The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1884-08-23


tance. Eastward the low peaks of the Rig
are seen, with an occasional glimpse ot
lakes IoWerz and Lucarns, with back
ground of forest, mountain and valley
Farther south another part Of the Forest
Sea is visible, with tbs precipitous peaks
of the Berness Alps, the peerless Jungfrau
the mighty Flnsteraarhorn, the Wetteriorn
md many of lesser note, holding high Their
nantles of dazzling white, many miles
away. The city of Lncerne and another
portion of the lake appears in the west
and just south of the city rises the storm
crowned head of Mount Pilatus. where the
legends say the spirit of Pontius PLATE, in
despair at having permitted the death OF
Christ, took refuge. The western horizon
is bounded by the dark blue of the Jura
range, and wherever the eye turns it is cap
tivated by new and apparently greater at
| fractions. Three hundred miles of noun
| tain, plain, forest and valley, with thirteen
| lakes, are included within the range of vi
sion.
A sunrise from the Rigi is regarded as
one of the most wonderful spectacles in
nature: and at half past three O'Clock the
next morning, the doubtful melody of an
Alpine horn was heard through the halls of
the hotel, warning to the sleepers that
g now was the time and this the place" to
see an Alpine sunrise. In q few moments
the guests, a motley throng, were assembled
on the highest point OF the mountain, a
few rods from the hotel The moon has
gone down, the stars have faded and fer
away to the northeast, over the mountains
of st. Gall como the streaks Of the morn
ing light. Now beam kisses the silyered
top of the mountain far to the south. An
other and another icy crest is lighted up,
the golden orb begins to appear above the
horizon, the rays descend to the valleys be-
low and on the memory Of all is stamped,
never to be effaced, the beautiful picture of
a sunrise on the Rigi.
We descend the railway, which by the
way, is 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 Alpnach,
where carriages are in waiting for the
journey over the Brunig Pass to Brienz.
Inc road Uygr the Brunig is a marvel of
engineering skill and many times rocks
seem to effectualiy bar aiifurther progress;
but we wind about the mountains, along
the edge of precipices and beneath over
hanging rocks, amid wild and lovely
scenery, with constantly changing views
as we ascend and descend the pass. Lake
Brienz is at last reached and we transfer
once more to q steamer, and cross the lake
to GiassbaeK, Where WI stop 4 Few hours To
see the waterfall of the same name. The
little stream which form the Giessbaeh Fails,
makes total descent of nearly 200 feet to
the lake; but the "fall" is simply q series
of cascades. varying in hight from ten to
one hundred feet. At night the principal
cascades are Illuminated with different
colored Bengal lights, and the "illumination
of tho Giessbach'' is the principal attraction
of the mammoth hotel located there. Our
opinion of Swiss waterfalls was not i'm
proving however, and we took the next
boat for the foot of tho lake, from which q
ride of ten minutes by rail brought us to
Interlaken.
As its name implies, Interlaken is be-
tween the lakes of Brienz and Thun, and as
1t is not only q delightful spot itself, but
also a convenient rendezvous for excursions
into the Bernese Oberland, it is a very pop
ular place for tourists. About twelve miles
distant and easily reached by carriage, is
Grindelwald, near which place are the
GrlndelWald glaciers, flowing down from
the Bernese Alps. We visited the " upper
glacier" and were much interested in it.
The vast frozen flood, crowded down the
gorge in the mountain by the immense
weight of ice and snow above, crumbles
and melts as it reaches the valley and drops
its burden of rocks and other debris into
the terminal moraine." From the base
flows a small stream, almost as white as
milk, which, after winding about among
mountains finally reaches Lake Brienz. At
one point q grotto has been cnt directly into
the face of the glacier, and one may enter
for nearly 800 feet this vast ice house of
nature. The ice, which in small fragments
appears as clear as crystal here, owing TO
its great thickness, is a most lovely blue.
and the light transmitted tllrouoht il
throws a gIastly pallor which is almost
alarming over the faces of visitors. On
either side of the glacier, facing outward,
rises a mighty wall of rock, thousands OF
feet III night. 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 and dotted with
hundreds of cottages. On our return from
We made a detour of few
miles to Lanterbrunnen, to see the far
famed Staubbach waterfall. The opportu-
tiles for a waterfall at this poiut are GER
tainly ample, the cliff being nearly / 600
feet in hight, but the supply Of moisture is
SO extremely small that we at once sug-
gested the advisability of sending a man to
the top with bucket of water with strict
orders to throWit all over at once 1t was
hardly satisfactory, but amid the grand
and majestic scenery by which we we're
surrounded, it was impossible to criticise
severely aud with the feeling that it had
been day spent well, we returned to In
terlaken.
A short ride by rail to lake Thun, steamer
down the lake and rail again for 19 miles
brought US at an early hour the next day
to Berne, the capital of the Swiss confed-
eracy. It has a population of about $1,000,
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 but
ter at the hotels. The tower clock, which
rivals In the ingenuity of its figures the
clock, has bears for puppets. and
a small den of live beasr is kept at the pub
lie expense. Fountains are numerous
throughout the eity,-as in fact in nearly
all the Swiss cities,-and many of the de-
signs are both quaint and curious; one, the
:. kindlIfresser, being sarmounted by
figure in the act of devouring kicking.
baby. and ha7ir, In ita rar,.t.a9a