494 LETTERS FROM A CONTINENTAL TOURIST. 



land, about which the Aar, which is here of a deep clear green 

 colour, flows in the form of a horse-shoe. The heights on the other 

 side of the river which completely command the town, are laid out 

 in walks shaded with rows of tall tress and furnished occasionally 

 with seats for the accommodation of the weary or idle. At the end 

 of the bridge which crosses the river leading from Berne towards 

 Thun, is a cenotaph with the following inscription : 



DIE STAOT BERN, 



IHREM EDLEN BURGER, 



SIGMOND RUDOLF VON WERDT, 



DER HIER, 

 FUR IHRE BEFREYUNG STREITEND, 



DEN TOD FAND, 



DEN XVIII. SEPT. MDCCCII. 



ER LEBTE XXI. JAHR. 



Which being done into English runs thus : " The"city of Berne, to 

 her noble citizen Sig. Rud. von Werdt, who fighting for her deliver- 

 ance here found death, the 18th Sept. 1802. He lived twenty-one 

 years." The situation of the monument adds to the melancholy in- 

 terest of the circumstance it commemorates. 



About the centre of the principal street is a clock furnished with 

 grotesque figures, some of which with ludicrous gestures strike the 

 chimes while the rest gallop round in a circle like hey-go-mad to 

 the great edification of the cluster which generally collects to watch 

 the movements of the puppets. In the town ditch two bears are kept, 

 and at the principal entrance two vast effigies of their tutelary deity, 

 Ursa Major, are erected in stone. The money has a bear stamped 

 on it. In short every where you are surrounded with bears. 



I had been to expect beautiful faces and dresses in this part of 

 Switzerland but was grievously disappointed. Swiss costumes look 

 very well on paper or in fancy-dress balls. But the reality is ordi- 

 nary enough in its appearance, even when the peasant girls are 

 attired in their best. And as for the faces they are even more ordi- 

 nary than the garments. 



September 6th. 



WE left Berne shortly before 11 in the morning and reached 

 Thun in about two hours, arriving at the very moment when the 

 steam-boat was starting for Neuhaus. The country between Berne 

 and Thun appeared the fresher and more verdant for the rain which 

 had fallen the day before. But for the mountains capped with eternal 

 snow, the scene closely resembled an English landscape. Had I not 

 been pressed for time, I should gladly have staid a day at Thun : 

 however, we hurried along a small but beautiful lake in a pigmy 

 steam-boat, enjoying the most delicious prospects on either side. 

 About half-way along the southern bank, of the lake is the conical 

 mountain called the Niesen with the Castle of Spietz at its base. 

 The whole scene was like a prospect in fairy-land : our only regret 

 was the necessity of passing so rapidly over so beautiful a country. 

 The waters of the lake are of a bright green like the Aar. Having 

 landed at Neuhaus we proceeded to Beyningen, (the nearest point to 



