At Pully an inferior sort of coal, abounding in sulphur, is dug from a mine in the hill-side. 11 m. Vevay Stat. (Germ. Vivis). Inns: Hôtel Monnet, or Trois Couronnes, close to the lake: one of the best inns in Switzerland, comfortable and clean: a very large house; reading-room; charges not out of proportion with the comfort; frequently full. From Oct. 15 to May 1 you may live here moderately en pension. H. du Lac Leman, small, clean, and comfortable: view over lake. Lodging 1 fr. 50 c.; dinner 3 frs.; breakfast 1 to 2 frs.; servants 50 c. The Château de Vevay is a respectable boarding-house. Trois Rois. Above the town, in the village of Chardonnes, is a good and reasonable pension, H. Bellevue. ex Vevay, the Roman Vibiscum, is the second town in canton Vaud, and has 6600 Inhab. It is principally distinguished for the ceeding beauty of its situation, at the mouth of the gorge of the Veveyse, on the margin of the Lake Leman, at a point where the scenery of its banks is perhaps most beautiful. The writings of Rousseau have contributed not a little to its celebrity in this respect. From the little terrace at the end of the market-place, or from the roof of the Trois Couronnes, or, better still, from the villa called Hauteville, about 2 m. above Vevay, the eye surveys on the E. the village of Clarens, Montreux, Chillon; beyond it Villeneuve and the gorge of the Rhone, backed by the gigantic Alps of the Valais, the Dent de Midi, and Pain de Sucre, Mont Velan (neighbours of the Great St. Bernard); while on the opposite shore of the lake rise the rocks of Meillerie, surmounted by the peaks of the Dent d'Oche, and the village of St. Gingough, at the foot of the mountains. The walks in the immediate neighbourhood are somewhat dull, as the whole country consists of vineyards, surrounded by stone walls. In the Ch. of St. Martin, a little above the town, situated amidst trees and vineyards, and used only in summer (date 1438), Ludlow the regicide is buried, as well as Broughton, who read the sentence of death to Charles I. They died here in exile, a price having been set upon their heads; and repeated applications were made to the canton of Berne to deliver them up, which the government very properly refused to accede to. Ludlow's house still exists on the road to La Tour de Peilz; he placed over his doorway this inscription-" Omne solum forti patria." The tablet is removed to England, and his house is now the Pension Delessert. Most of the houses have had new fronts added towards the lake. Pleasant walks and views from the gardens of Mr. Couvreu: the Park of Hauteville 1 m. N.E. The English Ch. service is performed on Sundays in St. Clair at 11 and 3.30. Physician. Dr. Henri Curchod, speaks English. maker and bijoutier, is in good repute C. Prost, watch and chronometer here. Many Excursions may be made from Vevay by land or water: a, to the Château of Hauteville, 14 m. N.E., fine view and pretty grounds; b, 21 m. still higher the ancient Castle of Blonay," which has belonged to the same family 700 years; c, ascent of the Pleyaux or Pleiades, 4213 ft., about 6 m.; d, Clarens (see below); e, Montreux and Chillon. Chillon is a morning drive. A pleasant shady path or char-road, interrupted at times by the rly., on the slope of the hills, above the dusty highway, leads in 6 m. to Montreux and Chillon. (The route may be varied by taking the upper road.) Boats at 1 fr. the hour. Omnibus from Vevay to Chexbres Stat. to meet the trains from Berne and Freyburg. Ascent in 14 hr. The railroad from Vevay to Freyburg by Bulle is described Rte. 45. Vevay, especially of the sunny disThe wines of the neighbourhood of trict extending hence to Lausanne, and called Lavaux, enjoy a consider able reputation for Swiss wines. The Romans are believed to have first planted the vine on these hills; and the discovery of a stone inscribed "Libero Patri Colliensi" proves that they had erected a temple to Father Bacchus at Collium, a little village now called Cully, on the margin of the lake, between Vevay and Lausanne. 66 A society or guild of high antiquity, called l'Abbaye des Vignerons, exists at Vevay to promote the cultivation of the vine; and for this purpose it despatches every spring and autumn experts," qualified persons, to survey all the vineyards of the district, and upon their report and testimony it rewards the most skilful and industrious vinedressers with medals and pruning-hooks (serpes d'honneur) as prizes. In accordance with ancient custom which is possibly a relic of pagan superstition, this society celebrates once in 15 or 20 years a festival called la Fête des Vignerons. As many as 600 or 700 persons took part in the last festival, and a ballet-master of the French opera was employed to drill and instruct the rustics in dancing. The last anniversaries were in 1833, 1851, and 1865. The beautiful path from Vevay or Montreux over the Pass of Jaman, and the road thence to Thun, in Rte. 42. The attractions of the climate and scenery of the N.E. shore of Lake Leman, and the cheapness of living, have caused its hills and slopes to be scattered over with hotels, pensions, and boarding-honses almost numberless; many of them pleasant residences for the invalid, who may here take a course of grapes (cure de raisin), or of goats whey (cure de petit lait). The grape cure begins in Sept. and lasts about 4 weeks. About a mile out of Vevay the hamlet of La Tour de Peilz, with a castle built at the water-side in the 13th century, is passed. 34 m. Clarens (hr. by rail or steamer from Vevay Stat.), so sentimentally described by Rousseau in the Nouvelle Héloïse. It commands certainly one of the finest views over the lake-the mountains of the Rhone valley and of the opposite shore, but in itself is a poor village, far less attractive than many of its neighbours, and it probably owes its celebrity to a well-sounding name, which fitted it for the pages of a romance. Rousseau's admirers have puzzled themselves with endeavouring to identify the localities, though he has himself stated that they are "grossièrement altérés." The spot on which the beautiful "bosquet de Julie" is sought for is now a potato-field. Byron says that the trees were cut down by the monks of St. Bernard, and lavishes some unworthy and undeserved abuse upon those hospitable ecclesiastics; but he has forgotten to ask whether the bosquet really ever had any existence except in Rousseau's imagination. Byron, indeed, viewed the spot with a poet's eye, and the exquisite beauty of the surrounding scenery, which has been accurately described by Rousseau, called up all the poet's enthusiasm and inspiration. "Clarens! sweet Clarens, birthplace of deep Love! Thine air is the young breath of passionate thought: Thy trees take root in Love; the snows above The very glaciers have his colours caught, And sunset into rose-hues sees them wrought By rays which sleep there lovingly: the rocks, The permanent crags, tell here of Love, who sought In them a refuge from the worldly shocks Which stir and sting the soul with hope that woos, then mocks. "Clarens! by heavenly feet thy paths are trod Undying Love's, who here ascends a throne To which the steps are mountains; where the god Is a pervading life and light,-so shown His soft and summer-breath, whose tender Passes the strength of storms in their most desolate hour. "All things are here of him; from the black pines, Which are his shade on high, and the loud roar Of torrents, where he listeneth, to the vines Which slope his green path downward to the shore, Where the bow'd waters meet him, and adore, Kissing his feet with murmurs; and the wood, The covert of old trees, with trunks all hoar, But light leaves, young as joy, stands where it stood, Offering to him and his a populous solitude "A populous solitude of bees and birds, And fairy-form'd and many-colour'd things, Who worship him with notes more sweet than words, And innocently open their glad wings, The swiftest thought of beauty, here extend, Mingling, and made by Love, unto one mighty end. ""T was not for fiction chose Rousseau this spot, Peopling it with affections; but he found It was the scene which passion must allot To the mind's purified beings; 't was the ground Where early Love his Psyche's zone unbound, And hallow'd it with loveliness: 't is lone, And wonderful, and deep, and hath a sound, And sense, and sight of sweetness; here the Rhone Hath spread himself a couch, the Alps have rear'd a throne." In the ch.yard of Clarens (fine views) is buried Vinet the divine (d. 1847). In the same place is a monument by the sculptor Imhof. The swelling hills and vine-clad slopes, which form the banks of the lake nearly all the way from Geneva, here give place to beetling crags and woody precipices rising abruptly from the water's edge. The road sweeps in curves round the retired bays at their feet. Vernex. Montreux Stat. H. du Cygne, good: pension, 4 fr. Montreux. H. de Montreux. English service on Sundays at the parish church. One of a group of villages widely scattered over the hill-side. ing place, is also the H. des Alpes, a large edifice. The usual charge at these pensions is 5 fr. a day; in some even less. "It is celebrated as the most sheltered spot on the banks of the lake of Geneva, and the remarkable salubrity of its climate renders it desirable winter-quarters for invalids who canresearches of Sir F. d'Ivernois have not cross the Alps. The statistical shown that Montreux is the place in the world where there is the smallest proportion of deaths and of imprudent marriages."-R. At Glion, 2800 ft. above the sea, hr. drive, above Montreux, in a bracing situation for invalids, two hotels and pensions have been established. The largest and best situated of these is called the Rigi Vaudois, a new house (1867), 100 beds; comfortable, with salon, smoking-room, bed newspapers, resident chaplain and board 7 frs. a day; H. du Midi (Reuteler), good; charge 6 frs. a day, andfr. for service. - Veytaux Stat. (Inn et Pension Bonnivard). Close to this stat., about 13 m. from Montreux, stands the picturesque and renowned Castle of Chillon (Hotel and Pension Bonnivard is well spoken of), on an isolated rock nearly surrounded by deep water, but within a stone's throw of the shore and of the road, with which it communicates by a wooden bridge. It was built in 1238 by Amedeus IV. of Savoy, and was long used as a state prison, where, among other victims, many of the early reformers were immured. Wheu Byron, in the 'Prisoner of Chillon,',described the sufferings of an imaginary captive, he was not acquainted with the history of the real prisoner, Bonnivard, prior of St. Victor, who, having rendered himself obnoxious to the Duke of Savoy by his exertions to free the Genevese from the Savoyard yoke, was seized by the Duke's emissaries, and secretly carried off to this castle. For 6 long years he was buried in its deepest dungeon, on a This village, seated on an eminence (1.) above the road, with its church spire a little apart from its houses, is much prettier in itself and in its situation than Clarens. It abounds in Pensions long established, and much frequented by foreigners. The best of these is the Pension Vaultier, in the village of Montreux, very well kept; another which is well recommended is the Hôtel des Alpes, at the hamlet of Territet. At Veytaux, an increas-level with the surface of the lake. The ring by which he was attached to one of the pillars still remains, and the stone floor at its base is worn by his constant pacing to and fro. Byron afterwards wrote the sonnet on Bonnivard, from which the following lines are taken: Chillon! thy prison is a holy place, And thy sad floor an altar; for 't was trod Until his very steps have left a trace Worn, as if the cold pavement were a sod, By Bonnivard! May none those marks efface! For they appeal from tyranny to God." At length, in 1536, the Swiss wrested the Pays de Vaud from the hands of Charles V. of Savoy. Chillon was the last place which held out for him; but an army of 7000 Bernese besieging it by land, while the galleys of the Genevese assaulted it by water, soon compelled it to surrender, and Bonnivard, with other captives, was set free. The changes which had occurred during the years of his imprisonment almost realised the legend of the Seven Sleepers. He had left Geneva a Roman Catholic state, and dependent on the Duke of Savoy; he found her free, and a republic, openly professing the reformed faith. The The castle is now converted into a magazine for military stores; but the interior of the building is well preserved and worth exploring, and the chapel is particularly interesting. Strangers are readily conducted over other parts of it, and (independently of the associations connected with the building) will find much to interest them in it. There is the potence, a beam, black with age, extended across one of the vaults, to which the condemned were formerly hung. oubliette is also shown, whose only entrance was by a trap-door in the floor above. There is a small spiral staircase of three steps; the prisoner found no fourth step, and was precipitated to a depth of 80 feet. The dungeon of Bonnivard is airy and spacious, consisting of two aisles, almost like the crypt of a church; its floor and one side are formed by the living rock, and it is lighted by several windows, through which the sun's light passes by reflection from the surface of the lake up to the roof, transmitting partly also the blue colour of the waters. Formerly it was subdivided into small cells by partition walls between the pillars. Byron inscribed his name on one of the pillars, and his example has been followed by many others, as Dickens, &c., but it is far more lastingly associated with the spot. "Lake Leman lies by Chillon's walls; A thousand feet in depth below Its massy waters meet and flow; Thus much the fathom-line was sent From Chillon's snow-white battlement (??) Which round about the wave enthrals; A double dungeon wall and wave Have made and like a living grave Below the surface of the lake The dark vault lies wherein we lay; We heard it ripple night and day. In Chillon's dungeons deep and old There are seven columns massy and Dim with a dull, imprison'd ray, A sunbeam which hath lost its way, And through the crevice and the cleft Of the thick wall is fallen and left, Creeping o'er the floor so damp, Like a marsh's meteor lamp.' grey, It is by this castle that Rousseau has fixed the catastrophe of his Héloïse, in the rescue of one of her children by Julie from the water; the shock of which, and the illness produced by the immersion, is the cause of her death. Between Chillon and Villeneuve, 10 minutes' walk from either, and a little above the lake, stands the Hôtel Byron, a large and well-managed hotel and pension, table-d'hôte liberal, and great cleanliness and civility; rooms lofty and airy. Hotel prices for passing travellers: charge for pension, 73 fr. a day in summer, 5 fr. in winter. This is the best stopping-place at the E. end of the lake. There are many delightful walks and rides in the neighbourhood. The road to the hotel, from the Villeneuve Stat., crosses the rly. by a bridge, alongside which the rivulet Tinière is conveyed in an aqueduct. The thickness of the delta formed by this little stream, through which the rly. passes in a cutting, is cited as a proof of the antiquity of man. Not only has the entire delta been deposited by that rivulet, but it has also been equably deposited, as may be seen by the regularity exhibited in the rly. section. Villeneuve Stat. (Inns: H. du Port, on the lake, clean, and low charges; H. Victoria, at the stat.) is an ancient walled town of 1480 Inhab. (Pennilucus of the Romans), situated at the E. extremity of the lake, where the road quits its borders to enter the valley of the Rhone. About a mile from Villeneuve lies a small island, one of three in the lake: it is thus mentioned by Byron in the Prisoner of Chillon:'"And then there was a little isle, Which in my very face did smile, The only one in view; A small green isle, it seem'd no more, The valley of the Rhone opens with scenery of great grandeur, the mountains around being varied and highly picturesque. The river flows through a flat alluvial deposit, formed by its own deposit, but drainage and other improvements have redeemed it from the state of a barren and unwholesome morass. The encroachments of the land upon the lake, even within the period of historical record, have been very great. Port Valais, Portus Valesiæ of the Romans, in their time stood on the margin of the lake, but is now more than a mile and a half inland; the intervening tract has been gained since. The Rhone itself rushes along, in summer burdened with mud, very unlike the torrent of azure and crystal which bursts out of the lake at Geneva. Upon this plain, at the mouth of the valley of the Rhone, Divico, the first Helvetian chief mentioned in history, defeated, B.C. 107 (the 646th year of Rome), the Roman forces under Lucius Cassius, slaying their general and compelling his army to pass under the yoke. The top of the mountain above Yvorne was thrown down by an earthquake, 1584. A wine of some reputation in Switzerland now grows on the slope. It is worth while to go out at night and see the process of catching trout in the torrents, affluents of the Rhone, by means of a lantern and knife. The fisherman enters the water up to his middle, furnished with an oval lantern, water-tight, and having a long tube projecting from its top, which serves both as a handle and to convey air to the flame. This he plunges into the water; and when the fish, attracted by the light, approach, he slowly raises it towards the surface, until the trout, which follow, come within reach, when he deals them a deadly blow with the knife, which sends them dead to the bottom, to reappear in a few minutes and be thrown into a basket which the man carries behind him. In this way a considerable number of fish are caught. |