Route 19. · Lake of Lungern. in through the crannies of the gallery, threw further impediments in the way of the miner. As it was impossible to renew the air by ventilation, it became necessary to withdraw the men for several hours at a time. In addition to all this a great part of the operations were necessarily performed in the dark. The length of the tunnel was 1390 feet. Strong flood-gates had been erected at its lower extremity to modify and restrain the issue of the flood. All things being thus prepared, on the morning of January 9, 1836, a cannon-shot, fired from the Kaiserstuhl, answered by another on the Landenberg, gave notice to the whole valley of what was about to happen, and a bold miner, named Spire, was despatched with two companions to fire the train. The length of the match was so regulated as to give them ample time to escape | through the tunnel: and their return to daylight was announced by the firing of a pistol. A multitude of spectators had collected on the surrounding hills to witness the result of the experiment which had cost so much time and money to execute, and in which many were so deeply interested while considerable anxiety prevailed as to its happy result. Expectation was now at the utmost stretch; ten minutes had elapsed beyond the time allotted to the match, and nothing was heard. Some began to fear; in a minute two dull explosions were heard; but they neither shook the ground above, nor even broke the ice which at that season covered the lake. No one doubted that the mine had failed, when, on a sudden, a joyful shout from below announced its success, as a black torrent of mud and water intermixed was seen by those stationed near the lower end of the tunnel to issue from its mouth. The winter season had been expressly chosen for the consummation of the undertaking, because the waters are then lowest, and 63 many of the tributary torrents are frozen or dried up. The drainage of [the lake of Lungern was effected gradually and safely. In six days the water fell 14 feet, and in ten days more the lake had sunk to a level with the mouth of the lake of tunnel. The lake of Gyswyl, indeed, was filled again, and lasted for a few days, during which it laid several houses under water, but it was soon drained off. On the shores of the lake of Lungern, appearances were at first alarming. The steep banks, deprived on a sudden of the support of the water, began to crack; large masses broke off, and a very considerable fissure appeared near the village of Lungern, which threatened injury to it, so that the church and many of the houses were dismantled and abandoned, and the bells removed from the tower. A piece of ground, seve ral acres in extent, did, indeed sepa rate, and slide into the water, just after a house and shed which stood on it had been pulled down and removed. Fortunately this was the extent of the mischief, and church and village are still safe. The uncovered land presented, for some months, only a blank surface of mud and sand, to which the crows resorted in great numbers to feed on the worms and shell fish left dry in the mud by the receding waters. By the latter end of the year a scanty crop of potatoes was raised on part of it; but some time must elapse before it can become valuable for agricultural purposes, or cease to be unsightly to the eye: indeed much of the lake-bed was bare rock. The aqueous deposits brought down into the lake by tributary brooks, and laid bare by this drainage, will be remarked with interest by the geologist, as illustrating the progress of the formation of strata, and the variation of their dip. Much float wood was found in the bed of the lake; it had assumed the appearance of brown coal. The cost of this enterprise was 64 Route 22.-Lucerne to Berne, by Entlebuch-The Emmenthal. 51,826 f. (50007.) and 19,000 days' labour performed by the peasants. 3. Lungern (Inns: Sonne, better than that at Sarnen; Löwe), the last village in the valley, situated at the foot of the Brunig, and at the S. end of the lake, now removed by the drainage some distance from it. Here the char-road ceases, and the rest of the way must be travelled on foot, or on mules, which are kept here for hire. (§ 10.) As the ascent of the Brunig is not very long, and as, especially in wet weather, the large smooth stones in the steep path are very slippery, it is advisable for the pedestrian to dispense with horses here, which, especially in descent, delay rather than advance his progress. From Lungern to Meyringen is a journey of between 3 and 4 hours. A steep path leads up to the summit of the Brunig, 3580 feet above the sealevel, where a 1 Toll-house (furnishing beds in case of need) marks the frontier of canton Berne, and the culminating point of the pass. From a little chapel near this, a charming and firstrate view is obtained along the entire valley of Nidwalden, backed by the Pilatus, with the Lungern See for a foreground, forming altogether" one of the most delicious scenes in Switzerland," to use the words of Latrobe, though destitute of the grandeur presented by snowy peaks. To enjoy these, however, the traveller has only to proceed a few yards farther, to the brow of the descent, where the valley of Hasli, with the Aar winding through the midst, opens out to view, backed by the gigantic and snowwhite crests of the Wetterhorn, Eigher, and others of the Bernese Alps. Here the road separates, one branch leads to the lake of Brienz, on the rt.; the other to Meyringen, seated in the midst of the rich flat which forms the bottom of the valley. From the opposite precipices, two or three streaks of white may be discerned = 17 stunden, 56 Eng. miles. A diligence goes daily in summer. This is the best and shortest of the two carriage-roads to Berne. 3 The road over the Bramegg (passing the baths of Farnbühl, a solitary inn), though shorter, has been nearly abandoned by travellers, and, consequently, allowed to fall out of repair, being superseded by the more level, though circuitous route, passing the convent of Werthenstein, which avoids the steep ascent of the Bramegg altogether. It takes about 4 hours from Lucerne to reach the village of 2 Entlebuch, at the W. foot of the Bramegg, (Inn: Au Borde-tolerable) prettily situated on a slope (Borde), with the torrents Entle and Emme roaring beneath it. The vale of Entlebuch is about 30 miles long, and is flanked by mountains covered with woods and pastures. The men of the valley are celebrated as the best wrestlers in Switzerland. They hold a great wrestling-match, called Zwing Fest, on the first Sunday in September, when they try their skill against the athletes of the neighbouring valleys. The Bernese highlanders are formidable rivals. 23 Escholzmatt (Inns: Krone ; — Löwe good) is a scattered village, in a very high situation. A little way beyond it the road quits the Entlebuch, and descends, by the side of the Ilfis torrent, into the canton of Berne. 3 Langnau (Inns: Cerf? — good: Löwe) is the principal place in the Emmenthal. -an extensive, fertile, and industrious valley, famed for its Routes 23, 24. Lucerne and Soleure to Berne. 65 3 Summiswald (Inn Bär); a flourishing village. The poor-house, on a rock above, was the first establishment of the kind in Switzerland. The building it occupies was the castle of the landvoght, or bailiff. On the Arni Alp, about 10 miles to the E., much cheese is made. cheeses, (made on the high pastures | Stadthaus): a small walled town in near the tops of the hills, and exported canton Berne. all over Germany), and for its manufactures of linen. Its meadows are of the brightest verdure, and of the texture of the finest velvet, like an English lawn; the cottages neat and substantial, with pretty gardens before them. The Emme, which traverses it, and its tributaries, at times commit fearful devastations, by inundating their banks and overspreading them with gravel and debris. Such an occurrence in August, 1837, occasioned by a thunder storm created serious injury, destroying many houses, and almost all the bridges: several lives were lost. It is not necessary to pass through Langnau, and a mile is saved by leaving it on the rt. The Ilfis is crossed, and afterwards the Emme, before reaching 1 Signau-(Inn: Ours, tolerable) -a pretty village, with a ruined castle above it. About 2 miles farther, the road to Thun (4 stunden) turns off on the l., and shortly falls into the high-road from Berne to Thun. (Route 27.). The road to Berne proceeds by 1 Gross Hochstetten, and Worb, an industrious village, with a Gothic castle above it. 3 BERNE (in Route 24). The road now passes across "the green Emmenthal, one of the richest and most fertile of the Swiss valleys : a country that would make a grazier's heart sing with joy such a prodigality of horned cattle." (See p. 64.) 4 Engestein. Near this village are mineral baths, supplied by a chalybeate spring. At Worb this route falls into the preceding. 21 BERNE (in Route 24.) ROUTE 24. SOLEURE TO BERNE. = 6 stunden 21 Eng miles. A diligence runs daily in 4 hours. The road crosses the Aar on quitting Soleure, passing near Zuchwyl, the retreat of the Protestants driven out of Soleure by their fanatic fellowcitizens in 1533. In a grave in the churchyard are interred "Viscera Thaddei Kosciusko." We enter canton Berne before reaching Bätterkinden, a large village on the Emme, here crossed by a bridge. 1 Fraubrunnen. Not far from this the Bernese defeated the English mercenary Ingelram de Coucy, in 1375. A stone by the road side commemorates the event (see p. 14). Jegistorf. At Urtinen, 2 miles from this, a cross road turns off on the right to Hofwyl, the agricultural and educational institution of M. Fellenberg. It consists of 1. A seminary for young gentlemen, about 80 in number, from all parts of Europe: there are many 66 Route 24.-Hofwyl -Berne-Fountains. English. They receive here an education on very moderate terms. Every summer, during the vacation, they make a pedestrian tour through Switzerland, under the guidance of their tutors. There is a separate school of instruction for schoolmasters. 2. A school for the poor, who are taught according to the system of M. Fellenberg, on an extensive scale, having the double object of instructing farmers, and introducing agricultural improvements. 3. An agricultural establishment, consisting of an academy for practical husbandry; a model farm; an experimental farm; an extensive collection of agricultural implements, and a manufactory for making them. The surrounding district was little better than a bog when M. Fellenberg settled here in 1799: he has since gradually brought it into cultivation. There is a direct road from Berne to Hofwyl by the Enghe, Reichenbach, and Buchsee, about 9 miles. A little beyond the further extremity of the avenue of the Enghe lies the old castle of Reichenbach, which belonged to Rudolph of Erlach, the hero of the battle of Laupen, who was murdered here, in bis old age, by his son-in-law, Jost von Rudenz, with the very sword which he had wielded at that glorious victory. The assassin was pursued as he fled from the scene of his crime, by the two bloodhounds of the aged warrior, who broke loose at their master's cries. They tracked the murderer's footsteps of their own accord, and after some hours returned with gore-stained lips, and nothing more was heard or known of Jost von Rudenz. 3. BERNE. (Inns: Falke (Faucon), one of the best inns in Switzerland.) Charges-table d'hôte, at one, 3 fr.: at four, 4 fr., breakfast, 1 fr. 10 sous; tea, ditto; beds, 2 fr.: 10 sous. Families and persons desiring to be quiet may be accommodated in a separate house, called Petit Faucon, in a back street, from the roof of which there is a fine view. Couronne good, clean, and comfortable, very obliging landlord; Cigogne (Stork). The Abbayes, or houses of the guilds, also accommodate travellers; the best is the Distelzwang, or Abbaye aux Gentilshommes. The Abbaye du Singe is comfortable, quiet, and moderate. Berne, capital of the largest of the Swiss cantons, seat of the Swiss Diet (Vorort) alternately with Zurich and Lucerne, and residence of most of the foreign ministers, contained, in 1837, 22,422 inhabitants. It is built on a lofty sandstone promontory, formed by the winding course of the Aar, which nearly surrounds it, flowing at the bottom of a deep gully, with steep and in places precipitous sides (stalden). The inconvenient ascent and descent by which the town could alone be reached from the E. formerly, will soon be remedied by a lofty Bridge of stone already in progress, thrown over this gully. It will be 900 ft. long, and the central arch over the Aar 150 ft. wide, and 93 feet high; it is to be finished in 1845. The distant aspect of the town, planted on this elevated platform, 1700 feet above the sea, is imposing, and there is something striking in its interior, from the houses all being built of massive stone. It has this peculiarity, that almost all the houses rest upon arcades (Lauben), which furnish covered walks on each side of the streets, and are lined with shops and stalls. The lowness of the arches, however, and the solidity of the buttresses supporting them, render these colonnades gloomy and close. Along the brow of the precipice, overhanging the Aar, and removed from the main streets, are the more aristocratic residences of the exclusive patricians. Rills of water are carried through the streets to purify them, and they are abundantly furnished with Fountains, each surmounted by some quaint effigy. One of these, the Kinderfres |