LIFE IX THE ALPS. 311 



broken down, and a barrier of clods built across it, all 

 its water being thus diverted into another channel. The 

 streams are a valuable part of the peasant's property; 

 they are employed to water the sloping meadows, and 

 the laws regulating the distribution of the water are 

 very strict. A burgher has a right to the use of a 

 stream for a certain number of hours. If he exceeds 

 that number he trespasses on his neighbours' rights, and 

 is punished if found out. Xow the hotel needs water; 

 and in droughty weather a struggle is carried on between 

 the hotel and the meadows, during which the supply of 

 the former is not unfrequently cut off. Such was the 

 case this morning. When the supply ceases the cause is 

 known, and a peasant provided with pick, spade, or shovel, 

 climbs the mountain and restores the deflected stream. 



Within doors we work on the ground floor and sleep 

 aloft. We have two bedrooms there and a servants' 

 bedroom, all lined with smooth pine. The house is 

 covered with pine shingle, prettily cut. Slates, I con- 

 sidered, would be a discord in the landscape, and the 

 right of any man to desecrate a scene of natural beauty 

 by such discord may be questioned. We are sometimes 

 wrapped round by absolutely silent air ; more frequently 

 by air in motion, rising sometimes, as already indicated, 

 to the force and sound of raging storms. Over us sail 

 heavy-laden clouds which shower their rain-drops like 

 loud-sounding pellets on the shingly roof. " The music 

 of the rain " at night is often soothing to a wakeful 

 brain. I walk at times on our terrace under the stars, 

 and trace among them with a clearness not seen else- 

 where the whiteness of the " Milky Way." Just now 

 the moon is full, gleaming from the glacier, and throw- 

 ing her light, like a holy robe, over the mountains. 



We sometimes quit our Swiss home regretfully, with 



