The falls of the Giessbach have a character as well as beauty altogether peculiar; six of them can be seen at one glance, descending in succession from the wooded heights of the mountain above. In the tourist season they are illuminated nightly by coloured port-fires, and then present a singularly beautiful appearance. The middle fall is seen from a small gallery carried directly behind it, and the cataract rushes close before the spectator. The falls

above, on the higher declivity, are very fine, though inferior in grandeur to the more impetuous Reichenbach.

see

INTERLAKEN, (Hotels: "HOTEL APPENDIX "), population 1,450. The space between

the lakes of Thun and Brienz is occupied by the valley of Interlaken, one of the most beautiful spots in Switzerland. Surrounded by lofty mountains, it is nevertheless open, and might almost be called a plain. On the east and west it looks towards the two lakes, and on the south towards the valley of Lauterbrunnen its boundaries thus giving it a triangular form. "The beauty and fertility of this valley are extraordinary. The greenest and most luxuriant meadows, the richest and most variegated foliage, orchards red with fruit, gardens enamelled with flowers, form altogether a picture of singular beauty." The plain is strewed with picturesque eminences, rocky and overspread with fine timber; and along the right side of the Aar the bank rises gradually up to the mountains which shut in the valley. The immediate environs present the picturesque in most various aspects, and the peaks of the Silberhorn, Mönch, Eiger and Jungfrau are the boundaries of its

horizon. The climate is mild; and in the hottest sun the fine avenues of walnut-trees offer some measure of shade.

Interlaken has, in latter years, changed its physiognomy and aspect. It is no longer a Swiss village, but a settlement of foreigners. The wooden houses with their long inscriptions from the Psalms, their high-pitched roofs and oval windows, have been replaced by fine hotels and comfortable habitations. The indigent have been sent away to Unterseen, and the village is now almost exclusively occupied by foreign tourists and residents. The number of summer visitors is estimated at 35,000. The hotels are sprinkled about amid the trees upon either side of a broad avenue which extends almost from lake to lake.

A kursaal or casino, with restaurant, reading, ball, and concert rooms, was opened here in 1859. Persons frequenting it pay a small tax to the proprietor of their botel.

ROUTE 83.

INTERLAKEN TO LAUTER

BRUNNEN AND GRIN-
DELWALD (BY THE WEN-
GERN ALP.)

HE distance from Interlaken to Lauterbrunnen is 9 miles, from Lauterbrunnen to Grindelwald 13 miles. One horse carriage to

Lauterbrunnen and back 9 francs, 2 horses 17 francs, gratuity to driver, optional. To Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald and back, one horse carriage, 17 francs, 2 horses, 30 francs.

Leaving Interlaken we proceed through a pleasant country abounding in orchards and meadows. At about two miles from the town, on the right, are seen the ruins of the castle of Unspunnen, the reputed residence of Manfred. It was the fortress of Berthold the founder of Berne.

On a rock called the Böse Stein, on the right of the road, is an inscription recording the murder, perpetrated on the spot, of his own brother, by one of the barons of Rothenfluh. Near Zweilütschinen (5 miles) the White and Black Lütschine unite, the course of the Black Lütschine being toward Grindelwald. (A view of the Wetterhorn is obtained here.) The road follows the White Lütschine to Lauterbrunnen.

The valley of Lauterbrunnen proper may be described in general terms as a narrow and deep ravine, but a ravine of a gentle character; rich in trees and foliage, with a bare, perpendicular cliff of enormous height on the west, and a wooded, but steep and lofty mountain, on the east. The rapid Lütschine, justifying by the colour of its glacier water its name of white, sweeps along it, for the most part close to its eastern barrier, so as to leave on the other side only a small ledge of flatter ground which is richly cultivated.

LAUTERBRUNNEN, (Hotels: Capricorn, Staubbach), population about 1,400. This village lies in the valley about 2,400 feet above the sea, and so hemmed in between precipices that the sun is almost

entirely excluded during the winter months. The place is remarkable for its numerous cascades, from whence it derives its name, a literal translation being "nothing but fountains."

About half a mile from the Inn is the Staubbach (" Dust-stream") one of the loftiest falls in Europe, measuring between 800 and 900 feet in height. The torrent is in shape like the tail of a white horse streaming in the wind over the rock.

"It is not noon-the sunbow's rays still arch

The torrent with the many hues of heaven,

And roll the sheeted silver's waving column

O'er the crags headlong perpendicular, And fling its lines of foaming light along,

And to and fro, like the pale courser's tail,

The giant steed to be bestrode by Death,

As told in the Apocalypse."-Manfred.

Mürren (Grand Hotel des Alpes), a little village now much resorted to for its splendid views of the Oberland, may be reached (by bridle path) in two hours from Lauterbrunnen.

Two routes lead from the village of Lauterbrunnen to Grindel wald. By the first, or carriageroad, the distance is about 13 miles. To reach it the traveller must retrace his steps toward Interlaken as far as to the bridge over the Zweilütschinen, and then, crossing the river, keep the northern bank of the Black Lütschine for about seven miles. A route preferable for the healthy and robust, in fine weather, is the mule-track which leads from Lauterbrunnen over the Wengern-Alp, or Lesser Scheideck. If there be a series of views worth visiting

the Oberland to behold, they are to be found on this elevated route, which is one of the grandest of accessible passes. The way may be about 14 measured miles, but it occupies seven hours' walking, and may be travelled with perfect safety. The traveller, starting from the Staubbach, crosses the torrent and enters upon a wooded bill almost as steep as a cliff. The path is one of the most zigzagged in all the Oberland. After ascending for about an hour, the traveller reaches a green upland slope, diversified with timber, and laid out in pasturages, with chalets. The holdings are so small, and the buildings so numerous, that the whole slope seems to form one wide-spread village. Here the national wrestling match takes place on the first Sunday of August in each year. The retrospective view from this elevation shows the valley of Lauterbrunnen, and the Staubbach seems to be like a snowy wreath on its black rocky background. Beyond this plateau the path leads to the right of a lofty, perpendicular cliffy range, which forms the eastern barrier of the upper valley of Lauterbrunnen, and courses the base of the Wengern Alp in a southern direction. About a mile and a half below the top of the pass, on the slope of the Wengern Alp, and on the edge of the cliff which separates the Trümeleten-thal from the Scheideck, is the inn called Hôtel de la Jungfrau. The accommodations are of a superior character, but the view of the Jungfrau constitutes the staple attraction of the house, which stands directly opposite to the Queen of the Oberland. The height of the Jungfrau is 13,700 ft. above the sea level; thus this is the fourth among Swiss, and the eighth among European moun

tains.

About an hour's walking brings the traveller to the top of the Lesser Sheideck Pass (Hotel : Bellevue). From this point the path descends, and a beautiful valley is seen spreading out to a vast extent, lying along the base of the great mountain-chain of the Bernese Alps. The mountains which enclose it present here a most imposing aspect.

GRINDELWALD (Hotels: l'Ours, Aigle, indifferent and the dearest in Switzerland, Eiger, du Glucier). It has a population of 2,871. In its valley immense rocks and colossal mountains rise, at the foot of which extend the two celebrated glaciers. The upper glacier, situated between the Wetterhorn and the Mettenberg, is one and a half league in length, full of rifts and crevices. It is reached by a fatiguing journey of 33 miles from the village. The lower glacier, situated between the Mettenberg and the Eigher, is the more interesting. It is a sea of ice, three leagues in length, terribly torn and cleft, and scattered with pyramids of a grotesque form. "Scarcely three hundred years ago an open pass several leagues in length, led over the chain into the Valais, from which people came to the church of Grindelwald to celebrate baptisms and weddings. To-day all is covered with a wild and impassable sea of ice."

In the seventeenth century the glacier increased in an extraordinary manner, and was no longer to be contained by its valley. Bursting its barriers, it carried away the dwellings which lay in its course, and destroyed the church of St. Petronilla, the bell of which, cast in 1044, is yet in the church of Grindelwald. Tradition relates that at one time the Mettenberg and Eigher formed but

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