14 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Jan 



and the continent, until now, the ears, which, by 

 the way, are in England always called carriages, 

 are constructed in sections, each with two scats 

 facing each other, so that half the passengers 

 ride backwards, and each carriage accommodating 

 about ten persons. There are usually first, 

 second and third class carriages, the first class 

 stuffed and cushioned and comfortable, the second 

 in England with bare boards for seats and backs, 

 and stiff and hard enough they are, the third not 

 divided off so carefully, and much like the 

 second in point of comfort. The cost of travel- 

 ling in the second class in England is somewhat 

 greater than by our first class. Most decent peo- 

 ple take the second class, very few occupying the 

 first class, which I tried sometimes, but soon 

 abandoned, finding very little society there, some- 

 times riding fifty ihiles entirely alone, which did 

 not at all answer my design in going abroad. The 

 second class cars in France, and generally on the 

 continent, are cushioned and quite comfortable. 

 On all these railways you show your ticket be- 

 fore the train leaves, and are then locked in, and 

 cannot get out till the guard unlocks your door 

 at the station. Probably accidents are prevented 

 by this precaution, and fewer mistakes made than 

 where each man looks out for himself, and takes 

 the risk of jumping on and off at pleasure. I 

 was glad to find our social, free and easy style of 

 cars here in Switzerland, for away from home our 

 own customs«and habits have a wonderful charm 

 for us wanderers. 



We reached Lucerne at about eight P. M., and 

 it being a brilliant moonlight night, immediately 

 took a boat, and were rowed across the lake to a 

 bath-house on its shore, and enjoyed the luxury 

 of a bathing in the clear waters, a familiarity we 

 had also indulged in with the waters of the Rhine 

 at Coblentz. The morning brought us a realiz- 

 ing proof that we were indeed in Switzerland, 

 and among her mountains, for the first glance of 

 sunrise brought us a clear view of the snow-cap- 

 ped mountains in the distance, overtopping the 

 hills which surround the beautiful lake Lucerne. 

 Embarking on the little steamer, close by our ho- 

 tel, we made the tour of the lake. This is the 

 land of William Tell, and on the lake shore we 

 saw his chapel, erected at the spot where it is said 

 he leaped ashore in a storm, from the boat where 

 he was carried as a prisoner. A storm had arisen, 

 and fear of shipwreck had induced his keepers to 

 unbind him to assist in managing the boat. Tak- 

 ing the helm, he run the bark close to the point of 

 rock which here projects into the lake, and as they 

 shot by in the tempest, he leaped upon the rock, 

 leaving his captors to their fate. 



The scenery on lake Lucerne is said to be the 

 most beautiful in all Switzerland. The abrupt 

 mountains stand up, like walls along the shores. 



hemming in the water to the form of a river, and 

 then suddenly falling away, through a green val- 

 ley, the eye wanders over fields of grain and ver- 

 dure, till it catches over the nearer hills, glimpses 

 of the glaciers, shining in the sunlight, and again 

 the tall peak of the Jungfrau away in the dis- 

 tance, white with his eternal snows. 



At a small village on the shore of the lake, in 

 the afternoon, we left the boat, to ascend Mount 

 Rhigi. Taking horses and guides, we mounted 

 and followed a narrow precipitous path about nine 

 miles, slowly winding our devious way up — up, 

 till behind us the mountain peaks on the opposite 

 side of the lake rose up in scores, white as the 

 unsullied snows could paint them, and brilliant 

 with the rainbow tints of the setting sun. We 

 found at the top a large hotel, with accommoda- 

 tions for two hundi-ed persons, and crowded be- 

 fore night with visitors, who had come like our- 

 selves, to behold the setting and the rising of the 

 sun. 



A storm of rain, with thunder and lightning, 

 burst upon us, just as we arrived, which to those 

 unaccustomed to thunder showers seemed very 

 grand and awful, but to those of us who had spent 

 summers in New England, it brought nothing new 

 of fear or grandeur. At the dawTiing of the next 

 day, the sound of a horn brought out the two hun- 

 dred pilgrims, in a chilly, bleak morning, to wit- 

 ness the sunrise. A more disconsolate looking 

 set of beings never met to worship the god of 

 day. Few had brought up from the valley where 

 summer heat was raging, either overcoat or shawl, 

 and now the morning was like chill November. 

 Some had borrowed a blanket from their beds, 

 others were apparelled in straw hats and thick 

 overcoats ; all wei-e walking to and fro, wishing 

 the job were over, so that they could retreat to 

 the house. Finally, the sun deigned to show his 

 head, and as his beams were caught by the distant 

 peaks for a few moments, we began to grow en- 

 thusiastic, and to forget the wintry chill, when an 

 envious cloud dropped like a curtain across the 

 east, and with one accord, we turned our faces 

 towards the hotel, forgetting our disappointment 

 in the anticipation of a wai-m room and hot coffee. 



After breakfast, we undertook the descent, our 

 party on foot. The day was tolerably clear, so that 

 we had fine views of the level country of nearly 

 all Switzerland, spread out in one broad expanse 

 below us. We could see herds of cows grazing 

 so far below that they seemed no larger than grass- 

 hoppers, yet the tinkle of the bells which each 

 wore on her neck, came up distinctly through the 

 clear air. We met droves of cows feeding on the 

 mountains, a fine, large breed, resembling in shape 

 and oolor those which Mr. Webster and others 

 imported as Hungarian cattle. I do not know, by 

 the way, that I have mentioned the goats kept 



