The rather pretty village of Gross-Czernoseck is remarkable for its
gigantic cellars, hewn out of the rock. A post-carriage could
easily turn round in one of these. The vats are of course
proportioned to the cellars, particularly the barrels called the
"twelve apostles," each of which holds between three and four
thousand gallons. It would be no more than fair to stop here
awhile, to give every hero of the bottle an opportunity to enjoy a
sight of these palace-cellars, and to offer a libation to the twelve
apostles; but the steamer passed on, and we were obliged to make the
most of the descriptions furnished by those who were more at home in
these parts, and had no doubt frequently emerged in an inspired
state from the depths of the cellars in question.

The view now becomes more and more charming: the mountains appear
to draw closer together, and shut in the bed of the stream; romantic
groups of rocks, with summits crowned by rains yet more romantic,
tower between. The ancient but well-preserved castle of
Schreckenstein, built on a rock rising boldly out of the Elbe, is
particularly striking; the approaches to it are by serpentine walks
hewn out of the rock.

Near the small town of Aussig we find the most considerable coal-
mines in Bohemia. In their neighbourhood is situated the little
mountain estate Paschkal, which produces a kind of wine said to
resemble champagne.

The mountains now become higher and higher, but above them all
towers the gigantic Jungfernsprung (Maiden's Leap). The beauty of
this region is only surpassed by the situation of the town and
castle of Tetschen. The castle stands on a rock, between twenty and