Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 20.djvu/538

Rh 520 RHINE deposits are recent Between Bingen and Bonn the Rhine forces its way through a hilly and rocky district belonging to the Devonian formation. The contorted strata of slate and grey wacke rock must have been formed at a period vastly anterior to that in which the lake of the upper valley managed to force an outlet through the enclosing barriers. Probably this section may be looked upon aa the oldest portion of the river course proper, con- necting the upper Rhenish lake with the primeval ocean at Bonn. In this district too, as has already been remarked, is the finest scenery of the Rhiue, a fact due in great part to the grotesque shapes of the quartzose rocks, left denuded of the less durable slate and sandstone. All the strata intersected by the Rhine between Bingen and Bonn contain fossils of the same classes. The deposits of the actual valley here, belonging to the Miocene group of the Tertiary system, are older than the deposits either farther up or farther down the river; but they are contemporaneous with the basalts of the Rhiue, which at Coblentz and in the peaks of the Seven Mountains also contribute to the scenic charm of the river. The very extensive pumice deposits at Neuwied and the lava and other volcanic rocks belong to a more recent epoch. Below Bingen the formations belong almost entirely to the Post-Tertiary period. Numerous extinct volcanoes rise near Neuwied. In the flatter parts of the valley occur large beds of loam and rubble, sometimes in terraces parallel with, but several hundred feet above, the river, proving by their disposition and appearance that the valley has been formed by the action of water. The Rhine has been one of the chief waterways of Europe from the earliest times; and, as its channel is not exposed to the danger of silting up like those of the Elbe and the Oder, it has always been comparatively easy to keep it open. The Romans exerted them- selves to improve the lower navigation of the river, and appointed prefects of the Rhine to superintend the shipping and to exact the moderate dues imposed to keep the channel in repair. The Franks continued the same policy and retained a system of river-dues. Afterwards as the banks became parcelled out among a host of petty princelings, each of whom arrogated the right of laying a tax on passing vessels, the imposts became so prejudicial as seriously to hamper the development of the shipping. Many of the riparian potentates derived the bulk of their revenue from this source, and it is calculated that in the.lSth century the Rhine yielded a total revenue of 200,000, in spite of the comparatively insignificant amount of the shipping. The first proposal for a free Rhine was mooted by the French at the congress of Rastatt (1797-1799), but Holland, commanding the mouth of the river, placed every obstacle in the way of the suggestion. In 1831, on the separation of Holland and Belgium, the former had become more amenable to reason; and a system was agreed upon which practically gave free navigation to the vessels of the riverine states, while imposing a moderate tariff' upon foreign ships. It was not, however, till 1869 that the last vestige of a toll disappeared and the river was thrown open without any restriction. The management of the channel and navigation is now vested in a Central Commission, meeting at Mannheim. The channel has been greatly improved and in many places made more direct since the beginning of the present century, large sums being annually spent in keeping it in order. Capacious river harbours have been formed at various points, about twenty-five of these being in Germany and eight or ten more in Holland. The total weight of the goods forwarded each year on the Rhine has of late amounted to nearly 1,000,000 tons, the chief articles being timber, coal, iron, agricultural produce, and manufactured goods of various kinds. The position of the river is highly favourable for the development of its trade. It flows through the most populous regions of the continent of Europe, to discharge into one of the most frequented seas opposite Great Britain, and, besides serving as a natural outlet for Ger- many, Belgium, and Holland, is connected Avith a great part of central and southern France by the Rhine-Rhone and the Rhine- Marne Canals, and with the basin of the Danube by the Ludwigs- Canal. The introduction of steam has greatly increased the shipping on the Rhine; and small steamers ply also on the Main, the Neckar, the Maas, and the Moselle. The first Rhine steamer was launched in 1817; and now the river is regularly traversed by upwards of a hundred, from the small tug up to the passenger saloon-steamer. The steamboat traffic has especially encouraged the influx of tourists, and the number of passing travellers may now be reckoned as between one and two millions annually. The river is navigable without interruption from Basel to its mouth, a distance of 550 miles, of which 450 lie within Germany. Above Spires, how- ever, the river craft are comparatively small, but lower down vessels of 500 and 600 tons burden find no difficulty in plying. Between Basel and Strasburg the depth of water is sometimes not more than 3 feet; between Strasburg and Mainz it varies from 5 to 25 feet; while below Mainz it is never less than 9 or 10 feet. The deepest point is opposite the Lurlei Rock near St Goar, where it is 75 feet in depth; at Uiisseldorf the depth is about 50 feet. One of the most interesting features of the Rhine navigation is afforded by the huge rafts of timber that are floated down the river. Single tree trunks sent down to the Rhine by the various tributaries are united into small rafts as they reach the main stream; and these again are fastened together to form one large raft about Andernach. Though not so large as formerly, these timber-rafts are still sometimes 400 or 500 feet in length, and are navigated by 200 to 400 men, who live in little huts on the raft, forming actual floating villages. On reaching Dort the rafts are broken up and sold, a single raft sometimes producing as much as 30,000. The voyage from Bingen to Dort takes from one to six weeks, and the huge unwieldy structures require to be navigated with great care. The commerce carried on by the river itself is supplemented by the numerous railways, which skirt its banks and converge to its principal towns. Before the introduction of railways there were no permanent bridges across the Rhine below Basel; but now trains cross it at about a dozen different points in Germany and Holland. The salmon fisheries of the Rhine, lying mainly between Bach- arach and St Goar, have long been famous; but their produce has been seriously diminished since the advent of the steamer. Pike, carp, and other white fish are also caught. A little gold is brought down by the Rhine from the Alps and the heights of the Black Forest, but not in sufficient amount to make its collection of economic value. The white wines of the Rhiue are the finest in the world, though the palm in red wines must be given to the vineyards of Bordeaux. The vineyards lie mainly between Mainz and Bonn, a distance of 90 miles, the choicest varieties of wine being produced in the Rheingau, a picturesque district on the right bank between Rudesheim and Biebrich, about 12 miles long and 5 broad. The well known brands Johamiisberger, Steinberger, Marcobrunner, and Assmannshauser are all grown in this narrow compass. The valleys of the Neckar, the Moselle, the Nahe, and other tributaries of the Rhine also yield good wine; and the valley of the Ahr may be indicated as the northern limit of the wine culture. The total annual value of the Rhenish wines is about 2,400,000. The long array of ancient and flourishing towns along its banks bear witness to the great importance of the river. These are most frequent in the upper Rhenish basin and again below Bonn, the places in the narrower part of the valley being generally more remarkable for their picturesque situation than for their commercial or political influence. Beyond the borders of Germany the only large towns on the Rhine are Basel in Switzerland, and Arnheim, Utrecht, and Leydeu in Holland. Within Germany, as we trace the course of the river form south to north, we come successively to Spires, Mannheim, Mainz, Coblentz, Bonn, Cologne, Diisseldorf, and Wesel. Worms, which was formerly washed by the Rhine, lies about f mile distant from the present course; and Strasburg, which lies on the 111, 2 miles from the Rhiue, may also be reckoned as one of its towns. Politically the Rhine has always played a great part; and it would require no great straining to write a history of this majestic river which would also be a history of the western half of conti- nental Europe. The whole valley seems to have been originally occupied by Celtic tribes, who have left traces of their presence on the contents of tombs and in the forms of names (Moguutiacum or Mainz, Borbetomagus or Worms, &c.); but at the beginning of the historical period we find the Celts everywhere in retreat before the advancing Teutons. Probably the Teutonic pressure began as early as the 4th century before Christ, and the history of the next few hundred years may be summed up as the gradual substitution of a Germanic for a Celtic population along the banks of the Rhine. Its second historical period begins with the advent of the Romans, who stemmed the advancing Teutonic tide. Augustus and his successors took good care to fortify the Rhine carefully, and a large proportion of the Roman legions were con- stantly in garrison here. For two hundred years the Rhine formed the boundary between the Roman empire and the Teutonic hordes; and during that period the left or Roman bank made prodigious strides in civilization and culture. The wonderful Roman re- mains at Treves and elsewhere, the Roman roads, bridges, and aqueducts, are convincing proofs of what the Rhine gained from Roman domination. This Roman civilization was, however, des- tined to be swamped by the cun-ent of Teutonic immigration, which finally broke down the barriers of the Roman empire and overwhelmed the whole of the Rhenish district. Under Charlc- magne, whose principal residence was in Aix-la-Chapellc, the cul- ture of the Rhine valley again began to flourish, its results being still to be traced in the important architectural remains of this period. Atthe partition of the domains of Charlemagne in 843 A.D. the Rhine formed the boundary between Germany and the middle kingdom of Lotharingia; but by 870 it lay wholly within the former realm. For nearly eight hundred years it continued in this position, the frontier of the German empire coinciding more or less with the line of the Rhone. During the early Middle Ages the bank of the Rhine formed the most cultured part of Germany, basing its civilization on its Roman past The Thirty Years' War exercised