rims of gold. Below, the floors are rich with monks and nuns, with youths and girls; the men with cloaks and wallets, and the girls with red and yellow skirts. A man is kneeling here and there; but, as in Italy and Spain, the female pilgrims count as five to one. Two altars in the nave appear to draw more pilgrims than the rest,-although a pilgrim needs to take these altars all in turn, lest he should vex some powerful saint. These favourites are the altars of St. Rosary and St. Meinrad, both of which are bright with paint and lamps. Above St. Rosary is painted Jacob's Ladder, with the angels tripping up and down, and in a scroll these words of Scripture, 'Surely the Lord is in this place.' St. Meinrad is depicted in his desert cell. Each altar has a separate crowd, and in a church so vast each crowd has room to pray apart; but when the mass commences in Our Lady's chapel, every eye is turned, and every head is bent towards this miraculous shrine. Our Lady's chapel, dark and sombre, stands beneath the painted dome, and in the centre of a painted nave, as those who built it meant that it should look—a tomb in one vast field of flowers.

"A small black shrine, with figures carved in wood, and painted white, with open grill in front, and two small entrance doors, this chapel is about the size of the Holy Sepulchre. Six lamps were once kept burning at the shrine; each Catholic canton in the League supplying oil for one undying lamp; but now the Radicals are masters, they have let these lights die out for lack of oil. No light is wanting now; for every pilgrim has it on his soul to give one dip at least; and every corner of the shrine, from grill to shaft and ledge, is reeking with the stench, and cracking with the heat of melting wax."

THE BLACK FOREST.

It is to be regretted that comparatively few English travellers seem to realize how easy of access is the Black Forest from Switzerland, or how full of interest are the wild out-of-the-way and secluded hamlets scattered throughout this pleasant region. A new world of interest is opened to the tourist; for although there are many lakes, and many mountains, and many cities, there is but one Black Forest, "which, although so vast, contains not a single city. Its quarter of a million of people dwell for the most part away from one another, now in the hollows, gathering into hamlets; sometimes along the roads, in house groups of two or three; but usually in the forest cottage-farm-if such a description be understood, which resembles no other abode in the world."

It is not our intention to enter here upon any description of the Black Forest, as it would be beside the purpose of the present volume, but merely to point out that it may be included in a trip to Switzerland, either going or returning.

FROM ZURICH TO COIRE.

The first part of the journey, that is to say, from Zurich to Rapperschwyl, may be made by steamboat for a small fare, or the whole journey may be made by rail. The railway from Zurich to Coire passes through a beautifully diversified region. Crossing the placid Sihl, the road ascends in a wide curve, then crosses the rapid Limmat; and after passing Oberlikon, and the river Glatt, Wallisellen is reached. We are now in the Lancashire of Switzerland. Cotton mills are continually met with, especially in the neighbourhood of Uster, the church of which, with

its pointed tower, and the picturesque castle-which unites utility with romance, by combining the treble function of courts of justice, gaol, and inn-form conspicuous features of the landscape. Everywhere, too, we meet with the picturesque farms which form such a speciality of the country, and which rival in cleanliness and neatness those of Holland; for your true Swiss is as particular as are the Dutch in these matters: it is natural to them. Mr. Laing says, "The great charm of Switzerland, next to its natural scenery, is the air of well-being, the neatness, the sense of propriety imprinted on the people, their dwellings, their plots of land. They have a kind of Robinson Crusoe care about their houses and little properties: they are perpetually building, repairing, altering, or improving something about their tenements." Another characteristic which will be noticed by the tourist, is the prevalent custom of placing Scripture texts, either painted or burnt into the wood, over the cottage door. As we, with dilating souls, proceed onwards, the stately Alps of Glarus and Schwyz form prominent elements of the picture. Approaching Zonen, the Alpine character of the route becomes more intensified, the Mürtschenstock, pierced through by a natural cavern, and other remarkable mountains come gradually into view. At Rapperschwyl we reach the western extremity of the Lake of Zurich, where we are joined by those who left Zurich by steamboat for the purpose of enjoying the charming scenery of the lake, along the edge of which we proceed as far as Schmerikon. The numerous towns and villages passed by us are noted for their manufacturing industry, and contribute not a little to the national wealth of the Federation. Passing Schänis, where the French and Austrians met in hostile array in 1799, we approach the Linth canal. The Linth is a rushing rapid river, fed by glaciers, and carrying with it masses

of deposit and rubbish which at one time blocked up the bed, until the canal was cut at an enormous expense; and the result was, that the fevers and plague, produced by the malaria from stagnant pools and swamps, was removed, inundations were prevented, and the wilderness of rubbish was turned into a fertile plain. There a beautiful view is obtained of the Valley of Glarus, with its imposing range of snow-crested mountains. Here, too, the railway, canal, and ordinary road run side by side for some distance round the foot of the Biberlikopf mountain, 1779 feet in length. Previously to this we obtain a glimpse of the lofty peak of the Weggis chain, and of the symmetrically-proportioned Glärnisch, the latter being nearly 9000 feet high. At Wesen we skirt the southern side of the Lake of Wallenstadt, almost equal in mountainous grandeur to the far-famed Lake of Lucerne, but only twelve miles in length, and about three wide. Here the rocks are of such a precipitous character, that a series of tunnels have had to be hewn out of the solid stone. The first two of these are pierced with apertures on the side nearest the lake. The scenery on emerging from the tunnels is magnificent, especially between the first two. Here we behold, on the op posite side of the lake, the Bayerbach waterfall, and, on the heights above, the little village of Amden, while beyond leap the falls of the Serenbach. At Murg. the glories of the lake unfold themselves without reserve, tempting the tourist to alight and enjoy the wondrous combination of mountain, lake, valley, and forest, which here form such a grand and imposing spectacle. Near Wallenstadt a splendid view of the entire length of the lake is obtained, bounded on each side with lofty mountains, conspicuous among which rise the stately horns of the Mürtschenstock. Crossing the romantic valley of the Seez, past the Castle of the Ischudi;

past the Church of St. George, to which many a pilgrimage has been made by pious devotees; and we are at Saigans, the junction of the line to Rorschach and Romanshorn, on the shore of the Lake of Constance, where the surrounding scenery becomes wilder and more awe-inspiring, mountain range succeeding to mountain range, until the eye becomes dazzled with the magnificence of the scene. Instinctively we recall the words of Coleridge's famous hymn

66

Ye ice-falls! ye that from the mountain's brow
Adown enormous ravines slope amain-
Torrents, methinks, that heard a mighty voice,
And stopped at once amid their maddest plunge!
Motionless torrents! silent cataracts!

Who made you glorious as the gates of heaven
Beneath the keen full moon? Who bade the sun
Clothe you with rainbows? Who, with living flowers
Of loveliest hue, spread garlands at your feet?-
God! let the torrents, like a shout of nations,
Answer! and let the ice-plains echo, God!"

We are now in the glorious VALLEY OF THE Rhine, which here, as in the more famous portions of its course, is profusely studded with remains of castles and mansion fortresses, which once formed the impregnable homes of the numerous bishops and nobles against whose cruel and unreasoning tyranny the people banding themselves together into "The League of the House of God," and similar organizations, successfully revolted.

Ragatz is annually crowded with visitors, who flock to the baths, the mineral water of which is conveyed from Pfäffers by tubes or wooden pipes made of hollow pine trees, and reaching a distance of 12,500 feet. The old baths of Präffers is considered by many to be one of the finest sights in Switzerland, being constructed between walls of frowning height, in a gorge which is traversed by a wooden pathway;