Spiers: Memoranda of an autumn tour in 1836

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CONT. AUG. 20. SAT.

little Prussian cape. The same 3 horses which we brought with us from Treves of which that on the near side was large & did all the work of drawing us on, that on the off-side of holding back & the centre one of holding the middle course by doing nothing. At Gr [blank] we came in sight of the blue Moselle & while the horses were resting we ran down to its banks Edward to realise his ideas of its cerulean tinge & I to recognise an old friend. Although disappointed in its color he was satisfied with its sparkling brightness & we walked along its banks for a mile or more before the diligence overtook us. The coachman began to get sleepy and Edward therefore took the reins & put on the horses to their speed. Vineyards clothed all the hills on our left bank & sometimes on the opposite one. We crossed the river at the junction of the Sure with it & were now in Prussia. It occupied 1/2 an hour in getting clear of the douane as many packages had to be weighed & looked at, but it was done in a goodhumoured manner & not with that suspicion which characterises the French douanier. On entering the old town of Treves under a gateway & proceeding through ancient & narrow streets we first caught sight of the German custom of women promenading without any covering whatever for the head. It requires a pretty woman to bear this ordeal & none that we saw could lay the least claim to such a character. The 3 horses seemed right glad to arrive at their stable, 30 miles altho in 7 hours is a long stage with 12 passengers, but I suppose they are used to it. The Trierischehof received us, an old house & a dirty one, as many old establishments are; the symptoms which struck me were the fly-marked windows, pictures & cartes, & the color of the stair case walls. -

We took a commissionaire who shewed us the lions of the place, consisting of remains of the Romans who occupied this town as one of their provincial metropolises. Indeed the handbook tells me it was the capital of Belgic Gaul,

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