the most celebrated river in Europe. It is formed by the union of several mountain streams in eastern Switzerland. It flows northward into Lake Constance, then turns westward, forming the boundary between Baden and Switzerland, as far as Basel. It then turns nearly due north and flows through western Germany into the Netherlands. It empties into the sea through several channels known by various names. The total length is about 800 miles. The drainage area is about 86,600 square miles. The ultimate source is a small lake on the slope of the St. Gothard, 7,689 feet above the sea. The Rhine varies in volume--at different places and at different seasons of the year. At Mainz it is about 500 yards in width and from five to twenty-five feet in depth. At Cologne the depth is from ten to thirty feet. At the Dutch frontier the depth is not far from sixty feet. At Schaffhausen, below Lake Constance, are the Falls of the Rhine, the most beautiful cataract in Europe. Still lower in its course there are several rapids and dangerous shoals. One of these is the scene of the celebrated poem, the Lorelei. Above Bingen the river has low banks, giving it a lake-like appearance. Below Cologne and Dusseldorf the country is flat and monotonous. The district between Bingen and Cologne is the picturesque part of the Rhine--the Rhine of literature and of history. The river here passes between precipitous banks and sweeps around lofty promontories. The river bears itself in a lordly, swelling way, as though aware of its own importance. Little villages nestle at the foot of the cliffs. Every now and then the valley widens sufficiently to give footing for a town or city of considerable size. Wherever the bluffs have a southern exposure they are clothed with vineyards and fruit orchards. Lofty and seemingly inaccessible, yet castle-crowned, crags look down over the wide, winding expanse of the river. This section of the Rhine is without doubt the most frequented scenic region in Europe. Over 100 passenger steamers ply its waters, conveying upward of 1,000,000 passengers annually. The trip from Cologne to Mainz occupies about twelve hours; the downward trip about seven hours and one-half. Steamers touch at the piers of the principal points. Light skiffs lie in waiting to take off passengers almost anywhere. The banks are so precipitous and the channel turns so abruptly that at times it seems as though the steamer were going into a pocket, yet, ere the end is reached, another expanse opens out before. "The castled crag of Drachenfels"; the Seven Mountains, with their thirty peaks; the beautiful island of Nonnenwerth; the quaint old town of Andernach, with its picturesque crane and the "Watch-Tower on the Rhine;" the Bridge of Boats at Coblenz; the lofty fortress of Ehrenbreitstein; the octagonal King's Seat, where electors met to choose an emperor; the rocks of the Lorelei, the pentagonal tower of the Pfalz; the queer old fortifications of Bacharach; the Mouse-Tower of the Rhine; Bingen, and Niederwald Monument;--with vineyards, castles, and half hidden spires crowd the day's journey from Cologne to Mainz with pictures of unsurpassed beauty. The Rhine is the river of song and story. It is celebrated in the myth of Siegfried and the Nibelungenlied. It has long been the historic waterway of Europe. Caesar crossed it on a bridge of timbers. Invading hordes of Goths, Vandals, and Germans crossed the Rhine repeatedly. The Rhine is the cradle of German civilization, the river of the German Fatherland. Its passage is today disputed by the strongest fortifications in inland Europe. The Rhine country has excellent accommodations for travelers. In addition to steamers, a macadamized road follows each bank. Villages and comfortable inns are found every mile or two, giving these roads the aspect, almost, of continuous streets. Stage routes branch off every few miles. Counting steamships and sailing ships there were in 1902 9,574 freighting vessels on the Rhine. Rafts of timber float slowly down to the Dutch markets. The fisherman sits idly in his boat waiting for salmon, sturgeon, pike, or carp. The gardener's wife clatters along the road in wooden shoes sharing with the house dog the task of drawing her vegetable cart to market. Rivulets come tumbling down the cliffs. Cool springs break out from the rocks. In autumn, when the air is cool and leaves are changing color, when luscious grapes are abundant and morning mists obscure the reaches of the river and the gray old castles above, the Rhine region is a paradise for the bicyclist. See MAINZ; BINGEN; COBLENZ; EHRENBREITSTEIN; MOSELLE; BONN; COLOGNE; DUSSELDORF, etc.