SWITZERLAND. 



723 



which shows the stockings as high as the knee, and a wide, flat hat, without a crown, tied under 

 the chin. Near Berne the hat gives j)lace to a strange looking black cap, standing off the face, 

 and in shape hke the two wings of a butterfly. In some parts, the hair is plaited and pieced 

 down to the heels. In Appenzel the modern invention of braces is not yet adopted ; the dress 

 is a scanty jacket and short breeches, and there is a preposterous interval between the two gar- 

 ments, v.'hich the wearer makes frequent but ineflectual hitches to close. 



8. Language. About two thirds of the Swiss speak the German language, but often of a 

 very corrupted dialect ; and the majority of the other third, French. The rest use the Ital- 

 ian, and the Romanish, a corrupted dialect of the Latin, and not much unlike the colloquial 

 language of the Romans. 



9. Manner of Building. There is some difference in this, in the various cantons and 

 towns. In the canton of Vaud (and in many other places), the houses are often 80 or 100 

 feet square, and though low they have a very high shingle roof, loaded with large stones, as a 

 defence from the wind, and projecting in the piazza shape, over an outside gallery, up a flight 

 of stairs. This is the part occupied by the family. The lower story, barricaded with fire- 

 wood, and buried in snow in winter, is the cellar, where provisions are kept, and domestic ani- 

 mals are housed. These houses are much exposed to fires, and are under the protection of a 

 mutual insurance, at three fourths their value. They are chiefly built of stones, and some of 

 them are thatched, or tiled. 



At Berne and Neufchatel are a great many fountains of the purest v.ater ; at the latter city, 

 they flow into gigantic basins. The lofty terraces at Berne have a very imposing look, and 

 the massy arcades, here and at Bienne, like the arches of a bridge, and on which the houses are 

 built, give the towns a strange and massy appearance. On the ends of many houses are writ- 

 ten the names of the builders, or occupants, with verses from Scripture. There are few pub 

 lie buildings in Switzerland of much architectural grandeur, though there are many venerable 

 with age. The shepherds have rude chalets of logs, or stones, as temporary tenements. 



10. Food and Drink. The Swiss are almost a pastoral people, and much of their subsist- 

 ence is drawn from their flocks and herds. Bread is a luxury in many valleys in the Alps, 

 where milk and its preparations form the basis of nutriment. In the mountainous part of Berne, 

 a custom still exists, for many families connected by aflinity or marriage, to make in common a 

 cheese of enormous size. On it are carved the names of parties about to be married, and 

 the cheese often serves for the marriage of their descendants. In some remote parts, every 

 family with a years' provision, may feel the dignity of wealth, and the people by way of osten- 

 tation, offer to visiters mouldy food, to show that they have on hand the provision of a pre- 

 ceding year. Wine and spirits are somewhat used in Switzerland, but the inhabitants are tem- 

 perate. Much tobacco is consumed, chiefly in smoking. The pipes are of silver, with large 

 bowls, and hang down upon the breast. 



11. Diseases. Switzerland is highly salubrious. There are, however, pulmonary complaints, 

 and the usual alpine diseases, particularly goitres, prevail in various parts. 



12. Traveling. The facilities for foreigners to travel in Switzerland, are less than the in- 

 ducements. The air of the mountains, however, will create an appetite for the plain and sim- 

 ple food that is generally found at the inns. Within the present century there were no inns in 

 the mountains, and the traveler stopped at the house of a clergyman or substantial farmer. The 

 roads are of all kinds ; some hard and smooth, having seats and fountains, at regular distances ; 

 but more are impassable to carriages, and scarcely safe for the sure instinct of mules. On some 

 routes there are regular post coaches ; but generally the traveler, unless he walks, hires his own 

 conveyance. In the mountains a char-a-banc is used, a light carriage of 2 flexible bars on 4 

 wheels. Two or three people sit sideways upon the bars, and the driver sits in front. There 

 is but one horse. Many travelers prefer to explore Switzerland on foot, a cheaper and not 

 less expeditious mode of travehng. 



13. Character., Manners., and Customs. The Swiss, like all mountaineers, are attached to 

 their country, which they have often defended against fearful odds. It is remarkable, that coun- 

 tries the least fertile are the most beloved by the inhabitants ; an Italian or a Spaniard may be 

 contented in exile, but seldom a Swiss ; and an Esquimaux or a Greenlander finds nothing in 

 Europe to compensate absence from his barren rocks and icy seas. The Swiss nevertheless 

 emigrates, though he often returns when he has acquired a competency, to his sublime, but un- 

 productive mountains. 



