Page:Notes ecclesiological and picturesque.djvu/23

6 been destroyed by fire, in 1665; the choir, though too much mutilated to be worth a description, must have been very fine Flamboyant, (1407-1450). Beyond the Inn is the church of S. Gertrude entirely modern. The chief devotion here is that of Maria Hilf, whose church, behind the Inn-Stadt, with the black wonder-working image of Our Lady, is a celebrated pilgrimage. It is reached by an ascent of 264 steps, up which you may see many a devout pilgrim toiling on his knees, and repeating a Pater Noster or Ave at each. Every little print shop has its view of Passau shadowed by the guardian care of Our Lady of Good Help.

The scenery of the Danube from Passau to Linz is very fine; though the rain still continued,the contrast was striking, as we saw it, between the sombre tint of the fir-clad mountains, that rise on either side, and the vivid young green of the spring chesnuts scattere here and there among them. Patches of snow at this, the end of April, still lay heavy on the upper hills, and drifts and tails of cloud dragged themselves here and there over the rocky heights. So down the river, dark, turbid, and swollen,—with half an hour's stoppage at Engelhardtzell, the Austrian frontier,—to Linz. We were at the Rother Krebs, which is on the left bank of the river, and close to the water's edge; very comfortable quarters. The view from the window of our vaulted romm, which ommanded that part of Linz which lies on the other side of the Danube, rather reminded me—to compare small things with great—of that which you have of Cologne from the Belle Vue at Deutz.