LECTURE OX SWITZERLAND. 135 



sunset, and the asliy and almost ghastly paleness of the evening. One 

 of the few things \Yhich cannot disappoint is a visit to the i3ernese Alps. 

 Nature presents itself not only upon a grand scale, hut in unusual and 

 varied forms. Lofty and precipitous mountains, rugged with rocks, 

 and ice, and snow ; glaciers pushing their way from the steep mountain 

 sides into the valleys; avalanches tumbling headlong from the heights, 

 and with a roar like distant thunder buryiug their ice and snow in tho 

 deep gorges ; cascades pouring from precipices so lofty tliat the water 

 is dispersed in dust-like spray, in mid-air, or tumhhng from rock to 

 rock in foaming .sheets ; pine-ciad hills, and valleys green with grass ; 

 all these, in turn, rejoice the sight, while the unaccustomed modes 

 of Alpine traveling invigorate the frame, and the spirits rise until 

 they create a Avorld of enjoyment of their own. The works of man 

 lend themselves to nature, to add to the picturesque character of these 

 regions ; for the Swiss cottage, with its roof weighted with stones, its 

 ])rojecting eaves and outdoor galleries, is unlike a farm-house elsewhere, 

 :uid the chalet, with its stable, dwelling, and dairy, all under one roof, 

 yet separated with scrupulous regard to neatness, is as unlike a peas- 

 ant's hut. The costume of the people, too, puts them to the eye of a 

 stranger in constant masquerade, and the vocal music, with its curious 

 falsetto tones, and the instrumental upon the wooden tube, or xilpine 

 horn, are unlike what is to be heard in other countries. 



The valley of Grindelwald is itself more than three thousand feet 

 above the level of the sea, and from it the Fauihorn rises three thou- 

 sand more. The ascent of this mountain is by winding i)aths, along 

 tlie base or on the brink of high rocks, by the side of ponds formed by 

 the melting snow, through the snows themselves, to the very apex. 

 Tben the whole district of the lakes of Brieutz and Thun is stretched out 

 before and far below you, the lake of Lucerne and its mountains, the 

 valleys of Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald, the Alpine heights of the 

 Eiger, the Monk, the Juugfrau, and others of this chain, far across to tiie 

 mountains where the Ehine and the Ehone both have their sources. 

 Above the region where the white hill-clouds of summer are formed and 

 rest, when they occur spreading a deep shade over the valleys below, the 

 top of the Fauihorn is in the full blaze of the sun, and the eye ranges from 

 it upon the expanse of the tops of the white clouds, as over a vast plain 

 of snow thrown into ridges b}" the wind, a mimic ocean of snow with the 

 forms of waves without their motion. Life in a chalet upon such a moun- 

 tain is very little like that in an inn down in the valley. The whole mouu- 

 tiiin-top will hardly give elbow-room to the twenty or thirty people who 

 come up on a line sunmier's day, much less will the chalet give room for 

 exclusiveness in eating, drinking, or sleeping. Then, further, to break 

 down reserve, the sunset is to be seen by all, and then the moon, at rising 

 or setting, puts the whole sleeping houvSehold in motion, and again all are 

 out to see the sun rise over the distant Alps. 



There are some traits by which one may infallibly recognize our coua- 



