Travels in Turkey, Asia Minor, Syria, and across the desert into Egypt ...

SYRIA, EGYPT, GERMANY, &C. 34^
ioekv. Adjacent to the town we saw, on an elevated and rocky-
ground, the remains of a fortress, which about five years before
had been besieged and taken by the French, who had blown up
the castle and works, and destroyed the greater part of the houses
of the place, which belongs to the principality of Melitz. At noon
we arrived at Wurges, a poor village in the province of Westpha-
lia, after a journey over rough and heavy roads, intersecting a hilly
and woody country, abounding in oaks, pines, firs, and beeches.
Having quitted Wurges, we passed, at the end of an hour and a
half, the celebrated spring which supplies the Seltzer water, so
denominated from the adjacency of this spring to the place which
bears that name. We stopped at a neighbouring village, and drank
a bottle of the water, mixed with rhenish wine. It did not appear
to me to be so agreeable to the palate as the artificial water made
in imitation of it by a philosophical process. It is sold in long
stone bottles, containing from three pints to two quarts,
one of
which cost six krutzers ; but the water, without the bottles, bears
half that price only. We were informed that this spring is at pre-
sent the property of the Prince of Grange, who, we were also
told, had paid it a visit on the day preceding our arrival. At that
time it was let to a private individual for a year.
I should have
mentioned that a building is erected over it, and that it is con-
stantly guarded by a centinel. The peasants and laborious classes
in the neighbourhood drink the water, as a
cooling and re-
freshing beverage,
in lieu of beer or wine. In other cases it is
blended with the latter of these
liquors
as a comrrion drink. The
women of Seltzer it
carry on their heads in bottles for sale. The
soil in the neighbourhood of the spring is a reddish earth, mixed
with slate.
At three in the afternoon we arrived at Limbourg, where we
halted for the night. Notwithstanding this is one of the principal
towns of Westphalia, the houses are very indifferent, and the
streets very narrow. It is situated in a flat country, and adjacent
to it there is an extensive manufactory of potters' ware, in which
the bottles
containing the Seltzer water arc made.
We quitted Limbourg on the 10th, at half past five in the morn-
ing; and at eight o'clock arrived at Gubroth. In performing this
stage we passed through a fine corn country, embellished by woodlands
and lawns. Our next stage brought us to Frclingen by a very
rough and bad road leading through a hilly and rocky country
the habitations are wretched
abounding in woods. At this place
( 44 )