WASTGOTA RESA ROUND LAKE VENERN 199 



Fall,' the laughing Undine, with her pearl necklace; 

 the pertest, sweetest, prettiest, merriest, and most com- 

 panionable of waterfalls a very Minnehaha. Sit down 

 by this laughing Elf and bathe your hands and drink 

 from them, and revel in Nature's caressing loveliness. 

 Immortal, yet ever young, she has played her exquisite 

 music, she has lived deliciously these last four thousand 

 summers, cherishing the thymy flowers fringing her 

 borders, the silent sweet companions of her course all 

 these ages before man beheld her at alL But take care 

 of yourself, for she has the spirit of the Loreley in 

 her ; the mossy steeps are slippery, and she is well-nigh 

 irresistible. Beware of her by moonlight. Capricious 

 and coquette you call her. No she breaks no faith 

 with you. She cares nought for your admiration. The 

 bees and the birds are her lovers ; these and the myriad 

 living creatures that summer brings forth are her com- 

 panions, her world. Her exquisite life is as far above 

 your pity as it is careless of your admiration. 



As attractive as the waterfall, in another form, is a 

 white-flowered apple tree, all one foam of blossom, seen 

 behind waving boughs of lilac. One might stay here 

 the whole summer and not exhaust the scenery in 

 sketches and enjoyment. Here are miles of sights. 



Walk slowly up again, following the line of the 

 great works of the Gotha Canal, made by Scottish Tel- 

 ford, who took up the task which the death of KristofF 

 Polhem, in 1751, left looking like a failure. Telford 

 brought his mature experience to bear on the con- 



