Year: 1875

European Correspondence of the Bulletin.l


LUcERNE, September, 1873.


We have crossed the Rubicon (the Rhlne
and are at last in the land Of Tell, and will
the last glimpse of the dear old river, we biz
Germany temporary adieu. According u
promise, before entering upon any descrlp
ton of to-days sights and adventures, shal
say q few words descriptive of the celebrated
Rhine Falls, which had just begun upon IL
INV last letter as the limit Of space allow my
self was reached, and was therefore reluc
family forced to forego any comment on these
beautiful falls, or to postpone such comment
until another occasion.


The Rhine, as good geographical scholars
know. flows into one end Of Lake Constance,
and out of the other, and having Its hrst
origin among the clear torrents OF the Alps'
and its second so to speak, in the still clearer
lake, it follows that for long distance the
stream ia az clear and blue as the skies. When
viewed from above it looks thus blue, but
when one stands below the falls and looks
inward to where the vast sheet of water comes
boiling over the steep rocks, it has the bright
transparent green color peculiar to the sea IN
shallow places, and this, as contrasted with
the yast masses of snow-white foam and
Ayipg spray, is indescribably striking. The
falls are not large, to begin with, and then,
with that provoking and almost invariable at
tribute of celebrated things, they persist IN
looking smaller than they really are.


From first to last, counting all the "steps
over which the rapids dash, the height is
nearly 100 feet, but, as first seen from the top
of the steep bluffs overhanging the river, this
distance seems about fifteen or twenty feet
As one arrives at Neuhauser-the Rhine Falls
station-the cataract is distinctly seen from
the windows Of the railway carriage, and we
heard all around US exclamations OF disap-
pointment from English and American tour
lists. The younger members of our own party
began to cry out, "What, those the Rhine
Falls What q sell +" But when we had
clambered down the bank and found our
selves on q level with the lower river, we
began to see that we had judged too hastily,
and that the magnitude of the affair was
much more than the first hasty glance would
lead one to suppose. So we sat down out OF
reach of the spray and began to rake COM
parisons by the eye, with view toward get
ting fair conceptian as to exactly how large
these renowned falls were.


There is huge mass of rock that stands
out in the very midst of the raging water,
projecting upward like some riven pinnacle
or tower, and up the side of this ragged
boulder adventurous spirits have hewn
out narrow stairway, by means of which one
whose nerves are strong enough to bear the
strain can ascend to the very summit and
look down upon the chaos of roaring water
that surges around him. To reach this one
must approach in boat from below, and as
party Of tourists neared the landing place at
the foot of this rock, in o boat that seemed
every moment as if about to be upset by the
tossing waves. we saw for the first time the
scale of magnitude on which the grand spec
tacle before us was really constituted. for the
boats crew looked like children, and when
they began the ascent of the stairway they
became insignificant insects, as compared
with the other elements of the scene before
our eyes.


shall not attempt to describe these falls,
ss people have tried and make poor pictures
of our own Niagara, for the wild play Of ma
ture that imparts the peculiar beauty to
cataract is q thing to be seen and felt in the
soul, but not to be painted with words or in
coIors. Niagara is vast crescent OF thunder
ing water that falls its tremendous height at
one leap, and this cataract of the Rhine is
where small river is precipitated over
series of steps ran ging in height from two or
three feet to perhaps thirty or forty-I forget
the exact figure; and while the one is majes-
tic and terrible, the other, with its surround
ings Of lovely Swiss scenery, its leaping sue
cession, terrace after terrace of emerald green
water, set off with masses of snowy foam,
is simply beautiful, but still grand and
awe-inspiring when one approaches sufi-
ciently near to feel the spray and look down
into the tossing caldron that receives the
last dash of the angry river.





abound, and in the height of the season the
'proprietors of the two best hotels pay to have
the falls Illuminated several times week for
the entertainment of the travelling public.
This is effected by mean of green and red
fire, which is burned at the waters edge in
such way as to throw strong glare upon
the dancing, raging foam, while the spectator
does not see the source of the illumination.
OF course this sight can not fail to be very
beautiful, but all true lovers and admirers OF
Nature agree that this extravagant attempt at
heightening an effect already divinely beauti-
full. falls short Of its object, and can only
please the eye as gay colors attract the fancy
of children.


We studied the falls from all the different
points of view, and found them almost


from, eyarv pOint. whethar