The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1884-08-21

streaks of the morning light" Now q
beam kisses the si!vered top of the noun:
tain far to the South. Another and
another icy crest is lighted up, the golden
orb begins to appear above the horizon,
the rays descend TO the valleys below aud
on the memory 0f all Is stamped, never
TO be efaced, the beautiful picture Of a
sunrise on the Rgi.
We descend tho railway, which, by the
way, il a cog wheel affair, similar TO the
Mount Washington line, having in some
places a grade of one in four, and at
Vitznau again take the steamer for Alp.
mach, where carriages are in waiting for
the Journey over the Brunig Pass TO
Brienz. The road over the Brunig is a
marvel of engineering skill and many
times the rocks seem to ef1ectually bar all
further progress but by winding about
the mountains, along the edge Of preci.
pices and beneath Overhanging rocks
amid wild and lovely scenery, with con.
stantly changing views as we ascend and
descend the pass. Lake BrienZ is at last
| reached and we transfer once more to q
| steamer, aud cross the lake to Gies,bach,
where we stop few hours to see the
waterfall of the same name. The little
| stream which forms the Giessbach Falls,
makes total descent of nearly 200 feet
to the lake; but the fall" is simply o
series of cascades, varying in height from
ten to one hundred feet At night the
principal cascades are Illuminated with
different colored Bengal lights, aud the
"illumiuation OF the Giessbach" ia the
prime pal attraction Of the mammoth
hotel located there. Our opinion Of
Swiss waterfalls was not improving, how
ever, and we took the next boat for the foot
of the lake, from which ride Of en- min
utcs by rail brought us to Interihken.
As the name implies, InterIaken is
| bctmrtn he lakes Of BrieDz and Thun !;
and as i; is not only delightful spot
itself, bu, also a convenient rendezvous
for excursions into the Bernese Oberland,
it is q very popular place for tourists.
About twelve miles distant and easily
reached by carriage, is Gripdelwald, near
which place are the Grindelwald gla-
ciers, flowing down from the Bernese
Alps. We visited the upper glacier"
and were much interested in il. The
vast frozen flood, crowded down the
gorge in The mountain By the immense
weight of ice aud snow above, crumbles
and meita as it reaches the valley and
drops its burden Of rocks aud other debris
into the terminal 'mOraine." From the
base flows q small stream, almost as
white rs milk, which, after winding
about among the mountains finally
reaches lake Brienz. At one point n
grotto has been cnt directly into the face
of the glacier, and one may enter for
nearly 200 feet this vast ice house Of
nature. The ice, which, in small frag-
ments appears az clear as crystal, here,
owing to its grent thickness, is q most
lovely blue and the light transmitted
through it throws ghnstly pallor which
is almost alarming over the faces of visit
ors. On either sile of the glacier, facing
outward, rises mighty wall of rock,
thousands Of feet In height, reminding
one Of the lofty cliffs of Yosemite but
on tho other side of the valley the noun
tain slopes gently back, covered with
small farms and dotted with hundreds of
cottages. On our return from Grindel-
wald, we made detour Of few miles
to Lnnterbrunnen, to see the far famed
Staubbach waterfall. The opportunities
for waterfall at this point are certainly
ample; the cliff being nearly 1000 feet
in height; but the supply of moisture is
30 extremely small that we Mt once sug-
gested the advisability of sending man
to the top with bucket of water with
strict orders to throw it all over at once.
1t was hardly satisfactory, but amid the
grand aud majestic scenery by which we
were surrounded, it was impossible to
criticse severely aud with the feeling
that it had been u day spent we'll, We re.
turned to IntorlaIen.
A short ride by rail to lake Thur,
steamer down the lake and rail again for
10 miles brought ua ut an early hour the
next day to 'Berne, the capital of tho
Swiss confederaoy. It has a population
of about 45,000, but possesses little Of
interest to the tourist. The bear, the
heraldic emblem of the city, is seen
everywhere, carved in wood, cast in iron
and even stamped On the pats OF butter
ut the hotels. The tower clock, which
rivals In the ingenuity Of it's figures the
Strasburg clock, has bears tor puppets,
and small den of live bears is kept Mt
the public expense. Fountains are nu.
merous throughout the city, las in fact
in nearly. all The Swiss oities,) and many
of the designs are both quaint and GU
rioua !; one, the ndlifresses," being
surmonnted BY g figure in The act of de.
vouripg q Kicking, stsnggling baby, and
having in is pQeketsR an abundant sup
ply for fhtuYe iunches of the same sort.
Berne Is also; noted for its manufactures
of music boxes, cuckoo clacks, etc, and
has in its cathedral one Of the finest
organs in the world. assa
Twenty miles South of Berne 10 Fri
bourg, with another celebrated organ,
and forty miles farther on we reach Lau.
sanne, where, Mt the Hotel Gibhon. ip
the garden Of which the great historian
wrote mis- Deoiiue anG Fuii of the iRso.
man Empire, we stop to re arrange the
outline OF our Italian tour.
H TRAVELLER.