_5th._ At nine in the evening we left Brussels by the Porte de Louvaine, and drove on to Tervueren, through a fine forest of beech trees; at the extremity of which is situated the summer chateau of the Prince of Orange, which, in external appearance, hardly equals the country residence of an English gentleman. From thence we proceeded to Louvaine, or Löwen; where we only stopped to change horses. The Hôtel de Ville is one of the finest specimens of gothic architecture in the Netherlands; but we could only catch a hasty view of it as we drove by and went on to Thirlemont, where we dined, and after dinner proceeded to St. Troud, which we made our resting-place for the night.
_6th._ We quitted St. Troud after breakfast, in the midst of rain and snow, for Liege, or Lüttich, where we made no stay, but passed on to Battices. Between this last place and Aix-la-Chapelle, we crossed the boundary of the Netherlands, and entered upon the Prussian territory. The custom-house officers were very civil; and Count Bülow's _besonders empfohlen_, (particularly recommended), written in his own hand on Sir Humphry's passport, was of great utility. We entered Aix-la-Chapelle in the evening; and passing by the new theatre and the bath rooms, which are pretty, but small buildings, we drove to the grand hotel, which was neither grand nor comfortable. Our book for this evening was Swift's "Tale of a Tub."
_7th._ Left Aachen, (the German name for Aix), and passed on to Jülich, the first Prussian fortress. From thence we proceeded to Bergheim: after which we passed over a wide sandy flat, rendered in many parts almost impassable, by the previous heavy rains. A league or two before we reached Cologne, the many and gloomy steeples of the once holy city rose to view; amongst which, the colossal mass of its splendid but unfinished cathedral stood prominent. The fortifications before the town are thickly planted with shrubs, so that from a distance they have more the appearance of sloping green hills, than walls of defence. Passing over numerous drawbridges, and under one of the ancient gateways, we drove through many dark and narrow streets to the Cour Imperiale.
_8th._ In the morning we left Cologne to the protection of its eleven thousand virgins, and started for Coblentz. At Bonn, we merely changed horses, and drove on to the little post-town of Remagen, leaving the summits of the celebrated seven mountains, _the castled crag of Drachenfels_, Rolandseck, and the towers of the convent of Nonnenwerth, as yet surrounded only by bare and leafless trees, behind us. Here we dined; and then continued our route along the banks of the Rhine, which was very turbid and swollen, to Andernach, and from thence to Coblentz. The scenery, which I had formerly beheld in all its summer glory, as well as in its rich autumnal tints, was now not only shorn of its beauty, but enveloped in mist and cloud.