, 1880-10-13

eagerness becomes u~ngovernable, and
he puts his two front paws upon the
door, and pokes out his whole head,
invariably receiving a good pat upon
ii, and then subsiding into his food.
There is a cow, who is takento pasture,
while her stall companion, apparently
a sheep, is left behind and the noise
which these two make On her return
in the evening, as the COW approaches
home, the sheep bleating to the cow,
and the COW mooing to the sheep, is
prodigious. Then there is a forge,
from which rings forth pretty constant
ly the clink of metal and the winter
stores Of wood are being brought.in on
all sides, and often choppedor sawn in
to smaller lengths or thicknesses. A
crow or two-rooks they cannot be
croak occasionally overhead whilst
at stated intervals the bells which an
nounce the arrival and departure OF
the lake steamers mark the greatevents
Of the day to the village at large, and
the bells Of the pensions announcing
meals, tho greatcstin life, perhaps, to
some at least Of the idlers from all
countries who arc thoro gathered, =
Americans, Germans, English, French,
S%paniards. &c.
Oborhofen is, indeed. a favourable specimen
of Bernese life, partly owing to ita neighbour
hood to Thun, aud to tbs nany gentIemen's
campagaeS scattered about, 10 say nothing OF
the expenditure Of The pensions, but perhaps
chiefly to It's favourable position on the north
ern slopes Of the lovely lake, fronting g feW
points west of south and thereby fayourably
situated for viue-growing. There il, according
ly, a large acreage laid out in vineyards
(which promise this year an abundant CROP,
aud though the wine made here Is SAID to Dc
very poor itself, it is used for mixing, and
vineyards Weld in fair yeara six per cent.
Whether The dreaded phylloxera, which has
already made great havoc in some parts of
S~itse.lona, will roach this part OF tho oo"n-
try, remains yet to be seen. Yet fhe people
are not only, like most OF their oountrymen'
bard-featured. but seldom really healthy ltOk-
ing /; and public attention has recently poem
directed to the increasing lumber of young
men from Canton Berue who are found physic-
ally unfit for military service. 1t is said that
the chief cause Of this is the virtually total
Withholding of milk from the children after
they are weane0, in order that it may all be
sent to the cheese d%airies. and their being
brought up almost exclusively on potatoes
with too often g zest Of potato-brandy, said 70
tie itself nearly ne poisonous as abslnthe. L
have even been informed that when, two or
threeS years ogo. owing, to The failure OF the
potato crop on the other side of the lake. distress
amounting almost to anime prevailed, ano o
subscription was got up to provide the schooA-
children, through their schoot-masterS, WIN a
draught of milk at school, it prov ed SD un"on-
ted a diet that they could not digest ii. Ouf
own labourers, no doubt, often do rot get
nearly enough for their children of this pfeol-
Gus element of nutrition. but l doubt II ire
absence of it from their dietary is so complete
as it is with the Swiss children. Ihe almost
entire dep eudence of The Bernese upon agrl-
culture beyond some Woodworking, IN Wnlcn
itself they complain of being cut out by foreign
ersl. is said 10 be the main cause OF this state
of things. Certainly, the men here about are
loutisb, compared, for instance, with The bright
Appenzellers.
Yet, when the worst is said, there is
much which our English Hodge mightenvy
in the lot of these Bernese. Almost every
family has it's own homestead, its own bit OF
land-pasture or vineyard, or arabic or gar
den often several, or all of the four-8nd no
labour is lost which they bestow upon 1t
Accordingly, industry is universal, though
it's methods may often be primitive. | Saw