those too fat and those too lean, for those too hot and those too cold, for all ages and conditions and sexes. After having swallowed a sufficient quantity of this broth, and what is better still, a good breakfast, I wandered two miles, through shaded walks, from the Kur Saal to the picturesque ruins of Sonnenberg Castle. Lying down under its shady trees, and away from the noise of the bustling little village, I forgot for a while, Wiesbaden, Kochbrunnen, chicken broth, and all.

This Kur Saal is a magnificent hotel, built by the Duke, and capable of seating several hundred at dinner. The main saloon is 130 feet long, 60 wide, and 50 feet high. The price for dinner is the very reasonable sum of some thirty-four or five cents. Back of this building is an open area with seats in it, where hundreds, after dinner, sit and drink coffee; and farther on, a passable pond, beautiful shrubbery, and countless walks. I hardly know a pleasanter spot to spend a week or two in than Wiesbaden, were it not for the gambling that is constantly practised. In the public rooms of the Kur Saal are roulette tables and other apparatus for gambling, which after dinner, and especially in the evening, are surrounded with persons of both sexes, most of whom stake more or less money. Directly opposite me at dinner, sat a young man whose countenance instantly attracted my attention. He was very pale and thin, while his cold blue eye, high cheek bones, and almost marble whiteness and hardness of features, together with a sullen, morose aspect, made me shrink from him as from some deadly thing. Added to all this, when

he rose from the table, I saw he had an ugly limp, which made him seem more unnatural and monster-like than before.

Wandering soon after through the rooms, seeing what was to be seen, I came to a roulette table around which were gathered gentlemen and ladies of all nations and ages, some of them staking small sums apparently for mere amusement. Just then, this sullen cadaverous looking young man came limping up, and deposited a roll of twenty Napoleons or about $80. A single turn of the wheel, and it was lost. He quietly drew forth another roll, which was also quickly lost. Without the least agitation or apparent excitement he thus continued to draw forth one roll af ter another till ten of them or about $800 were gone. He then as quietly, and without saying a single word, limped away. He had not spoken or changed a muscle the whole time, and manifested no more anxiety or regret than if he had lost only so many pennies. "There," said I to myself, as he sauntered away, "goes a professed gambler, and he has all the qualities for a successful one. Perfectly cool and self-possessed under the most provoking reverses, he does not get angry and rave at fickle, perverse fortune, but takes it all as a matter of business." I then knew, for the first time, why I felt such an antipathy towards him. A gambler carries his repulsive soul in his face, in his eye, nay, almost in his very gait. He makes a chilling atmosphere around him that repels every one that approaches him. Gambling seems to metamorphose a man more than any other crime except murder.

But let us away from this contaminating influence, and forth into God's beautiful world-into the forest, and beauty and bloom of nature, where one can breathe free again, and feel the soothing and balmy influence of the summer wind as it creeps over the mountain ridges. The sun is stooping to the western world, hasting, as it were, to my own beloved land, and the dark forests of the Taunus seem to wave an invitation to their cool shades.

Taking a guide with me, I mounted a donkey and started for "Die Platte," or the duke's hunting seat, four miles distant, on the very summit of the Taunus. For a long while we trotted along together, when, all at once, a flock of deer burst from the thicket, and bounded across our path. Going a little way into the

HUNTING CHATEAU,

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wood, they stopped, and allowed me to urge my donkey to within a few rods of them. Indeed they seemed almost as tame as sheep. I asked my guide what would be the penalty if he should shoot one of those deer. "Three years' imprisonment," he replied. "In my country," said I, "there are plenty of deer, and you can shoot one down wherever you find it, and have it after it is killed." He looked at me a moment, in astonishment, and then simply said, “That must be a strange country." A strange country indeed to him, who was going through a wide unbroken forest, and yet could not even take a wild bird's nest without paying a fine of five florins. At length we reached the duke's hunting seat, a white cubic building, standing alone and naked on the very summit of the hill. Two huge bronze stags stand at the entrance, while immense antlers are nailed up in every part of the hall, and along the staircase, with a paper under each, telling that it was shot by the duke, and the date of the remarkable achievement. I could not but smile at this little piece of ostentation, as I had just seen how difficult it must be to kill one of these deer. I had rode on horseback (or, rather, donkeyback) to within pistol shot of four as fine fellows as ever tossed their antlers through the forest, and then was compelled to halloo to frighten them away. I am afraid the duke would hardly show as many trophies if compelled to hunt his game in our primeval forests. The chief room of this building is circular, and has a row of antlers going entirely around it, halfway up the lofty ceiling; while every piece of furniture in it-chairs, sofas, stools, and all-are made of deer' horns in their natural state. I suppose they must have been steamed and bent into the very convenient shapes they certainly present. The cushions are all made of tanned deer-skins, adorned with hunting scenes, forest landscapes, &c. From the top of this hunting chateau I saw the glorious Rhine, flowing, in a waving line, through the landscape, while cultivated fields and vineyards, and forest-covered hills, and old castles, and towers, and cottages spread away on the excited vision in all the irregular harmony of nature; and the glorious orb of day threw its farewell light over the whole, as it dropped to its repose over distant France. I turned back to Wiesbaden, through the deepening shades of the forest,

greeted ever and anon, by the flitting form of a noble deer, as he bounded away to his evening shelter.

At night the Kur Saal is thronged with persons of both sexes ;— and, as I strolled through it, I came again upon a gambling table, around which were sitting gentlemen and ladies of every age and nation. English girls were teasing their "papas" for a few sovereigns to stake on the turning of a card, and old men were watching the changes of the game with all the eagerness of youth. One lady, in particular, attracted my attention. She was from Belgium, and her whole appearance indicated a person from the upper ranks of society. To an elegant form she added a complexion of incomparable whiteness, which contrasted beautifully with her rich auburn tresses that flowed in ample ringlets around her neck. Clad in simple white, and adorned with a profusion of jewels, she took her seat by the table, while her husband stood behind her chair; and, with her delicate white hand on a pile of money before her, entered at once into the excitement of the game. As she sat, and with her small rake drew to her, or pushed from her, the money she won or lost, I gazed on her with feelings with which I had never before contemplated a woman. I did not think it was possible for an elegant and well-dressed lady to fill me with feelings of such utter disgust. Her very beauty became ugliness, and her auburn tresses looked more unbecoming than the elfin locks of a sorceress. Her appearance and her occupation presented such an utter contrast, that she seemed infinitely uglier to me than the cold-blooded, cadaverous looking gambler I had seen lose his money a few hours before. While I was mentally comparing them, in he came, limping towards the table. I was half tempted to peep round and see if he had not a cloven foot. With the same marble-like features and forbidding aspect he approached and laid down a roll of twenty Napoleons. He won, and putting down another, won again; and thus he continued, winning one after another, till he had got back the ten rolls he had lost before, and two in addition. Then, without waiting for fortune to turn against him, he walked away, not having spoken a word.

Turning to a bath-house, I threw myself into the steaming water for an hour, and then retired to my couch. These baths are so large one can swim around in them, and are arranged in a