NORTH-EASTERN SWITZERLAND AND THE RHINE. VARIO IR JOHN MANDEVILLE begins his chronicle SIR of travel and adventure, by saying, "He that will pass over the sea to go to the city of Jerusalem may go many ways, both by sea and land, according to the country that he cometh from; many ways come to one end. But you must not expect that I shall tell you all the towns and cities and castles that men shall go by, for then should I make too long a tale." Mutatis mutandis, the quaint old chronicler's words apply to Switzerland as well as to Jerusalem. The possible variations of route, each of which has its advocates and its advantages, are almost innumerable. That by Belgium and the Rhine has always seemed to me decidedly the best; for those tourists, at least, who have a few days to spare by the way. As the time occupied in transit is of little consequence to those who travel in their easy-chairs, let us at once decide upon this route. What a delicious change, to break loose from the noise and bustle of English life, and lounge away a summer's afternoon in some sleepy old Flemish town, where "tall houses with quaint gables" lead the thoughts back to the days of |