The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1884-08-09

seem to eilectually bar all further progress
but by winding about the mountains, along
the edge Of precipices and beneath over
hanging rocks, amid wild and lovely scen-
cry, with constantly changing views as we
ascend and descend the pass. Lake Brienz
is at last reached and we transfer once
more to a steamer, and cross the lake to
Giessbach, where we stop few hours TO
see the waterfall Of the same name. The
little stream which forms the Giessbach |
Falls, makes total desccn Of nearly 200 |
feet to the lake; but the "falr" is simply
series of cascades, varying in hight from
ten to one hundred feet. AT night tho
principal casca 1es are illuminated with !
different colored Bengal lights, and the
ILLUMINATION of the Giessbach" is the
principal attraction Of the mammoth hotel
located there. Our opinion of Swiss water
falls was not improving however, and we
took the next boat for the foot Of he lake,
from which ride OF ten minutes by rail
brought US to Tnterlaken.
As lis name implies, ,Tnterlaken is between n
the lakes of Brienz and Thun; and as it is
not only delightful spot itself, but also
conYenient rendezvous for excursions into
the Bernese oberland, it is very popular
place for tourists. About twelve miles dis
tant and easily reached by carriage, is
Grlndelwald, near which place are the
Grindelwald glaciers, flowing down from
the Bcrnese Alps. We visited the "upper
glacier and were much interested in it.
The vast frozen flood, crowded down the
gorge ir the mountain by the immense
weight of ice and snow aboyc, cTumbles
and melts as it reaches the valley and
drops It's burden of rocks and other debris
into the terminal "moralne." From the
base flows stream almost as white as milk
which, after winding about among the
mountains finally reaches Lake Brienz. AT
one point a grotto has been cut directly
into the face of the glacier, and one may
enter for pesrlv 200 feet this vast ice house
of nature. The ice, which, in small frag-
mehts appears as clear os crystal, here,
owing to its great thickness is a lovely
blue, and the light transmitted through it
throws a ghastly pallor which is almost
alarming over the faces of visitors. On
either side of the glacier, facing outward
arises mighty wall Of rock, thousand ds of
feet in hight, reminding one OF the lofty
cliffs of Yosemite; but on the other side of
the valley the mountain slopes gently back,
covered with small farms aud dotted with
hundreds of cottages. On our return from
Grndelwald, we made detour of few
miles TO Lanterbrunnen to see the far famed
Staubbach waterfall. The opportunities for
a waterfall at this point are certainly am
Pile; the cliff being nearly 900 feet IN hight
but the supply of moisture is so extremely
small that we at once suggested the advisa-
bility of sending man to the top with a
bucket of water with strict orders to throw
it all over at once. 1t was hardly satisiac
tory, but amid the grand and majestic
scenery by which we were surrounded, it
was impossible to criticise severely and
with the feeling that it had been a day well
spent We returned to Interlak ken.
A short ride by rail to lake Thun steamer
down the lake and rail again Tor 10 miles
brought us at an early hour the next day
to Berne, the capital of the Swiss con feder-
acy. 1t has a population of about as 900,
| hnt ;,,1 81,
The bear, the heraldic emblem Of the city,
is seen everywhere, caryed in wood, cast
in iron and even stamped on the pats OF
butter at the hotels. The tower clock,
which rivals in the ingenuity Of its figures
the Strasburg clock, has bears for puppets
and a small den of live bears is kept at the
public expense. Fountains are numerous
throughout the city, (as in fact in nearly
all the Swiss cities,) and many of the de-
signs are both quaint and curious; one, the
"Kndlifresser," being surmounted by a
figure in the act Of devourlng a kicking,
struggling baby, and having in its pocket
an abundant supply for future lunches oI
the same sort. Berne is also noted for its
manufactures of music boxes. cuckoo clocks
etc., and has in its cathedral one of the fin
est organs in the world.
Twenty miles south of Berne is Frbourg
with another celebrated organ, and forty
miles farther on we reach Lausanne, where
at the Hotel Gib6on,n the garden Of which
the great historian wrote his Decline and
Fall of the Roman Empire. we stop to re.
arrange the outline of our Italian tour.
q l., N