136 LECTURE ON SWITZERLAND. 



trymen, and in tins cliiilefc witli ns was an undoubted American. He 

 talked to every one who could speak bis vernacular, and spoke to every 

 one wlio would give liis broken Freuclr an answer. His ineids were 

 bolted down in haste. He fidgeted lest he should lose anything of the 

 moon or sun rise, and actually turned out to witness the ibrmer in regii- 

 lar Kickapoo style, wrapped in a blanket. He was restless to an excess, 

 and talked all the time that others were absorbed in sentiment; for- 

 getting his unpresentable condition, he even addressed some youn<j^ 

 English ladies, who had certainly offered no special encouragement to the 

 approach of any fellow-traveller, even in full costume. He was off 

 among the first in the morning, and after the day's journey we met him 

 in the evening at Meyringen, still talkative as ever, and his tones certi- 

 fying that he came from the east of the Hudson ; so far, the very beau- 

 ideal of the American figured by tourists. Here, however, he piqued my 

 curiosity by the very un-American act of abusing the supper, as well as 

 by some peculiarity of expression; and, entering into further conversa- 

 tion with hi;n, I found that this undoubted American was last from Thread 

 and Needle street, had been born and bred in the old country, and had 

 not eveu trodden our republican soil. So much for national character- 

 istics, which, like family peculiarities, may sometimes lead us to mis- 

 take the father for the sou. 



On the way from the Oberland to Lucerne we pass a work of improve- 

 ment well worthy of notice. At the foot of the Brunig Mountain, on 

 the north side, is the small lake of Lungern, draining the slopes of a 

 basin of moderate extent, and having originally no outlet. It is sepa- 

 rated by a mountain ridge from the lake of Saruen, wliich commu- 

 nicates with the lake of Lucerne. Lake Lungern is some four hun- 

 dred feet higher than Lake Sarnen, so that by establishing a com- 

 munication between them the former might be drained to any re- 

 quired amount, and arable laud be thus gained upon the lake shore. 

 A tunnel to establish this connection was begun in 1788, and after many 

 delays was completed in 183G, at the cost of $25,000, and nineteen thou- 

 sand days' work by the peasants. The winter season, when the lake is 

 lowest, was chosen for completing the tunnel by breaking through a 

 rocky barrier into Luke Lungern. The undertaking succeeded, and in 

 ten days the water fell to the level of the mouth of the tunnel. A new 

 and unforeseen danger now threatened the people of the village on the 

 lake shore. The bank, no longer supported by the water, and exposed 

 to the action of the frost, began to crack, and the earth separating from 

 the underlying rock, threatened to precipitate the church and part of 

 the village into the lake. In fact a slide did take place, but only to a 

 limited extent, and by cutting the shores in terraces the progress of the 

 evil has been stopped, and the gain of about five hundred acres of ara- 

 ble land may be considered as permanent. 



The town of Lucerne, the capital of the canton of the same name, and 

 formerly in rotation with Berne and Zurich, the seat of the sessions of the 



