to the places of amusement. It was Sunday certainly, but we found it very difficult to keep that fact in mind. We went to our temporary home early, for we had to leave by five o'clock next morning for Switzerland, and as we sat, previous to retiring to rest, we instituted a comparison between the English and continental Sabbath, much I believe to the disparagement of the latter.

With these random sketches, we must now for a while take our leave of France,

"Gay, sprightly land of mirth and social ease,

Pleased with thyself, whom all the world can please. "

CHAPTER VI.

"The Switzer's land! Where grandeur is encamped
Impregnably in mountain tents of snow;

Realms that by human foot-print ne'er were stamped
Where the eagle wheels and glacial ramparts glow!
Seek, nature's worshipper, those landscapes! Go
Where all her fiercest, fairest charms are found
Go to the land where TELL drew Freedom's bow;
And in the patriot's country thou shalt find

A semblance 'twixt the scene and his immortal mind.”
CAMPBELL.

Heigho! for Switzerland and the Alps! Travelling in Switzerland is now a hackneyed subject, and a man might well be excused, if in reply to the enquiries of his friends, he should say with Canning's razor-grinder Story! God bless you, I have none to tell." Though it is an old tale and it may be difficult to say anything new thereon, yet I will endeavour to narrate our experiences, and if possible, without being prolix. Until very recently, a trip to the mountains of central Europe was a pleasure confined to a very few; now thanks to improved railway facilities, they are enjoyed by hundreds. And, as many of my readers will, probably ere long, visit this interesting country, I trust that they may find, in this book, something that will be of service, and prove as interesting to them, as I trust it may also do, to many, who, not able to go themselves, like nevertheless, to travel in spirit and catch glimpses of snowy peaks in imagination. As the scenes and incidents of our ramble pleased and interested me, so I hope they may interest you, my reader.

On Monday morning, the 4th of July, at near seven a. m., at the station of the Paris, Lyons, and Mediterranean Railway, we duly handed our coupons or

tickets to be stamped, to the clerk in charge, and our bodies to the mercy of the engine driver, and shortly after found ourselves along with nearly one hundred fellow-tourists, speeding away for the grand old mountains and lakes of TELL. Our first halting-place was Fontainebleau. The railway running through the celebrated forest, was for a long distance protected on each side, by a fence of very beautiful dwarf firs and juniper. This place is a famous resort of the present Emperor.

Tonnerre, the next station at which arrangements had been made for us to stop, gave us an opportunity to make amends for the scanty breakfast we had taken before leaving Paris. After leaving Tonnerre, the aspects of the country, through which we passed, increased in interest, being agreeably alternated by extensive mountains and valleys, and well cultivated vineyards, on slopes and plains of great extent. After some hours riding we reached Dijon, one hundred and ninety-six miles from Paris, and here a regular invasion of the refreshment room took place. This dining or refreshment room is considered to be one of the best, if not the very best in France. The tables were already spread with the elements of a substantial repast-bouilli, soup, rôti, chicken, etc., and a double row of bottles of wine- -a cheering sight for the eighty hungry travellers, who, although twenty minutes only was allowed, did full justice to the viands, and paying the four francs charged to each, were soon again comfortably seated in the train. The journey from Dijon to Pontarlier, our next halting place, was long; but the various kinds of scenery through which we passed, helped us to forget the time. We had a most extensive view on the right of the train, and on

D

the left, the range of Jura mountains was very grand. But the best part of this long ride was in the scenery between Pontarlier and Neuchatel. The wonder is, at every turn among the hills, how, by any engineering skill, a railway could be contrived in such a region, skirting, as it does, the sides of frowning rocks, winding about with the curves of the valley, and ever and anon running through a succession of peculiar looking tunnels. The journey was completed at 10.30 p. m., having occupied sixteen hours, including stoppages, travelling three hundred and eighty miles. An omnibus was waiting at the station, and in a few minutes we were deposited at the "Belle Vue" hotel, Neuchatel, where, supper being taken, we were soon in bed, listening to our Swiss lullaby, in the rippling music of the lake.

About six o'clock on Tuesday morning we were out enjoying a stroll round the town and by the side of the lake. This lovely town of Neuchatel occupies a charming position on the slopes of the Jura, rising from the beautiful lake at its base in the form of an amphitheatre. By the shore of the lake are planted rows of beautiful trees. The lake, at this early hour of the morning, lay calm as a mirror, by the side of the vine clad slopes, without a wave to ruffle its surface; and away on the other side, far in the distance, appearing out of the hazy atmosphere, and apparently mingling with the sky, appeared the snowy Alps, "like the pure and spotless ramparts and battlements of a better world." We were delighted with this, our first impression of mountain scenery, and remarked to each other how agreeable it would be to settle down for a while in the midst of such enchanting views.

An American author, speaking of the view of the

Bernese Oberland from this town, says, "I could not have imagined any vision of mountains at once so venerable and so grand; grand, because of their vast extent and their great elevation of many thousands of feet—a rampart apparently impenetrable and sweeping along in dazzling whiteness, through a large portion of the horizon; venerable, because these mountains tell us of a period, when, after their elevation into the region of ever-during frost, the first watery vapour which had ascended to that upper region was crystallized into snow, and began to fall on the mountain top, and wrapped the cold peaks and ridges in the white mantle which they have ever since worn; although age after age have passed away, no summer's sun has been able to dissolve the frozen mass.'

In passing through the town, we noticed in front of the Gymnasium, a statue, in remembrance of David Pury. This man, a native of Neuchatel, quitted it a poor lad, without money, or friends, but by industry he increased his means, becoming in turn jeweller, owner of mines, banker, and finally, millionaire, at Lisbon, where he died. He left his whole fortune of 4,000,000 livres, (£166,000,) to endow an hospital and poor-house, and for other purposes connected with the improvement of his native town. We were much pleased to see sauntering about the streets, groups of charming English girls, and on enquiring how they came to be there in such numbers, we learnt that scholastic establishments, of the first class, chiefly supported by the English, abound both in the town and neighbourhood. Having eaten our breakfast, and paid our bill, which, by the way was very reasonable, amounting to eight francs, or six shillings and sixpence, English money, each, for supper,