NEW YORK WILEY AND PUTNAM, 161 BROADWAY. 1845. E. C . BENEDICT, ESQ., OF NEW YORK, THESE SKETCHES ARE AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED BY HIS FRIEND AND RELATIVE, THE AUTHO.R. CONTENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . PAOE INTRODUCTION. vii CIUPER I.-Pass of the Simplon. Gorge of Gondo. . 1 11.-Passes of the Forclaz and Col de Balme. . . . 7 . 111.-Ascent of the Montanverte. Vale of Chamouni. . 13 1V.-Pass of the Tte Noire. . . . . . . . 19 V.-Baths of Leuk. . . . . . . . 23 1V.-The Castle of Chillon . Geneva . Junction of the Rhone and Arve. . . . . . . . . . 26 VIL-Freybourg Organ and Bridges . Swiss Peculiarities. . 33 VII1.-Interlachen, Pass of the Wengern Alp. Byrons Manfred. 1X.-The Grand Scheideck an Avalanche. . . . . X.-Valley of Meyringen . Pass of Bronig. . XI.-Suwarrows Passage of tho Pragel. . . . . . XI1.-Macdonalds Pass of the Splugcn. . . . . . XII1.-The Righi Culm. . . . . . . . . . X1V.-Goldau-Fall of the Rossberg. . . . . . 39 46 51 55 GO 70 76 XV.-Avalanches and Glaciers. their Formation and Movement. XV1.-Pasturages. Chalets. and Alpine Passes. . XVI1.-A Farewell to Switzerland-Basle. . 9 81 86 0 X1X.-A Day in Wiesbaden. . . . . . . . 99 XVII1.-Strasbourg-The Rhine-Frankfort. . 94 XX.-Schwalbach and Schlagenbad. . . 106 XX1.-Mayence-The Rhine. . . 111 XXI1.-The Castellated Rhine. . . . . 115 XXII1.-The Rhine from Coblentz to Cologne. . 121 XXIV.-Rhine inesologne Cathedral. Louvain. Brussels. . 126 XXV.-Battle.field of Waterloo. . . . 131 INTRODUCTION. IN the present work I have not designed to make a book of travels, but give a series of sketches of the Alpine portioil of Switzerland, and the scenery along the Rhine. In writing of Switzerland, I have omitted almost altogether notices of the character of the people, except of those occupyiiig the valleys of the Alps. Neither have I spoken of the chief cities and towns of the country, except to make a passing remark. I excluded all such matter, because I wished, if possible, to give a definite idea of the scenery of the Alps. Having an unconquerable desire from my boyhood to see the land of Tell and Winkelried, I had read everything I could lay hold of, that would give me clear conceptions of the tvonderful scenery it embraces, yet I found that my imagination had never approached the reality. Hoping to do what others had failed in accomplishing, I confess, was the motive in my attempting these sketches. It always seemed strange to me, that such marked, striking features in natural scenery could fail of being caught and described. Such bold outlines, and such distinct figures, it seemed a mere pastime to reproduce before the eye. And even now, of all the distinct things memory recalls, none appear more clear and definite than the scenes of the Alps. But, notmitlstanding all this, I need not add that I am as mlich dissatisfied with my own efforts as witEi those of others. The truth is, the Alps are too striking and grand to be described. We get a definite idea of very few things in the world we have never seen, by mere naked details. This is especially true of those objects that excite emotion. It is by comparing them to more familiar and greater things, that we colceive them properly. Indeed, the imagination is generally so much weaker than the bodily eye, that exaggeration is required to bring up the perceptive faculties to the proper point. But the Alps have nothing beyond them-nothing greater with which to compare them. They alone can illustrate themselves. Coinparisons diminish them, and figures of speech only confuse the mind. This I believe to be the reason why every one becomes dissatisfied with his own descrip lions. To give lofty conceptions of mountain scenery before, he has been accustomed to call it Alpine... --This text refers to the Paperback edition.