202 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



protection ! Would it be too much to expect the 

 formation of a society for the protection of rare 

 British plants ? 



Further, I find that our ferns are not the only 

 sufferers at the hands of these people, for another 

 advertisement in the same paper offers " English 

 orchids," including "the rare bee orchids." This 

 plant, as the pages of Science-Gossip testify, is 

 already becoming rare, but without some check can 

 be laid on the rapacity of these collectors we may 

 soon hear of its becoming extinct. 



Botanists themselves may do a great deal to aid in 

 the preservation of our rare forms by omitting in 

 their botanical papers the precise locabty of a rare 

 plant. I am convniced that no true botanist or lover 

 of Nature will knowingly assist in the extermination 

 of a rare form ; he will take enough for his own 

 herbarium, and probably for that of a friend, but 

 unnecessary waste is a sin that I cannot think any 

 one calling himself a student of Nature would be 

 guilty of 



I shall be glad to assist, as far as possible, in any 

 scheme that may be advanced for the protection of 

 our rare ferns and wild flowers ; and trust that the 

 readers of Science-Gossip will not consider this 

 matter unworthy their notice. 



George T. Harris. 



BOTANICAL NOTES FROM THE SWISS 

 HIGHLANDS. 



VI. The Faulhorn and the Brienz 



ROTHHORN. 



By Dr. De Crespigny. 



{Continued from Jiage 123.] 



INTERLAKEN, inferior to Lucerne in some 

 respects as regards the attractions of its eiitoji- 

 rage, is for botanical purposes much better placed, as 

 a central or headquarter station for excursions ; while 

 for the general tourist, from its close proximity to the 

 giants of the Bernese Highlands and other interesting 

 sites, there is probably no locality in all Switzerland 

 to be compared with it ; combining as it does these 

 advantages with those of an agreeable place of resi- 

 dence, one which will bear a not unfavourable con- 

 trast with some gay German watering-place, or other 

 similar fashionable resort. 



It lies midway between the lakes of Brienz and 

 Thun, in a valley or little plain, two miles broad by 

 three in length. Mountain ranges, of five or six thou- 

 sand feet and more high, extend from east to west on 

 either side of the lakes and plain. There is a break 

 or gap in the southern chain, opening into a valley of 

 which the vista is closed by the famous " Jungfrau." 

 Invert the letter T, and the situation of the town 

 would be where the vertical line joins the horizontal 

 one. On a level with the lakes, which are connected 



by a river, there is no view of either except from 

 some adjoining height. 



We soon discover that the mountains on both sides 

 of the Lake of Brienz are higher and more precipitous 

 than those bordering the other and larger Lake of 

 Thun, and learn that the chain on the north shore is 

 called the Brienzer Grat, and that the highest point of 

 this ridge is the Brienzer Rothhorn — to distinguish it 

 from other Rothhorns ; — a peak of lower elevation on 

 the north shore of the Lake of Thun for one, called 

 the Sigryswyl Rothhorn ; — and that the Faulhorn is 

 not the highest mountain of the range on the oppo- 

 site or southei-n shore of the lake, but the one usually 

 ascended by travellers for the sake of the prospect to 

 be enjoyed from its summit ; the Schwarzhorn is 

 higher. The view from the Rothhorn is also admir- 

 able, and being easier of access from Interlaken, may 

 be recommended in preference should an excursion to 

 the Wengern Alp be intended. The botanist, how- 

 ever, must "do" them both. 



We cannot fail to note also in connection with the 

 surroundings of the Lake of Thun, first a pyramidal 

 mountain on the southern shore, uncommonly like 

 Pilatus, except that its outline is smooth not serrated ; 

 and secondly, a chain of lower elevation beyond it, 

 with one odd-looking peak in particular, among other 

 culminating points. The pyramidal mountain, and 

 the queer truncated cone on the chain beyond it, are 

 the Niesen and the Stockhorn respectively. 



The ascent of the Faulhorn is usually made by a 

 good horse-path from Grindelwald, or by those com- 

 ing from Meyringen and Rosenlaui from the inn on 

 the top of the Scheideck pass ; good climbers, firm 

 of foot, and not subject to giddiness may make it 

 from the Lake of Brienz either from the Giessbach 

 Hotel or from a point nearer Interlaken at Sengg, 

 or Iseltwald, via the Battenalp. The first-men- 

 tioned path mounts by the side of the celebrated 

 waterfall, and is somewhat longer than the other, but 

 a trifle less arduous and precipitous ; it first leads 

 up to the Hippoden pastures — two hours' climb — 

 thence in another hour to the Alp Tsingelfeld ; the 

 onward ascent, afterwards slippery and tedious, is up 

 steep slopes of debris, and over narrow ridges requir- 

 ing sure stepping and a judicious use of the alpenstock; 

 the worst places are the Bonerngriitli, the Gerstig- 

 rath and the Ueberstick — trifling affairs to a prac- 

 tised mountaineer. The path is a mere track, and 

 unless, as was contemplated, a horsepath has been con- 

 structed, a guide is indispensable ; but as many plants 

 grow on the northern face which will not be met with 

 on the ascent from Grindelwald, the fatigue will be 

 amply compensated by good finds, not to mention 

 the agreeable surprise which will be felt at the sudden 

 unfolding of a fine view of the Bernese Alps on reach- 

 ing the summit : (an inn here, but usually crammed 

 with tourists). The descent to Grindelwald is by a 

 good zigzag path down the ridge into a rocky hollow 

 and round tlie lower flank of the Semelihorn to the 



