floreated ogival Gothic." The edifice owes many of its recent decorations to the influence of Victor Hugo with the Common Council on the occasion of his visit in 1852. There is a museum on the second floor, but the pictures are more interesting from their antiquity than from their merits.

The principal church is that of St Peter, which dates from the end of the 14th century, and is rich in works of art. It has a very delicately sculptured roodloft of the 15th century; and some pictures of the old Flemish school, amongst which is a triptych by Quintin Matsys, representing the Holy Family. In front of the rood-loft is a chandelier in wrought iron by the same artist, who supposed to have been born here about 1450.

The church of St Gertrude has a much-admired spire, and carved oak stalls. St Michael's has some artistically-carved confessionals; and St Jacques's and St Quentin's have some good pictures by Crayer

and others.

The University, formerly one of the most celebrated in Europe, was founded in 1426; suppressed by the French; refounded by William I. in 1817; and is the principal theological school in Belgium.

Passing the small village of Esemael, a few miles beyond

TIRLEMONT (38 miles), we enter the plain of Neerwinden, where the English and their allies, under William III., were beaten by the French under Marshal de Luxemburg in 1693; and where, 100 years later, the army of the French Republic, under Dumouriez, was defeated and driven out of Belgium, by the Austrians, under the Prince of Saxe Coburg.

LANDEN (46 miles) was the birth-place of Pepin, Mayor of the Palace to Dagobert I., and an

ancestor of Charlemagne. The tumulus under which he was buried is still to be seen, and bears his name; but his body was removed to Nivelles, to the monastery founded by his daughter Gertrude.

WAREMME (55 miles) was formerly a place of some importance; the capital of the district called the Hesbaye, and known for the valour of its inhabitants, displayed in all the struggles of the middle ages, between the Bishops of Liege and the Dukes of Brabant, especially in the sanguinary feud between the Seigneurial families of 'Awans and Waroux. A scion of the latter fell in love with a serf of the former family, carried her off, and married her. The feud which arose out of this circumstance 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. We next reach

LIEGE (714 miles).

For description of Liege, and the remainder of the journey to Cologne, see Route 74.

ROUTE 94.

BRUSSELS TO BALE, BY LUXEMBURG AND METZ.

EAVING Brussels by the Great Luxemburg Railway station, in the Quartier Leopold, 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 74. [From Namur a railway branches off by Dinant and Givet (French frontier) to Mezieres-Charleville and SEDAN (see Route 76). Distance from Namur to Sedan about 65 miles. DINANT (14 miles from Namur) is situated on the Meuse, in the midst of extremely picturesque scenery. The church of Notre Dame is a richly decorated Gothic structure. The Town Hall was once the palace of the princes of Liege. GIVET is a French fortress of the firstclass. The town is situated on both banks of the Meuse.]

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 Wamme.

[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), (Hotel: du Nord). 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 20 years later, it has no features of interest. The number of inscriptions, medals, and other remains found here attest 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: see "HOTEL LIST") 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 sove

reign 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. Three-fourths of its garrison were Prussian and the remainder Dutch.

The church of Notre 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.

Tourists going to Treves leave our route here and proceed by another line to Treves, distant about 30 miles.

TREVES (Hotels: see "HOTEL LIST.")

Cabs.-Course, one person, 50 pf.; two persons, 60 pf.; each additional person, 25 pf. Per hour, 1 to 2 m.

Post Office. -Fleisch Street. 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 Caesar, and the occasional residence of several Roman emperors.

The CATHEDRAL, built about 550, unites in its architecture several different styles. The present building measures, with out the treasury, 378 feet in length, 136 in width, and 91 in height. It has three naves and two choirs. The original church formed a square of 118 feet on each side, in the middle of which is a space also square measuring 52 feet, surrounded with arcades, and supported by four strong granite columns. Some changes were made to it in the 17th and 18th centuries, in the style of

those times, but they have since been done away with as much as possible. Amongst the monuments erected in the interior of the cathedral to the archbishops of Treves, the finest is that of the Elector John III. (who died in 1540), next to the wall of the northern nave. Close to the cathedral, to which it is united by beautiful cloisters, is the church of NOTRE DAME, built from 1227 to 1243 in the pure Gothic style. Its entrance is richly ornamented with symbolical figures from the Old and New Testaments. The roof is supported by twelve elegant columns, on each of which an apostle is painted. The church also contains numerous tombs of ecclesiastics.

In the high altar are deposited some curious relics. Among them are the Holy Coat without seam, only shown at rare intervals; a nail from the Cross, and portion of the crown of thorns. the Holy Coat was exhibited in 1844 it brought together over a million pilgrims from all parts of the world. The cathedral is closed from 12 to 2 P.M.

When

Close to these two churches is

the market, also the Red House Hotel, which was the ancient HOTEL-DE-VILLE, a Gothic edifice of the 15th century, bearing the inscription:-"Ante Romam Treviris stetit Annis MCCC." A street in the north of the town, the Simeonstrasse, is terminated by the old Roman gateway, the PORTA NIGRA, also named the Porta Martis, the most import ant of the ancient monuments of Treves, dating probably from the first century of our era. It measures 117 feet in length, 52 in depth in the central part, and 94 in height. It was converted into a church, dedicated to St Simeon, in 1035. The constructions which disfigured it have

been removed. In a hall at the east side of the building is a museum of the Roman antiquities found at Treves. The porter at the baths has the key.

In the south-west quarter of the town are other remains of the Roman period. The BASILICA, built in the beginning of the 4th century, constructed to serve as a tribunal and an exchange. In the Middle Ages it was the residence of the archbishops, afterwards it was used as barracks, and in later days, having been restored, it has been used as a Protestant Church. In the southern part of the town are the Roman baths, entered from the parade-ground and the promenade. The excavations have laid bare the bathing-rooms, and the water-pipes areinexcellent preservation. Toward the east from the baths, and about 500 paces from them, is the AMPHITHEATRE, in the midst of vineclad hills. It is in excellent preservation. It is elliptical in form, and measures 195 feet by

about 150 feet, and, it is estimated, could contain 57,000 people. (That at Verona contained 70,000, the Colosseum at Rome 87,000 persons). The LIBRARY of the city possesses some rare works, both in print and in manuscript. Among others, the Codex aureus, with miniatures, given to the Abbey of St Maximin by Ada, the sister of Charlemagne. The ROMAN BRIDGE over the Moselle is about 615 feet long and 25 feet wide. Parts of the piers date from 28 B. C. in the reign of Augustus.

Treves may be reached from COLOGNE by direct railway in a little less than five hours.

Pursuing the journey from Luxemburg towards Bale, the principal towns passed are METZ, two hours from Luxemburg (see description at page 354), STRASBURG, 4 hours later (see description in Route 143), MULHOUSE, 24 hours farther on (see description at page 360).

(For description of BALE see Route 97.)

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.

Route 96. ROTTERDAM TOUTRECHT, ARNHEM, AND CO

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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 sandhills (or dunes), partially covered with grass or heath, and in some parts from 40 to 50 ft. 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 wickerwork formed of willows woven together. Sometimes their bases are faced with masonry, and in many places they are defended by a breast work 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