166 RIFLEMEN OF THE ALPS. 



being much curved, and having projections of two inches in length pro- 

 truding from each extremity of the shoulder-plate, which afford an 

 additional firmness when taking aim, and steady the weapon, by sticking 

 into the turf, &c. during the operation of charging. The lock, a deto- 

 nator, is furnished with a hair trigger of a singular construction, and 

 arranged with such nicety, that 1 have seen a rifleman discharge his 

 piece by blowing upon it slightly with his lips. Though not altogether 

 finished in the exquisite style of the best fowling-pieces of London or 

 Paris, one of the first description, with patent breech, Damascus barrel, 

 &c. would by most persons be esteemed a handsome weapon. They 

 may be purchased in Switzerland as low as four louis ; I saw a superb 

 gun, with which the owner, in my presence, struck the small peg which 

 served to fix the cord in the centre of the target, four times out of six 

 shots, at two hundred paces, offered on the ground for 51. 10.9., though 

 twenty sovereigns would not have purchased a similar thing in England. 



Strolling, with my fishing-rod, in the latter end of the month of May, 

 along the banks of the Vervayse, an impetuous torrent which descends 

 from the mountains and enters the lake of Geneva, near the picturesque 

 little town of Vevay, I had halted for at least the twentieth time, to 

 admire the magnificent landscape that surrounded me, when suddenly 

 the notes of a distant bugle arrested my attention. The sounds sweetly 

 floating on the breeze, and echoed from cliff to cliff, were in perfect 

 harmony with a scene where nature, sometimes imposing and sublime, 

 sometimes soft and smiling, displays herself under every captivating 

 variety of form. The deep blue glassy surface of the lake, on which 

 not a ripple was discernible ; its enchanting shores, covered with towns, 

 villages, and chateaus; the dark and sombre rocks of Mellerie, the lofty 

 mountains of the Valais; the glaciers of the Pain de Sucre ; the superb 

 Alps, thickly studded with farms and cultivation near the base, but bare 

 and rugged towards their summits, form an inexhaustible variety of 

 scenery of the most exquisite beauty. 



The bugle again sounded, followed by two or three shots, then by 

 several in succession. On inquiring of a peasant, I understood a party 

 of riflemen were shooting at the target for a prize, on the banks of the 

 little lake of Brai. Quickening my pace, I soon arrived at the spot. It 

 is a beautiful piece of water, about a league in circumference, and well 

 stocked with various kinds of fish, particularly trout and perch. On the 

 green and sunny banks, that fall with a gentle slope to the water's edge, 

 were fixed three targets (here called cibles), two of them white, with 

 black circles, the third, or middle one, entirely black, excepting the small 

 white mark in the centre. On the opposite side of the lake, upon a 

 green knoll, overshadowed by an enormous walnut-tree, above which 

 floated the national standard, of white and green, were stationed about 

 twenty marksmen, habited in the latter colour ; while others, with their 

 rifles slung upon their shoulders, were rapidly descending the neigh- 

 bouring eminences, to swell the merry group. Tables ranged in the 

 back-ground were loaded with bottles, glasses, hunting-bags, balls, pow- 

 der-flasks, ramrods, and all the other necessary implements of charging. 



Beside each target stood a marker, carelessly leaning his hand upon 

 its outer rim, and at about three paces distant, upon the grass, sat two 

 children. It being the first of these meetings at which I had been pre- 

 sent, I naturally expected to see both parties retreat to a secure distance 

 before the firing was renewed. My astonishment was not unmingled 

 with terror, on seeing one of the party walk up to the barrier, that served 



