that the mists begin to curl up, and usually shroud parts of it from the eye. The most striking feature in this wonderful panorama, which is said to extend over a circumference of 300 m., is undoubtedly the lakes of Lucerne and Zug; the branching arms of the former extend in so many different directions as to bewilder one at first, and both lave the base of the mountain so closely that the spectator might fancy himself suspended in the air above them, as in a balloon, and think, by one step from the brow of the precipice, to plunge into them. The peculiar greenish blue tint which sheets of water assume when seen from a height has also something exceedingly beautiful. Eight other lakes may be seen from the Rigi, but they are so small and distant as to "look like pools; some almost like water spilt upon the earth.”

On the N. side the eye looks down into the lake of Zug, and the streets of Arth; at the end of the lake the town of Zug, and behind it the spire of the Ch. of Kappel, where Zwingli, the Reformer, fell in battle. This is backed by the chain of the Albis, and through gaps in its ridge may be discerned a few of the houses of the town of Zürich, and two little bits of its lake. Over the 1. shoulder of the Rossberg a peep is obtained into the lake of Egeri, on whose shores the Swiss gained the victory of Morgarten. The N. horizon is bounded by the range of the Black Forest hills.

The prospect on the W. is more open and map-like, and therefore less interesting. Close under the Rigi lie Tell's chapel, on the spot where he shot Gessler, and the village and bay of Küssnacht. Farther off, nearly the whole canton of Lucerne expands to view; the Reuss winding through the midst of it. Above the Reuss is the lake of Sempach, the scene of another triumph of Swiss valour. Lucerne, with its coronet of towers, is distinctly seen at the W. end of the lake, and on the 1. of it rises the gloomy Pilatus, cutting the sky with its serrated ridge. The remainder of the W. horizon is occupied by the chain of the Jura.

On the S. the mass of the Rigi forms the foreground, and touching the opposite mountains of Unterwalden, only allows here and there a small portion of the lake of Lucerne to be seen. On this side the objects visible in succession, from rt. to l., are the lakes of Alpnach and Sarnen, buried in woods, by the side of which runs the road to the Brünig; the mountains called Stanzer and Buochserhorn, and behind them the magnificent white chain of the high Alps of Berne, Unterwalden, and Uri, in one unbroken ridge of peaks and glaciers, including the Jungfrau, Eiger, Finster Aarhorn, the Titlis (the highest peak in Unterwalden), the Engelberger Rothstock, and the Bristenstock, between which and the Seelisberg runs the road of St. Gothard.

On the E. the Alpine chain continues to stretch uninterruptedly along the horizon, and includes the pre-eminent peaks of the Dödi, on the borders of the Grisons, of the Glärnisch, in canton Glarus, and of the Sentis, in Appenzell. In the middle distance, above the lake of Lauertz, lies the town of Schwytz, the cradle of Swiss freedom, backed by the two singular sharp peaks called, from their shape, the Mitres (Mythen). Above them peers the snowy peak of the Glärnisch; and to the rt. of them is the opening of the Muotta Thal, famous for the bloody conflicts between Suwarrow and Massena, where armies manœuvred and fought on spots which before the shepherd and chamois hunter scarcely dared to tread. Farther to the 1. rises the mass of the Rossberg,-the nearest mountain neighbour of the Rigi. The whole scene of desolation caused by its fall (see p. 41); the chasm on the top, whence the ruin came; the course of the terrific avalanche of stones, diverging and spreading in their descent; the lake of Lowertz, partly filled up by it, and the pools and puddles caused in the valley by the stoppage of the watercourses, are at once displayed in a bird's-eye view.

The very distant snowy peak seen above the top of the Rossberg is the Sentis.

in summer, the north wind blows, along the bay of Uri from ten to three or four, after which it dies away, and is succeeded by the Föhn, blowing from the S. The boatmen, in coming from Lucerne, endeavour to reach Flüelen before the wind turns. The only resource, when a storm arises, is to run before the wind.

The Lake of Lucerne, or of the Four Forest Cantons (Vier-WaldstädterSee), so called from the cantons of Uri, Unterwalden, Schwytz, and Lucerne, which exclusively form its shores, is distinguished above every lake in Switzerland, and perhaps in Europe, by the beauty and sublime grandeur of its scenery. It is hardly less interesting from the historical recollections connected with it. Its shores are a classic region-the sanctuary of liberty; on them took place those memorable events which gave freedom to Switzerland here the first Confederacy was formed; and, above all, its borders were the scene of the heroic deeds and signal vengeance of WILLIAM TELL, on which account they are sometimes called Tell's Country.

The lake lies at a height of 1406 ft. above the sea-level: it is of very irregular shape, assuming, near its W. extremity, the form of a cross. Its various bays, branching in different directions, are each named after the chief town or village situated on them thus the W. branch is properly the lake of Lucerne; then come the bays of Alpnach on the S., Küssnacht on the N., Buochs, stretching E. and W.; and lastly, the bay of Uri, running N. and S., entirely enclosed within the mountains of that canton.

Quitting Lucerne, and passing the long Hof Brücke, the steamboat will soon arrive abreast of a promontory on the 1., called Meggenhorn, close off which lies a small island, the only one in the lake. A Frenchman, the Abbé Reynal, took upon himself to raise upon it a monument to the founder of Swiss liberty; it consisted of a wooden obelisk, painted to look like granite, with Tell's apple and arrow on the top. This gingerbread

memorial of vanity and bad taste was luckily destroyed by lightning. Thus far the shores of the lake are undulating hills, clothed with verdure, and dotted with houses and villas—a smiling scene to which the dark ridge of Pilatus adds a solitary feature of grandeur. After doubling the cape of the Meggenhorn, the bay of Küssnacht opens out on the 1., that of Alpnach on the rt., and the traveller finds himself in the centre of the cross or transept (so to call it) of the lake. From this point Mount Pilate is seen to great advantage — clouds and darkness almost invariably rest upon his head, and his serrated ridge and gloomy sides have a sullen air in the midst of the sunny and cheerful landscape around. The superstitions connected with this mountain are mentioned at p. 39. It is the weatherglass of the boatmen and shepherds, and, according to the common saying,

(Wann Pilatus trägt sein Hut Dann wird das Wetter gut) it is a bad sign when Pilate is free from cloud, or doffs his hat in the morning; but when the clouds rest steadily on his forehead till late in the afternoon, fair weather may be expected.

Looking up the bay of Küssnacht the ruined castle of Neu Habsburg is seen on the 1. perched on a cliff; and, at the further extremity of the village of Küssnacht, a fort belonging to the counts of that name. The colossal mass of the Rigi occupies the other side of the bay. Its sides are girt with forests, below which runs fringe of fields and gardens, dotted with cottages; while, above, it is clothed to its very summit with verdant pastures, feeding a hundred flocks;-an agreeable contrast to his neighbour Pilate.

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After weathering the promontory of Tanzenburg, a spur or buttress descending from the Rigi, the village of Weggis appears in sight: it is the usual port of disembarkation for those who ascend the Rigi from the water (see p. 48), and may be reached in about an hour from Lucerne. The high precipices opposite Weggis be

long to canton Unterwalden, but the narrow ledge of meadow at their base is in canton Lucerne.

Two rocky headlands projecting from the Rigi on one side, and the Burgenburg on the other significantly called the Noses (Nasen)—now appear to close up the lake; but as the boat advances, a narrow strait, not more than 14 m. wide, is disclosed between them. Once through these narrows, and the noses seem to have overlapped each other, and the traveller enters, as it were, a new lake shut out by high mountains from that which he has traversed before. This oval basin is called the Gulf of Buochs, from the little village at the bottom of the bay on its S. shore, behind which rise two grand mountains, the Buochser and Stanzer-Horn.

Beckenried (Inn: Sonne) was once the place of assembly of the council of the 4 cantons. The steamers here land passengers bound for Buochs (3 m.) or Stanz (6 m. from Beckenried), p. 95. Carriages may be hired here for Lungern and the Brünig (Rte. 19).

There is a pleasant walk from Beckenried to Grütli, by a charming path. On the opposite shore, at the foot of the Rigi, nestles the little village Gersau (Inn: Sonne, small, but clean) which, with the small strip of cultivated and meadow land behind it, formed, for four centuries, an independent state, undoubtedly the smallest in civilized Europe.

Its entire territory consists of a slope leaning against the side of the mountain, produced probably by the earth and rubbish washed down from above, by two mountain torrents breaking out of ravines behind it. The whole extent of land cannot measure more than 3 m. by 2, which would make a very small parish in England; scarcely an acre of it is level ground, but it is covered with orchards, and supports a population of 1348 souls, dwelling in 174 houses, 82 of which form the village.

It is recorded that the people of Gersau bought their freedom from a state of villenage in 1390, with a sum of 690 lbs. of pfennings, scraped to

gether after 10 years of hard toil, to satisfy the Lords of Moos, citizens of Lucerne, whose serfs they had previously been. They maintained their independence apart from any other canton, and governed by a landamman and council, chosen from among themselves, until the French occupied Switzerland in 1798, since which they have been united with the canton Schwytz. Though Gersau possessed a criminal jurisdiction of its own, together with a gallows still left standing, no instance of a capital execution occurred during the whole of its existence as a separate state.

There is something very pleasing in the aspect of Gersau on the margin of its quiet cove, shrouded in orchards and shut out from the rest of the world by the precipices of the Rigi; for, although there is a path hence to Brunnen, and another to the top of the mountain, they are difficult and little used. Its picturesque, broadbrimmed cottages are scattered among the fields and chesnut woods nearly to the summit of the slopes; some perched on sloping lawns, so steep that they seem likely to slip into the lake.

The steamer calls off Gersau, which is reached in 1 hr. from Lucerne. As soon as it is left behind, the singular bare peaks of the Mythen (Mitres) start up into view,-at their foot the town of Schwytz is built, 3 m. inland, and in front of them stands the village of

Brunnen (Inn: Golden Adler; good and comfortable; intelligent landlord) -the port of the canton Schwytz, built at the mouth of the river Muotta. Its position in reference to the surrounding scenery is one of the most fortunate on the lake, commanding a view along two of its finest reaches. Mt. Pilatus is well seen from this. It is the depôt for goods going to and from Italy, over the St. Gothard. The warehouse, called Sust, bears on its outer walls a rude painting of the three Confederates, to commemorate the first alliance which was formed on this spot between the Forest Cantons in 1315, after the battle of Morgarten.

Saddle

Boats for rowing on the lake cost about a franc an hour. The steamer touches here 6 times a-day. Diligences for St. Gall and Zürich by Arth.

Opposite Brunnen, the lake of the Four Cantons changes at once its direction and its character. Along the bay of Uri, or of Flüelen as it is sometimes called, it stretches nearly N. and S. Its borders are perpendicular, and almost uninterrupted precipices; the basements and buttresses of colossal mountains, higher than any of those which overlook the other branches of the lake; and their snowy summits peer down from above the clouds, or through the gullies in their sides, upon the dark gulf below. At the point of the promontory, opposite Brunnen, stands a small inn, called Treib, with a little haven in front, in which boats often take shelter. When the violence of the Föhn wind renders the navigation of the lake to Flüelen impracticable, travellers sometimes take a footpath from Treib over the mountains by Seelisberg, Bauen, Isenthal, and Seedorf. There is a similar and equally difficult path from Schwytz to Morsebach, Sisikon (or Sissigen), Tellenrüth, to Altorf, which was nevertheless_traversed by the French General Lecourbe, with his army, in pursuit of Suwarrow, in the night, by torchlight, in 1799. The want of boats to transport his forces across the lake compelled him to this daring exploit. On turning the corner of the promontory of Treib, a singular rock, called Wytenstein, rising like an obelisk out of the water, is passed, and the bay of Uri, in all its stupendous grandeur, bursts into view.

"It is upon this that the superiority of the lake of Lucerne to all other lakes, or, as far as I know, scenes

After passing the Wytenstein about a mile, the precipices recede a little, leaving a small ledge, formed by earth fallen from above, and sloping down to the water's edge. A few walnut and chesnut trees have here taken root, and the small space of level ground is occupied by a meadow conspicuous among the surrounding woods from the brightness of its verdure. This is Grütli or Rütli, the spot pointed out by tradition as the rendezvous of the 3 founders of Swiss freedom, Werner Stauffacher, of Steinen, in Schwytz; Erni (Arnold) an der Halden, of Melchthal, in Unterwalden; and Walter Fürst, of Attinghausen, in Uri. These "honest conspirators' met in secret in the dead of night, on this secluded spot, at the end of the year 1307, to form the plan for liberating their country from the oppression of their Austrian governors. They here "swore to be faithful to each other, but to do no wrong to the Count of Habsburg, and not to maltreat his governors."

"These poor mountaineers, in the 14th cent., furnish, perhaps, the only example of insurgents who, at the moment of revolt, bind themselves as sacredly to be just and merciful to their oppressors as to be faithful to each other." The scheme thus concerted was carried into execution on the following new year's day; and such was the origin of the Swiss Confederation.

According to popular belief, which everywhere in Switzerland connects political events with notions of religion, the oath of the Grütli was followed by a miracle, and 3 springs gushed forth from the spot upon which