ever beheld: upon which they relinquished the cabin to himself, and, excepting a very pretty French girl, came upon deck. Upon hearing her scream violently, I went below to see what influence his countryman could now have over the director: as I was handing her out of the cabin, he forcibly pulled me back, closed the door, and said, in a manner which was perfectly intelligible, though occasionally interrupted by the spasms of intoxication, "I know you, though you think I do not; you are no American, you are an Englishman, and a son of Mr. Erskine the orator; you are here on a secret mission, and your life is in my hands, but I will not betray you." The reply I made was, "I am engaged in no secret mission, my soul would revolt at it, nor can I be the son of my Lord Erskine, for he is now upon the ocean, as ambassador from the court of Great Britain to my country;" to which I added, "that it was in vain for him to attempt to deceive me any longer, for I was satisfied, by his observations respecting America, that he had not been born in that country:" to which, to my no little consternation, he replied, No, nor have I ever been there, I am a German by birth, I was educated by an Englishman who lived at my father's, and I am now in the service of one of the greatest heroes, and the most illustrious of men."

46

I know not whether my life was in peril, but it is

certain my liberty was, and to preserve it, I thought that something should be immediately done: accordingly I anscended the top of the cabin, where all the passengers were assembled in a state of considerable uneasiness, from one of whom I borrowed a bottle of brandy and a coffee-cup, with which I returned to the director, and insisted upon drinking his health in some excellent spirit, and raising my hand and the bottle in a manner which, in his state, prevented him from seeing what I poured out, I affected to fill and drink it off; I then gave him a bumper, which I several times repeated in a similar manner, until the miscreant dropped under the table, where he continued in a state of utter insensibility, and with little appearance of life, until we arrived, which we did in about six hours, at Bonn, when he was taken out of the vessel by some men, conveyed to a house near the banks of the river, and, thank heaven! I saw no more of him, but proceeded with the rest of the passengers to a very neat inn a little way in the city, where we had an excellent dinner and some good white Rhine wine. The stream of the Rhine became less rapid as we approached Bonn, where its waters are shallower than in the neighbourhood of Cologne, where all large vessels ship their cargoes which are destined for any of the towns higher up, into craft constructed peculiarly for the purpose, and which draw much less water. As I determined to sleep at Bonn, I had a favorable opportunity of see

ing this beautiful little city, which enabled the former Electors of Cologne to display their taste by selecting it for their residence. It was elegantly and justly observed by a French lady on board of the boat as we approached the city, Voilà Bonne! c'est une petite perle! no expression could describe it better; when I made my view of it, the dark clouds behind it set off the pearl-like appearance of the palace and buildings. I saw no spot on the Rhine in the shape of a town with which I was so much delighted; it consists of little more than 1,000 houses and 8,000 inhabitants. In the neighbourhood the country begins to undulate, and the vines make a luxuriant appearance. The wine made here and in the adjacent parts is tolerably good; that which grows upon the black basalt hills, further to the southward, is infinitely preferable, black being a powerful agent to attract and retain heat; hence the rents of hills are rather high. So powerful is this colour in attracting and retaining the heat, that a very intelligent friend of mine, who resided for some time in China, informed me, that for the purpose of ripening their fruits as early as possible, the Chinese gardeners paint their garden walls black, and lately in some parts of England this plan has been followed. Every thing in and about the city bears testimony to the enlightened liberality and refined taste of the last of the Electors of Cologne, who was cordially beloved and admired by all classes of his subjects. The building which