but some eccentric painting, known as the "Dance of Death," attributed to Holbein, a resident in Basle, but asserted to have been painted before he was born. Holbein, as it is known, resided for some years in England, where he was patronised by Henry the Eighth. His best works in Basle, amongst them his own portrait, are to be seen in the Museum, open to the public Sunday and Wednesday, and shown at all other times for a small gratuity.

Die Pfalz is a terrace close to the cathedral, where we may enjoy a stroll. It is seventy or eighty feet above the river, which boils and bubbles below us, and away in the distance is the Black Forest. It is planted with chesnut trees, and is a very pleasant promenade.

Close by are the Cloisters, lonely and gloomy now, and so they must have been for the past 500 years. I would recommend all who visit Basle, and have nothing else to do about the hour of sunset, to walk up to Die Pfalz and the Cloisters.

The Church of Saint Elizabeth is the most magnificent modern building in Basle. It is in the Gothic style, and is the gift of a merchant of Basle, who left an enormous sum (nearly a quarter of a million) for its erection.

In Basle, Holbein the painter, Bernouilli and Euler the mathematicians, were born, and here Erasmus died, and was buried in the cathedral.

A short distance from Basle is the Battle-field of Saint Jacob, where, in the year 1444, a handful of Swiss withstood a French army, and so impressed its leaders by their courage, as to lead to an alliance between the belligerents. It was not till 1872 that the monument of Saint Jacob was inaugurated, which shows the burial place of the

brave men who fell in the battle. The inscription upon it is-"Our souls to God; our bodies to the enemy!"

The University of Basle does not occupy an eminent position as a seat of learning, though it has produced some distinguished men.

The inhabitants of Basle have always had the character of being thrifty traders, and the charge of usury has been laid at their door; they have also earned the notoriety in ancient times which attaches to the quarrelsome, and as late as the year 1833 the city Basle and the country Basle were engaged in a civil war on so small a scale as would have rendered it ridiculous, but for the bloodshed and death in which it resulted. Since that time the belligerent canton has been divided into two parts, by order of the Swiss Diet.

At the Arsenal may be seen some curious relics of the past, in the shape of armour and guns. One suit of armour is said to have been worn by Charles the Bold, of Burgundy.

FROM BASLE TO LUCERNE.

The first thing to interest us will be to take note of the Railway carriages. They are constructed on the American plan, and will accommodate nearly 100 passengers; a passage or promenade runs the whole length of the train, so that the guard can walk from the engine to the very nethermost buffer. At the end of each carriage there is a platform where passengers are at liberty to stand if so disposed, and whizz along through the wind, with the country lying all peacefully around, and nothing to intercept the view. The seats in the carriages have low slanting backs, and can be moved about, so that you can sit face or back to engine, just as you please; and besides all this, there are in the

first-class carriages seats covered with crimson or green velvet, beautiful little inlaid tables, and all the comforts of a drawing-room.* As one has said, "Swiss railway carriages are as superior to English as broughams are to prison vans."

It is a delightful railway journey, and as I write and think of the time when I first travelled it many years ago, every incident of the way, and the rush of new and delightful feeling is as vivid as though it were but a week ago. There are some journeys that leave an indelible impression on the mind, and I have often heard people say, "I shall never forget my first journey in Switzerland, from Basle to Lucerne."

The Battle-field of St. Jacob (to which reference has been made, p. 51) is passed, where 1600 Swiss had the courage to withstand for ten hours a French army ten times more numerous, commanded by the Dauphin, afterwards Louis XI. Only ten of the Swiss escaped alive, and the battle of St. Jacob is still referred to as the Thermopyle of Swiss history. The vineyards near the field produce a red wine called Schweitzer Blut (Swiss blood).

Near to this is the spot where the men of Basle were attacked and slaughtered in 1833 by an ambuscade of their own countrymen, which led to the partition of the canton, by which Liestal became the capital of Basle Campagne. Along the Rhine valley, and then up the valley of the river Ergolz to Liestal, which reminds us of the hatred to its rival Basle, and only provokes thoughts which we do not care to indulge in the midst of such peaceful and glorious scenes.

Then begins a series of views which of their kind are incomparable; but just as you are arriving at Läufelfingen, and think that the grand expanse of Alpine glory will burst upon your view, the train rushes into a tunnel. To avoid * The second-class seats are also nicely stuffed and covered.