Page:The Works of J. W. von Goethe, Volume 12.djvu/99

Rh with quartz, and is porous: in it are found large pieces of very solid jasper, in which, again, are to be seen little round pieces of a kind of breccia, A specimen would have been very instructive, and one could not help longing for one. The rock, however, was too solid; and I had taken a vow not to load myself with stones on this journey.

Sept. 6, 1786.

At half-past twelve on the 5th of September, I set off for Ratisbon. At Abbach the country is beautiful, while the Danube dashes against hmestone rocks as far as Saal; the limestone somewhat similar to that at Osteroda, on the Hartz,—close, but, on the whole, porous. By six I was in Munich; and, after having looked about me for some twelve hours, I will notice only a few points. In the Sculpture Gallery I did not find myself at home. I must practise my eye, first of all, on paintings. There are some excellent things here. The sketches of Rubens from the Luxembourg Gallery caused me the greatest delight.

Here, also, is the rare toy, a model of Trajan's Pillar. The material lapis-lazuli, and the figures in gilt. It is, at any rate, a rare piece of workmanship, and in this light one takes pleasure in looking at it.

In the Hall of the Antiques I soon felt that my eye was not much practised on such objects. On this account I was unwilling to stay long there, and to waste my time. There was much that did not take my fancy, without my being able to say why. A Drusus attracted my attention; two Antonines pleased me, as also did a few other things. On the whole, the arrangement of the objects was not happy, although there is an evident attempt to make a display with them; and the hall, or rather the museum, would have a good appearance if it were kept in better repair and cleaner. In the Cabinet of Natural History I saw beautiful things from the Tyrol, which in smaller