these will suffice to show that the parties were, as the preface has it, of a very heterogeneous character. Pardon this digression from my narrative, but some of the characters will figure as I go along, and therefore I note them at this point.

After dinner we resumed our journey by rail, in view of the lake, till we reached Chillon, where we alighted and visited the castle, made famous by Byron in his "Prisoner of Chillon." It stands on an isolated rock nearly surrounded by deep water, but within twenty yards of the shore, with which it communicates by a wooden bridge.

"Lake Leman lies by Chillon's walls;
A thousand feet in depth below
Its mossy waters meet and flow;
Thus much the fathom-line was sent
From Chillon's snow white battlements,
Which round about the wave enthrals:
A double dungeon wall and wave
Have made and like a living grave,
Below the surface of the lake

The dark vault wherein he lay,

We heard it ripple night and day, &c."

We crossed the bridge, and an intelligent looking person belonging to the place, acted as our guide. We entered first the dungeons. In the first room was the bed, formed of a piece of solid rock, on which the prisoners slept the night before their execution. In the next room was the potence, a beam, black with age, extended across the vaults, to which the condemned were hung. On the side of the room nearest the lake, we observed an arch, now walled up, through which the prisoners, after having been strangled, were thrown into the lake. We passed into the dungeon with seven pillars, described by Byron. The second pillar was pointed out to us as the one, to which, for protecting the liberty of Geneva, BONNIVARD was chained. There the Duke of Savoy kept

him for six years, confined by a chain four feet long. He could take only three steps, and the stone floor is deeply worn by the prints of those weary steps. On the stone pillar is inscribed the names of Byron, Dickens, and others, including now, some enthusiastic members of our party. Byron writes of Bonnivard :

"Chillon thy prison is a holy place,
And thy sad floor an altar; for 't was trod
Until his very steps have left a trace
Worn, as if the cold pavement were a sod,

By BONNIVARD! May none those marks efface!

For they appeal from tyranny to GOD."

Leaving the dungeons we went into the judgment hall, where prisoners were tried, and then into the chapel, the bedrooms and reception rooms of the Dukes of Savoy. Our guide next took us into a tower where was the oubliette the place of forgetfulness. Here the unfortunate prisoner was made to kneel before an image of the Virgin, then a trap-door was lifted up, and he was desired to descend into the room below. He descended a small spiral staircase of three steps; he found no fourth step and was precipitated into a well eighty feet deep, and was seen no more. And all this, and much more of an horrible nature that was enacted within these walls, was done for the glory of God in the "good old times." The principal portion of the castle is now used as a magazine for military stores, after, inspecting which, we paid the guide and left the place On the bridge was a stall filled with specimens of Swiss carving, photographs, views of the castle and neighbourhood, and other mementos of the place. Before our party had all crossed, little was left on the stall, all being desirous of carrying away from this deeply interesting spot, some trifling souvenir for their friends at home.

Having more than an hour before our train was due, we had a pleasant sail on the lake, as the sun declined; and till memory loses it hold, I shall never forget the splendour of its setting rays across the lake. Up above the region of clouds, stood in noble proportions, the snow-covered peaks of the Alps; they seemed white and spotless as alabaster, and the sun's rays passing through a denser atmosphere, imparted to them a mellowed light, and then the peaks and towers, and fields of white, changed to a soft rosy tint. We

returned rowing by the castle rock, under cool drooping branches of trees, to the ancient moat and drawbridge, and disembarking, proceeded to the station. During the time we were waiting the arrival of the train, a party of Swiss women who were rowing on the lake, commenced singing one of their Swiss melodies, and when they had finished, we gave them a most hearty cheer, to which they responded by singing us our own National Anthem, in English.

The first station after leaving Chillon that we stayed at, was Villeneuve, and about a mile from the station was a small island, one of three in the lake; it is mentioned by Byron in the poem from which we have already quoted :—

"And then there was a little isle,
Which in my very face did smile,
The only one in view;

A small green isle, it seem'd no more,
Scarce broader than my dungeon floor;
But in it there were three tall trees,
And o'er it blew the mountain breeze,
And by it there were waters flowing,
And on it there were young flowers growing,
Of gentle breath and hue."

The railway now entered the flat valley of the Rhone, passing through fertile and well cultivated fields, overshadowed by fine walnut trees. It was almost dark

when we reached St. Maurice. The old bridge here is very interesting. It spans the rapid river with one bold arch, seventy feet wide, leaning for support on one side on the Dent de Morcles, and on the other on the Dent du Midi, two mountains of exceeding grandeur, whose bases are pushed forward so far as barely to leave room for the river. The rest of our journey was in the dark, and we reached Martigny at ten o'clock, and were hospitably received and treated by the proprietor of the Hotel Clerc. Before we retired to rest, our company provided themselves with that indispensable companion upon mountain journeys-an alpen-stock. It is worth while to explain to my readers a little about this article, which is one of the most important parts of an Alpine traveller's equipment. It is a stout staff, generally of ash, six feet long, with an iron spike at its lower end, and serves at all times as a pleasant walking-stick, but is peculiarly useful in ascending mountains. It is of still greater use in descending the mountains, as it enables the traveller to transfer part of the weight of his body from the legs to the arms, which is a great relief.

CHAPTER VIII.

"Pleasant were many scenes, but most to me

The solitude of vast extent, untouched

By hand of Art, where Nature sowed herself,

And reaped her crops; whose garments were the clouds;
Whose minstrel's brooks; whose lamps the moon and stars;
Whose organ choir the voice of many waters;

Whose banquets morning dews; whose heroes storms;
Whose warriors mighty winds; whose lovers flowers;
Whose orators the thunderbolts of God;

Whose palaces the everlasting hills."-POLLOK.

At seven a.m., in front of our hotel, was presented a novel sight. Forty-six mules and seventeen guides awaited the pleasure of our party, and after some time had been spent in securing the luggage to the backs of the saddles, the ladies made their appearance, and mounted, followed by the gentlemen, and then with some six or eight pedestrians, the whole cavalcade marched away through Martigny, to the no small surprise of the residents who at that early hour filled every window and doorway. Anxious to know why this unusual stir was made on this occasion, I enquired, and was given to understand, that never within the memory of the standard authority on matters of this sort, viz:the oldest inhabitant, had so large a party left Martigny for Chamouni, on one day. Our road for a couple of miles lay through pasture land, where the operation of haymaking was going on, which lent a delightful fragrance to the morning air, while cosy little Swiss cottages dotted the landscape at every point. Our ascent of the mountain now commenced, and the alpenstocks of our pedestrian companions were of great