190 Edward Livingston Yoiimans. 



turn, in October. I hope this will find you well. Don't 

 overwork ; old people generally kill themselves by expo- 

 sure. Not that you are very old, but ought to be old 

 enough to take care of yourselves. 



London, August jo, 1863. 

 Dear Father and Mother : We returned yesterday 

 from the Continent. In the whirl and haste of our tour I 

 have quite forgotten from what point I wrote you last. I 

 have, however, sent but one letter from the other side of 

 the Channel. I think we were just entering Switzerland. 

 Well, we went through that remarkably hilly country and 

 saw a great deal of it. The peculiarity of Switzerland is 

 this : you thread your way through long narrow valleys at 

 a rapid rate on the finest roads that are found in the world, 

 with the mountains rising on each side of you all along, 

 from 5,000 to 14,000 feet high. Many of them are snow- 

 clad — the highest — but the more common ranges are not. 

 The Swiss live in these valleys in their little cottages, some 

 of them part way up the sides of the mountains, and in 

 consequence of the stagnation of air they are often very 

 unhealthy. Sometimes it is desirable to go from one valley 

 into another without going round. We then either ride in 

 vehicles (in a few cases they have made roads zigzagging 

 up the steep slopes), but most commonly we have to go 

 over on mules or horses, as the paths are so steep and 

 crooked and narrow that no vehicle can be got up. The 

 places where we cross are called " passes " and are of vari- 

 ous heights. They are interesting as commanding distant 

 views of the lofty, snow-clad summits. We all went over 

 one very fine pass in a private carriage and enjoyed it 

 exceedingly. 



In October Youmans returned to America with his 

 wife, leaving his sister and brother in London. He 

 had scarcely reached home, at Saratoga, when the 



