cumstance lasted from 1290 to 1335, and is said to have cost 32,000 lives. At FEXHE (62 miles) we see, on the right, the Castle of Bierset. ANS (67 miles) stands on an elevation 450 ft. above the Meuse. The descent, for upwards of two miles, is very abrupt, and the cars are let down an inclined plane by cables worked by stationary engines. We next reach LIEGE (714 miles). For description of Liége, and the remainder of the journey to Cologne, see Route 56. ROUTE 72. BRUSSELS TO NAMUR, ARLON, LUXEMBURG AND TREVES. 1694 miles; first class, 22.95 francs; second, 17:45 fiancs; third, 11.80 francs. EAVING Brussels by the Great Luxemburg Railway station, in the Quartier Léopold, we reach OTTIGNIES (13 miles), the junction of the lines from Louvain, Charleroi and Mons. Passing several other stations of no note, we enter several deep cuttings as we near Namur, then, proceeding across the fine valley of the Sambre, reach NAMUR (35 miles), described in Route 56. From Namur we pass on through a succession of charming views to CINEY (53 miles), formerly a Roman station, in the neighbourhood of which many of the most interesting objects in the Namur Museum have been found. We shortly afterwards reach JEMELLE (71 miles), where a cave is to be seen called the Grotte de la Wammé. [If the tourist desires to visit. the wonderful Grottes de Han, he must alight at Jemelle, where he will find an omnibus for Rochefort, which will also conduct him. to the village of Han, from which the grottoes may be reached on foot, in about half an hour. These Trous, as they are called by the country people, are the greatest natural curiosities in the country, and consist of a series of caverns, through which the Lesse runs for a considerable distance. The effects of the torch-light upon the stalactites is very striking. The time occupied in passing through these caverns is usually about an hour and a half, the distance being about a mile.] The next place of interest is ARLON (118 miles), (Hotels: du Nord, Schneider), population 5,700. This is the chief town of Belgian Luxemburg, entirely destroyed by the French under the Duke of Guise, in 1558, sacked by the Dutch in 1604, and again by the French in 1651, and dismantled of its fortifications twenty years later, it has no features of interest. The number inscriptions, medals, and other remains found here attes: its ancient importance as a Roman town. There is a very extensive view from the terrace of the old Capuchin convent. In the neighbourhood of Arlon, are the ruins of the Abbey of Orval, one of the most extensive and wealthy establishments in Belgium, destroyed by the French in the last century. LUXEMBURG (138 miles), (Hotels: de Cologne, de Luxemburg, de l'Europe), population 12,100, is the capital of the Grand Duchy which gives its title to the King of Holland. From Arlon to Luxemburg German is the language of the country. The principal celebrity of this place is derived from its strength as a fortress; and the negotiations, which led to its partial dismantlement, when some idea was entertained by its sovereign of transferring it to France, a few years since, will be fresh in the mind of the reader. Situated upon an almost inaccessible rock, it was naturally occupied as a defensive position in very early times, and is said to have been so under the Emperor Gallienus in 260. Threefourths of its garrison were Prussian and the remainder Dutch. The church of Nôtre Dame is of the seventeenth century, and contains an "Ascension," by Abraham Gilson, an "Adoration of the Magi," attributed to Otto Venius, and the tomb of Jean l'Aveugle, King of Bohemia. Leaving Luxemburg, we proceed for some distance along the bank of the Sure to its confluence with the Moselle at Wasserbillig. Crossing the Sure at this point, we reach the frontier of Prussia. At Igel, about six miles from Treves, there is a remarkable quadrangular Roman obelisk, upwards of 70 feet in height, engraved with inscriptions and basreliefs. TREVES (169 miles), (Hotels: Trierescher Hof, Das Rothe Haus), population, 21,240. This ancient and interesting town, the capital of Trier, in Rhenish Prussia, is situated on the River Moselle. It was formerly the capital of the Treviri, a powerful people mentioned by Cæsar, and the occasional residence of several Roman emperors. In the middle ages it became an archbishopric, the archbishop being arch-chancellor of the empire, and second in rank as an elector, giving the first vote. The archbishopric and electorate were abolished by the treaty of Luneville, in 1801. The cathedral of St. Peter and St. Helena is built in the early Byzantine style, and is supposed to have been part of the residence of the Empress Helena. The church of St. Simeon is supposed to have been built in the early part of the fourth century, in the time of Constantine. This is one of the most important Roman monuments in Germany, and was consecrated as a place of Christian worship in the eleventh century. The old Roman gateway (Porta Nigra), since Treves has been in the possession of Prussia, has been restored as far as possible to its original state. Few cities are richer in Roman remains than Treves. It was so important a city that Ausonius called it the second city of the Roman Empire. The palace of the elector-prelates is now a barrack, and stands upon the site of an old Roman building which is supposed to have been the residence of Constantine. Some parts of the walls are 90 ft. high and 10 ft. thick. There are also remains of baths, and of an amphitheatre where Constantine entertained the people with what he termed Frankish Games-the sight of thousands of unarmed prisoners exposed to slaughter by savage beasts. This amphitheatre is estimated to have been capable of holding 20,000 persons. The bridge over the Moselle is supposed to have been founded in the reign of Augustus, B. c. 28. Not least amongst the relics to be mentioned at Treves is the Holy Coat of Our Saviour, in the cathedral, which was exhibited to the faithful in 1844, upon which occasion it is said to have been shown to more than a million persons, assembled from all parts of the world. From Treves a pleasant excursion may be made to Coblenz, on the Rhine, by steamer, down the Moselle. The distance is 150 miles, and the time occupied, when there is a good stage of water, is about sixteen hours, but the running of the steamers is uncertain. Persons preferring a more rapid means of reaching the Rhine may go to Saarbruck, 77 miles by railway, and thence to Bingen. (See Route 57.) 'HE Netherlands, or Low Countries, are usually spoken of by the general term of Holland, which,however, properly speaking, only applies to the provinces of North and South Holland. The Kingdom of the Netherlands is bounded on the north and west by the German Ocean, on the south by Belgium, and on the east by Germany. Its length from north to south is about 150 miles: its mean breadth is about 100 miles, diminished in the northern part of the territory by the great inlet called the Zuyder Zee. The entire area of the provinces constituting the Kingdom of the Netherlands is 13,464 square miles. The Netherlands, as the term implies, are low countries, with a level surface. A great part of the country, bordering on the coasts, is below the level of the ocean, in some places more than 40 feet below high-water mark. The sea is prevented from overflowing the land partly by natural and partly by artificial means. From the channel of the Helder southward along the shores of the North Sea, the coast is protected by a line of natural sand-hills (or dunes), par 74. ROTTERDAM TO UTRECHT, ARNHEM AND Co LOGNE 341 tially covered with grass or heath, and in some parts from 40 to 50 feet in height, and in other parts of the country the encroachments of the sea are prevented by artificial dykes, which are constructed chiefly of earth, sloping gradually from the sea, and usually protected in the more exposed parts by wicker-work formed of willows woven together. Sometimes their bases are faced with masonry, and in many places they are defended by a breastwork of piles, intended to break the force of the waves. Holland, although popularly described as a country without mountains, trees, or running waters, is by no means uninteresting or devoid of picturesque scenery. The principal rivers are the lower courses of the Rhine, the Meuse and the Scheldt: the two latter each divide near their mouths into two main streams, all of which are connected together by other channels, the whole forming an extensive delta, with a great number of islands. The country has numerous lakes or meers, mostly of small size, and adjoining the coast. A vast number of the meers have been completely drained, and their bottoms converted into rich pasture land. The drainage of the Dutch meers commenced as far |