104 
THE RECENT LANDSLIP AT LAKE ZUG. 
THE RECENT LANDSLIP AT LAKE ZUG.* 
BY WM. PUMPHREY. 
It is needless to dilate on the exceeding beauty of the Lake 
of Zug. Whether we stroll along its banks, glide over its 
blue-green waters, or look down on it from the heights of the 
Rigi, the idea that it leaves on the mind is that nothing like 
treachery or lurking danger can possibly be hidden under so 
peaceful an exterior ; and yet, the recurrence of disasters 
similar to that of last July seems to indicate that all is not as 
secure as it seems. 
The eastern side of the Lake of Zug is formed by a range 
of hills, hardly mountains, but which, at its southern 
extremity, rises into the Rossberg, so well-known as the source 
of the great berg-fall or land-slip of 1812. The town of Zug 
stands at the north-eastern corner of the lake, where the hills, 
still keeping a northern direction, leave the shore of the lake ; 
thus the greater part of the town is backed up by hills, but a 
suburb turns westward and follows the shore of the lake. All 
this northern shore, and the country for some miles to the 
north of it, is very level, and is traversed by several small 
streams that find their way into the lake ; while at the north¬ 
western angle the waters discharge themselves by a river, 
which, a few miles further down, joins the waters of the Reuss 
that issue from the lake of Lucerne. The high road, from 
Zug to Lucerne, runs along this northern shore of the lake, 
and a street of houses—chiefly of wood—extends for about 
half a mile along the road, at a distance of some thirty or 
forty yards from the margin of the lake. The railway station 
is very near this street, and has near it a pier at which the 
steam-boats that ply on the lake land and embark such 
passengers as have arrived by railway, &c., or are about to 
depart by it. Within sight of this pier is another pier close to 
the town, and at this all the steam-boats call before they arrive 
at the railway pier. In passing from the town pier to the 
railway pier, the steam-boat crosses a shallow bay, which is 
fringed by the suburban street of which I have spoken. 
On July 5th, about noon, as the steam-boat was crossing 
this shallow bay, the passengers could scarcely credit the 
evidence of their senses when they saw some of the houses, 
which formed a portion of the street, sink down and disappear. 
Later in the afternoon other buildings gave way, and before 
♦Read at a Meeting of the Birmingham Natural History and 
Microscopical Society, Geological Section, November 15th, 1887. 
