60 ELIZABETH GARY AGASSIZ 



and on Monday Louis went to pass the day with 

 Olympe at Lausanne. I thought it quite as well to let 

 him go alone that they might have their good long 

 talk together. We passed the day, Cecile, her mother 

 and I, tranquilly together at Montagny. Indeed, I 

 cannot tell you how delightful that absolutely quiet 

 life at Montagny has been to me, and Louis has rested 

 so completely there — truly rested for the first time 

 since I have known him, and he shows it already in 

 his appearance. People here seem astonished to find 

 him so young and so unchanged. They all attribute 

 it to my good care of him. 



On Thursday we went on an excursion with Cecile 

 and the girls. We went to the foot of the Jura in a car- 

 riage and leaving it at the entrance of a deep gorge 

 that seems to go into the very heart of the Jura, we 

 followed a narrow and picturesque pass that brings 

 you after a two hours' scramble through superb 

 scenery to one of those green cultivated spots that 

 look so enchanting on the slopes of the Jura as you 

 look up at them from below. There we found two or 

 three houses, a little village where we stopped to rest 

 and take some refreshment, a rural repast of Swiss 

 cheese, bread and wine. I will not describe the view; 

 you know the Swiss views and they defy description, 

 but I will tell you something of the life of the people 

 there that I think will interest you. 



Cecile and I observed some women making lace at 

 the door of the cottages and we stopped to examine 

 their work. I don't know whether you have ever seen 

 any of the beautiful lace that some of the peasant 



