76 HELEN ABBOTT MICHAEL 



being the conservative body, and the Protestants going in for 

 radical measures. The President over all, is elected every 

 four years, and may remain in office indefinitely. It occurs 

 to me that it would be a very interesting study to collect the 

 systems of governments and parties, and methods of election 

 of all countries, and publish in a summarized form. Such 

 information is probably scattered in geographies and other 

 books; but in lieu of any such publication, I believe it would 

 be of general interest." 



She gives an interesting account of a Russian countess who 

 had been spending the season at Grindelwald, making all 

 the excursions of the neighborhood: "She ascended the 

 Wetterhorn, and was obliged to stay two days upon the moun- 

 tain, for a severe snowstorm came up. The proprietor said 

 to look at her when she was dressed for the evening, one would 

 say she could not walk a mile 'not even to the glacier.' 



"The day was so clear that I concluded to visit the upper 

 glacier, and at once engaged a guide. The horse had to be 

 caught and saddled. He was pretty lively after his week's 

 rest since the last tourists had been up the valley. The shadow 

 side of the valley was covered with a deep snow in contrast 

 with the green hills where the sun shone. As we approached 

 the glacier, the snow deepened. I had to leave the horse, and, 

 the guide leading, I waded through snow to my knees ; each 

 step the guide tested before I advanced. I had one fall, as 

 the ice under the softly fallen snow made the walking very 

 unsafe. 



"At the glacier, the snow concealed many crevasses, and it 

 was with great difficulty that the entrance to the grotto was 

 found. At last I entered and walked for some distance along 

 the delicately blue tunnel. The imprisoned air-bubbles as- 

 sumed the most fantastic shapes, and several curious features 

 in the ice-formations indicated that glaciers would offer a 

 fruitful subject for study. I believe that very much is yet to 

 be done to explain the attendant phenomena. 



"The proprietor said that twenty- seven deaths had occurred 

 this year from mountain accidents. The most distressing 

 was the Jungfrau accident, when six gentlemen fell 8,000 feet 



