370. Bremen is built on both banks of the Weser, and the two parts are united by a wooden bridge. The greater part of the town is, however, situated on the right bank; and it is round this part that the public walk has been made. Trees have been planted throughout the whole length of the ancient wall, and the outer part has been sloped away, and ornamented with jasmines, honeysuckles, and roses. Bowers, thickets, little forests, and tufts of sweet-smelling shrubs, are now the only sentinels. The bastions, which might once have frowned with cannon, are now smiling with beautiful flowers; the parapet has become a shady grove, and the former ditch is now a handsome little lake, the abode of stately swans. There are straight and serpentine walls, with walks on the top, on the sides, and at the bottom. At the lower end of the town, the walk terminates in a high mound, also well laid out, and planted with trees. From it there is a charming view of the Weser, of the town, and of the whole adjoining country. To be situated on the borders of a large town, it is a most elegant public promenade. Nature did nothing for it, but it is indebted for its beauties to the old mound which was raised for defence, and to the good taste of the inhabitants. It is admirably calculated to promote both their health and their enjoyment; and is a proof that a sound mind and an elegant taste may be found in the small commercial cities of the north, as well as in the capitals of the south. In the flat country, immediately outside of the walk, are many of those houses of entertainment called kegelbahns (bowling-greens, or skittle-grounds), that must be clear to the Germans, for they pass there many calm and happy hours. (Travels in Germany, p. 268.)
