'glacier, said to be the largest and finest in Switzer'land. I think the Bossons glacier at Chamouni as 'fine; Hobhouse does not. Came to the Reichenbach ' waterfall, two hundred feet high; halted to rest the horses. Arrived in the valley of Overland; rain came on; drenched a little; only four hours' rain, however, in eight days. Came to the lake of Brientz, then 'to the town of Brientz; changed. In the evening, 'four Swiss peasant girls of Oberhasli came and sang 'the airs of their country; two of the voices beautiful -the tunes also; so wild and original, and at the 'same time of great sweetness. The singing is over; 'but below stairs I hear the notes of a fiddle, which bode no good to my night's rest; I shall go down and 'see the dancing.

6

'September 25th.

'The whole town of Brientz were apparently gathered together in the rooms below; pretty music and excellent waltzing; none but peasants; the dancing much better than in England; the English can't waltz, ' never could, never will. One man with his pipe in his mouth, but danced as well as the others; some ' other dances in pairs and in fours, and very good. I 'went to bed, but the revelry continued below late and early. Brientz but a village. Rose early. Embarked on the lake of Brientz; rowed by the women in a long boat; presently we put to shore, and another 'woman jumped in. It seems it is the custom here for the boats to be manned by women: for of five men ' and three women in our bark, all the women took an oar, and but one man.

'Got to Interlachen in three hours; pretty lake; 'not so large as that of Thoun. Dined at Interlachen. 'Girl gave me some flowers, and made me a speech in

'German, of which I know nothing; I do not know 'whether the speech was pretty, but as the woman

was, I hope so. Re-embarked on the lake of Thoun; 'fell asleep part of the way; sent our horses round; 'found people on the shore, blowing up a rock with gunpowder; they blew it up near our boat, only telling us a minute before;-mere stupidity, but they 'might have broken our noddles. Got to Thoun in 'the evening; the weather has been tolerable the 'whole day. But as the wild part of our tour is 'finished, it don't matter to us; in all the desirable part, we have been most lucky in warmth and clearness of atmosphere.

'September 26th.

Being out of the mountains, my journal must be as flat as my journey. From Thoun to Berne, good road, hedges, villages, industry, property, and all sorts ' of tokens of insipid civilization. From Berne to Fri'bourg; different canton; Catholics; passed a field of 'battle; Swiss beat the French in one of the late wars ' against the French republic. Bought a dog. The greater part of this tour has been on horseback, on 'foot, and on mule.

'September 28th.

'Saw the tree planted in honour of the battle of Morat; three hundred and forty years old; a good 'deal decayed. 'cathedral; high tower.

Left

Fribourg, but first saw the
Overtook the baggage of the

' nuns of La Trappe, who are removing to Normandy; 'afterwards a coach, with a quantity of nuns in it. Proceeded along the banks of the lake of Neuchatel; very pleasing and soft, but not so mountainous-at

least, the Jura, not appearing so, after the Bernese Alps. Reached Yverdun in the dusk; a long line 'of large trees on the border of the lake; fine and sombre; the Auberge nearly full-a German princess and suite; got rooms.

Here

September 29th. 'Passed through a fine and flourishing country, but 'not mountainous. In the evening reached Aubonne '(the entrance and bridge something like that of Durham), which commands by far the fairest view of the 'Lake of Geneva; twilight; the moon on the lake; a grove on the height, and of very noble trees. Tavernier (the eastern traveller) bought (or built) the chateau, because the site resembled and equalled that of Erivan, a frontier city of Persia; here he finished 'his voyages, and I this little excursion,-for I am within a few hours of Diodati, and have little more to see, and no more to say.'

With the following melancholy passage this Journal concludes:

In the weather for this tour (of 13 days), I have been very fortunate-fortunate in a companion (Mr. H.)-fortunate in our prospects, and exempt from even the little petty accidents and delays which ' often render journeys in a less wild country disappointing. I was disposed to be pleased. I am a lover of 'nature and an admirer of beauty. I can bear fatigue and welcome privation, and have seen some of the 'noblest views in the world. But in all this-the ' recollection of bitterness, and more especially of ' recent and more home desolation, which must accompany me through life, have preyed upon me here;

and neither the music of the shepherd, the crashing of the avalanche, nor the torrent, the mountain, the 'glacier, the forest, nor the cloud, have for one moment 'lightened the weight upon my heart, nor enabled me 'to lose my own wretched identity in the majesty, and the power, and the glory, around, above, and be'neath me.'

Among the inmates at Sécheron, on his arrival at Geneva, Lord Byron had found Mr. and Mrs. Shelley, and a female relative of the latter, who had about a fortnight before taken up their residence at this hotel. It was the first time that Lord Byron and Mr. Shelley ever met; though, long before, when the latter was quite a youth,-being the younger of the two by four or five years, he had sent to the noble poet a copy of his Queen Mab, accompanied by a letter, in which, after detailing at full length all the accusations he had heard brought against his character, he added, that, should these charges not have been true, it would make him happy to be honoured with his acquaintance. The book alone, it appears, reached its destination,— the letter having miscarried,-and Lord Byron was known to have expressed warm admiration of the opening lines of the poem.

There was, therefore, on their present meeting at Geneva, no want of disposition towards acquaintance on either side, and an intimacy almost immediately sprung up between them. Among the tastes common to both, that for boating was not the least strong; and in this beautiful region they had more than ordinary temptations to indulge in it. Every evening, during their residence under the same roof at Sécheron, they embarked, accompanied by the ladies and Polidori, on

the Lake; and to the feelings and fancies inspired by these excursions, which were not unfrequently prolonged into the hours of moonlight, we are indebted for some of those enchanting stanzas, in which the poet has given way to his passionate love of Nature so fervidly.

'There breathes a living fragrance from the shore
'Of flowers yet fresh with childhood; on the ear
'Drips the light drop of the suspended oar.

*

At intervals, some bird from out the brakes 'Starts into voice a moment, then is still. There seems a floating whisper on the hill, 'But that is fancy,-for the starlight dews All silently their tears of love instil,

Weeping themselves away.'

A person who was of these parties has thus described to me one of their evenings. When the bise or northeast wind blows, the waters of the Lake are driven 'towards the town, and, with the stream of the Rhone, 'which sets strongly in the same direction, combine 'to make a very rapid current towards the harbour. Carelessly, one evening, we had yielded to its course, 'till we found ourselves almost driven on the piles; and it required all our rowers' strength to master the tide. The waves were high and inspiriting,— we were all animated by our contest with the ele" ments. "I will sing you an Albanian song," cried 'Lord Byron; "now, be sentimental and give me all your attention." It was a strange, wild howl that he gave forth; but such as, he declared, was an exact 'imitation of the savage Albanian mode,-laughing, 'the while, at our disappointment, who had expected ' a wild Eastern melody.'

Sometimes the party landed, for a walk upon the

Childe Harold, Canto iii.