The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1889-07-24
FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS.
From Interlaken to rindeiwald and
Lautefbrunnen.

| mig faSS, by tne Lake ol i>iiehH 10 49,
| known to all travellers abroad, but all may
not be aware that during last summer rail-
| road was completed where formerly there
was only a carriage road on the narrow de- |
| clivity of the mountain SIDE Ihese rail-
roads which go up steep mountains are be-
coming very common abroad, and are con-
strueted like the one which takes travellers
ND Mt Washington, having the engine in
the rear with cogs in the bottom of the car
which catch In grooves In the track to keep
the train from slipping In its precipitous
ascent and descent.
This route over the Brunig Is wonderfully
fine. 1t mounts up for miles past the lovely
Sarher Sea and skirts for some distance
fertile valley close among the mountains.
1t comes suddenly upon the Lungen Lake in
valley on the top Of mountains at the foot
Of towering mountains above. This region
is particularly fine, interspersed with Swiss
| villages made up of pcturesquely built
chalets often extending up a mountain side
almost to its summit, perplexing the traveller
to understand how so much material could
be conveyed to such height, with seemingly
no roads with which to approach so remote
region People live here in summer in
kind OF Acadian simplicity, but in winter a
life ofstern poverty TO those who remain,
must be anything but sunny and romantic.
] Near the Brunig pass, the road leads for
some distance cut of sight of any habitation
/ or life Of any kind, except occasionally, the
| scramble of a mountain goat startled by civil
zaton from its accustomed hannts attracts
the attention of the traveller. The pass
| once reached and the descent commenced,
new worlds of beauty are disclosed, Glimpse
after glimpse OF beautiful scenery appears.
A sheet of water near at hand, far below,
| after hours of circuitous travel and descent
proves to be Lake BrleHz still not far from
! the overhanging cliff of the pass, which is
many miles up above. For the most of the
travel IN Swiizerl and isin ascent and descent.
the little republic being only half as large in
extent as Maine, trayersing and retraversing
In mountain and valley being the only way
to overcome its craggy barriers. After all,
| real beauty and grandeur of mountain
scenery is no where equal to that In theAlps.
Home cyclists argue that our western noun
tain regions excel it, but there is too much
| Of that there, it is not so much as II the earth
itself was crowded out Of space into altitude.
The Swiss Alps exceed in picturesqueness
even the Mont Blanc range. Mont Blanc
itself. Monte Rosa and the Matterhom are
the giants, to be sure. and tower little be-
You'd the Aletcherhorn and Fenster Aarhorn
the highest of the Swiss Alps but the whole
grouping together of the Bernese Alps Is not
less fine.
The gradual development from the lake
and mountain scenery about Lake Lucerne
(Tierwad slatterse) with the accessible
Right and Pilatus, the climbing, Of which
remoter Alps, but on whose tops, the world
seems only one vast mountain system, with
the Alpine range as far above them as the
earth is beneath. forming half OF an outer
circumference which the Jura, Black Forest
and the Vosges Complexities. The Alps
could not dispense with the Right and
Pilatus as outpOsts from which to develop
their great system Of mountains, and prepare
the traveller to appreciate and absorb the
great whole.
After descending from the Brunig Pass
and traversing the valley beneath it, the
calm Drunig Lake relieves the energies over
taxed by the too bracing scenes before and
behind. The cool rushing. torrents of the
Gressbach Falls on its banks, mellowed by
| electric lighting, diverts the mind from so
much huge mountain scenery. Right after
| this, we come to Interlaken Nesting like q
young bird under the fostering wings of its
parent mountains between BriepZ and the
lovely Lake Then, sailing over whose
glstening waters the circle is accomplished
1 "
| One gets but little idea what life among
these mountains Is until he leaves the large
cities and villages and goes away among the
small hamlets and scattered habitations of
the mountains. The people are very peace
full here and seem contented with their
| hOmely joys. There are no sweeter faces,
than one sees among the little girls who sit
by the roadside on sto1ls and make their
little fingers fly so fast ih making lace with
small wooden implements which resemble
| boot. buttonerS to which the thread is
attached The lace is like guipure and some
of 1t is very. nice and fine These little girls
lace into the carriages, begging the traveller
to buy, and we almost wished for the lamp
Of Aladdin to make them all rich and COM
Portable, but perhaps at the same time
discontented with life's simple pleasures.
We set out very early one fine morning
from Interlaken in one of those curious
mountain vehicles with seat for two at the
back and for one person side of and also
| vis-a-vis to the driver, who sits with his feet
on the thils and drives. They resemble the
old fashioned two-wheeled chaise We had
seen It first at Miriam and had thought it the
oldest of anything OF the kind possible
hills, at the bottom of which little bits of
boys await the carriages, with switches,
which they vigorously apply during the
whole long ascent in driving the flies from
the traveller to lengthen out their winters
cSs}pty store. 1t seems a long way but one
in on a IA Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen,
places. 1851 ione I'ine III Doth
AT Grendelwald the. .
one OF which we visited. WY giac LET'S
very start we could see the glistening ~. tne
frau, white as the purest pearl, for it Is
covered with perpetual snow. 1t enlisted
our affections like sweet young maiden.
Two miles and half from !nterlaken the
road divides at right-angles, near the
village Of Zweiiutchingen following the
course OF the White and Black Lutchine
through the sweet Lutchine thai or valley;
for it Is here that the two Lutchnes unite
and enter the Aar at Interlaken. We
followed the Black Lutchine to Grndelwald,
Soon after turning we lost sight of the
Jungfrau but Immediately the driver points
ana exclaims, the Wetterhorn! at the same
time from the carriage behind we hear, the
Wet,erhorn! and still a third carriage
rrechoes, TIE WetterhOrn! as it bursts upon
US all with beauty only second to the
Jungirau; Gradually the Schreckerhorn,
the Monch, the Eiger, Schinige Platte and
the sweet Abendberg come into view. 1t is
region of mountains, which seem to vie
WIFE eacn other for supremacy and like Ossa
ana Pellon are piled together one upon
another with wonderful effect.
The highest hotel in Europe is on the
summit of the Faulhorn and another very
high one Is on the Schinige Platte.
Inc freaks OF nature seen here are some
tines quite remarkable. One of the noun
tainS Is called Turf Finger" or "Linke
Hand" as its crags rise up to Heaven.
leRibly outlining. the four fingers and thumb
o. mans hand in great mountain peaks.
On the side Of the uager Mt, half reclining,
Is the upper half of a man In stone ten times
| life size, with massive sword in his hand
AZ distance the illusion is so perfect that
| called the "Hager Man"
The most beautiful echo in the Bernese
| Oberland Is heard at about two-thirds the
distance to Grindelwald. These Alpine
horns are six or eight feet long and are made
| from the bark Of a tree. Scarcely note is
heard from the horn itself but in few
seconds the echoes come back from the
mountain precipice sweeter thar any music
| which have ever heard. The sounding of
thesr horns Is one way in which these noun
| taineers exc out their scanty living from
travellers on whom for the most part they
are dependent, since the land in these parts
is lar from fertile and no farming seems to
be carried on In this section They appear
graspiDg aud avarlcious and we should class
many OF them as beggars. We stopped at
one place 70 water the horses, where there |
was gtnise, a kind OF mountain goat, al |
most under our feet, we could not help see
ing him AS he WAS nuita in our uov buk 80 Il