The

scription has been displaced. murderer, according to the story, was lord of the castle of Rothenflue, which stood on the opposite side of the valley. Stung with remorse, he fled away from the sight of man, wandered an outcast among the wilds like Cain, and perished miserably.

2 At the hamlet of Zweilutschinen, about two miles from the entrance of the valley, it divides into two branches; that on the 1., from which flows the Black Lutschine, is the valley of Grindelwald, terminated by the gigantic mass and everlasting snows of the Wetterhorn (see p. 82.); that of the rt., traversed by the White Lutschine, is the valley of the Lauterbrunnen, and it ought to be visited first.

The valley of Lauterbrunnen is remarkable for its depth, its contracted width, and for the precipices of limestone, nearly vertical, which enclose it like walls. Its name, literally translated, means "nothing but fountains; and is derived, no doubt, from the number of streamlets which cast themselves headlong from the brows of the cliffs into the valley below, looking at a distance like so many pendulous white threads.

The road crosses the Lutschine under the base of a colossal precipice, called Hunnenflue, whose face displays singular contortions in the limestone strata. If the clouds permit, the summit of the Jungfrau now bursts into sight; and soon after, surmounting a steep slope, we reach

12 Lauterbrunnen (Inn: Capricorn, good).

This village contains about 1350 inhabitants, dwelling in rustic houses, scattered widely apart, along both banks of the torrent. It lies 2450 feet above the sea, so sunk between precipices that, in summer, the sun does not appear till 7 o'clock, and in winter not before 12. Only the hardier

Lauterbrunnen.

species of grain grow here, and the climate is almost too rough for pears and apples. About 30 shoots of water dangle from the edge of the ramparts which form the sides of the valley; and, when their tops are enveloped in clouds, appear to burst at once from the sky: many of them are dried up in summer. These minor falls, however, are all eclipsed by that of the Staubbach, distant about three quarters of a mile from the inn. It is one of the loftiest falls in Europe, measuring between 800 and 900 feet in height; and from this cause, and from the comparatively small body of water forming it, it is shivered by the wind into spray like dust long before it reaches the bottom (whence its name, literally, Dust-fall).

Strangers, who expect in the Staubbach the rushing and roaring rapidity of a cataract will here be disappointed; but in the opinion of many, this want is atoned for by other beauties peculiar to this fall. The friction of the rock, and the resistance of the air, retard the descent of the water, giving it, when seen in front, the appearance of a beautiful lace veil suspended from the precipice, and imitating, in its centre, the folds of the drapery. When very full, it shoots out from the rock, and is bent by the wind into flickering undulations. Byron has described it admirably, both in prose and

verse:

"The torrent is in shape, curving over the rock, like the tail of a white horse streaming in the wind. such as it might be conceived would be that of the pale horse' on which Death is mounted in the Apocalypse. It is neither mist nor water, but a something between both: its immense height gives it a wave or curve-a spreading here or condension therewonderful and indescribable." Journal.

"It is not noon- the sunbow's rays still arch The torrent with the many hues of heaven, And roll the sheeted silver's waving column

Route 27.

O'er the crag's headlong perpendicular, And fling its lines of foaming light along, And to and fro, like the pale courser's tail, The giant steed to be bestrode by Death, As told in the Apocalyse."

Manfred.

The Staubbach is seen to perfection before noon, when the iris formed by the sun falling full upon it, "like a rainbow come down to pay a visit moving as you move," and the shadow of the water on the face of the rock, give an additional interest. At other times it is as well seen from the inn as from the nearest point which can be reached without becoming drenched with spray. Wordsworth has called it "a heavenborn waterfall; and when the clouds are low and rest on the sides of the valley, it literally appears to leap from the sky. In winter, when the torrent is nearly arrested by the frost, a vast pyramid of ice is formed by the dripping of the water from above, increasing gradually upwards in the manner of a stalagmite, until the colossal icicle reaches nearly half way up the precipice. There is a smaller upper-fall above the one seen from Lauterbrunnen. A footpath leads up to it in three quarters of an hour, but few think it worth the trouble of the ascent.

Upper Valley of Lauterbrunn.

"Of the multitudes who visit Lauterbrunn, a very small proportion trouble themselves to explore the upper part of the valley. It leads nowhere, for few will undertake to cross the icy barriers which enclose it. The fall of the Schmadribach, however, is quite a sufficient object for a day's excursion; being, in truth, inferior to few in Switzerland. It is a large body of water, which, issuing from the glacier, throws itself immediately over a precipice of great height, and again makes two more leaps, of inferior height, but great beauty, before reaching the bottom of the valley. Horses can go for about two hours from Lauterbrunn to the hamlet of Trachsel Lauinen, opposite which

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will be seen the remains of an avalanche, called by the same name, which falls annually from the Jungfrau, and spreads its ruins over a surface of many hundred acres. An hour farther, in which there is a steep ascent to be surmounted, stands a single chalet, near the foot of the lower fall; from which there is half an hour's sharp ascent to the foot of the upper fall. Deciduous trees cease below Trachsel Lauinen; thence to the fall, the way lies generally through pine forests, and the pasturage is abundant to a much greater height. High above tower the summits of the chain, which, branching from the Jungfrau, is continued in an unbroken line of ice to the Gemmi.

On returning, the curious little cascade of the Trimbelbach, issuing from a deep ravine under the Jungfrau, may be visited.

The western

rampart of the valley is fringed with cascades resembling the Staubbach, of which the Mürrenbach is most conspicuous.

11⁄2 hours above Lauterbrunn is the Sefinenthal, a lateral valley on the west, lying seven hundred feet above the principal valley : the stream which issues from it forms a grand fall in its descent. This short valley, which runs into the heart of the Steinberg, is bounded to the S. and W. by lofty precipices crested with glaciers. On the N. a long and steep ascent leads in nine to ten hours over a pass called Furca into the Kienthal, and down to Reichenbach, or Mühlinen. Or crossing the Kienthal, the Dündengrat, another pass of equal height, leads down the Oeschinenthal to Kandersteg. actual distance there is probably no great difference; but, from Lauterbrunn to Kandersteg, by the Dün dengrat, would be the harder day's work; and in truth, a pretty severe one. The writer went in the reverse order, from Frutigen (where there is a good inn) by char to the foot of the Kienthal; and thence in nine

In

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hours' hard walking to Lauterbrunn. The lower part of the Kienthal is soft and beautiful; but after 24 hours, when the first great ascent is surmounted, it becomes a thoroughly Alpine valley, overhung by the magnificent ranges of the Blumlis Alp. The Furca, a sharp ridge, is about 5 to 5 hours, either from the foot of the Kienthal, or from Lauterbrunn. It commands a confined, but most superb view of the Jungfrau, Eiger, &c., and of the Blumlis Alp; and well deserves a visit from Lauterbrunn, even from those who do not mean to descend to the Kienthal. Few travellers cross this way, though there is no difficulty. A night might be passed in the chalets of the Kienthal; but it would be better to make a forced march to Kandersteg. (See Route 39.)

"There is, however, a still more sublime, but difficult, and even dangerous route, to Kandersteg, across the great Tchingel Gletscher, which closes up the Ammertenthal, as the upper part of the valley of Lauterbrunn is named: it is not crossed many times in the year, and, in many seasons, not at all. The Interlaken guides, for the most part, seem to know little about it. A man named Lauener, belonging to the Capricorn, at Lauterbrunn, is well acquainted with the glacier, and a capital fellow. It is usual to sleep at the highest chalets, on the Steinberg, about 4 hours from Lauterbrunn; from which it is 9 hours' quick walking to Kandersteg, about 4 hours on the ice; with steep and bad places to climb. After quitting the ice, 4 hours to Kandersteg, the descent into the Gasterenthal is very steep and fatiguing; for a considerable distance it lies along a narrow gulley, between the glacier and a wall of rocks. Nothing can exceed the savage grandeur of the Gasterenthal, a valley close to the frequented route of the Gemmi, yet almost unknown. The gorge by which the river falls into the Kander

thal, is most grand; and an hour higher there is another gorge, which is hardly inferior.

"The height of the pass must be great, probably exceeding 9000 feet. From the summit, it is possible, instead of descending upon Kandersteg, to cross the main chain, which does not appear to be a great deal higher, and descend by the valley of Loetsch, into the Vallais. This, how ever, is, of course, still more difficult; and neither route is to be rashly undertaken.

By

"The distance from Lauterbrunn to Kandersteg is not beyond a day's march; but the very fatiguing nature of the ground, and the desirableness of crossing the glacier early, render it better to sleep at the Steinberg. making arrangements before hand, and taking a char to Lauterbrunn, it is easy to go in a day from Interlaken to the Steinberg. The roar of the streams, and frequent thunder of falling avalanches from the opposite glaciers, will furnish excitement to while away a sleepless night. Provisions should be taken.”—A. T. M.

Lauterbrunnen to Grindelwald,

a. By the char road.

b. By the Wengern Alp.

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a. By the high-road the time occupied in going to Grindelwald is about 2 hours the distance about 12 miles; but this route should be taken only by those who can neither ride nor walk, or who prefer the ease of a char à banc to avalanches, Alps, and fatigue-or in case of bad or cloudy weather. It is necessary to return down the valley as far as the ZweiLutschinen, then, crossing the White, to ascend, by the side of the Black Lutschine- - a toilsome steep, through a gloomy valley, closed up by the precipices of the Wetterhorn, and the peaks of the Eigher. Nearer to Grindelwald the two glaciers appear in sight.

The traveller in the Oberland is sadly subjected to the persecution of

beggars some under the pretext of offering him strawberries, or flowers, or crystals, others with no other excuse but their poverty, not unfrequently united to goitre and cretinism, as an additional recommendation to the compassion of strangers. Every cottage sends forth its ragged crowds of disshevelled and unshod children; behind every rock is an ambuscade of native minstrels, who, drawn up in line, assail the passersby with the discordant strains of their shrill voices. 66 They beset the devious footway leading up the hill-side in a long scattered line, to a considerable height, just like a train of gunpowder, which only awaited my approach to explode."— Latrobe.

b. In fine weather there is not a more interesting or exciting journey among the Alps than that over the Wengern Alp, or Lesser Scheideck. Independently of the view of the Jungfrau, and other giants of the Bernese chain (unrivalled, owing to its proximity to these sublime objects), it is from the Wengern Alp that the avalanches are seen and heard in greatest perfection, and no one should abandon the expedition without an effort. The path is practicable for mules, and is about 14 miles long; but, from its steepness, its great elevation, and the time spent in enjoying the view from the top, it occupies at least 7 hours. Though fatiguing, it is not dangerous, and is constantly traversed by ladies on horseback, or even in a chaise à porteur (§ 9).

A steep zigzag path leads out of the valley of Lauterbrunnen, in order to surmount the ridge separating it from that of Grindelwald. After nearly an hour of toilsome ascent, passing the houses of a scattered hamlet, it reaches a more gradual slope of meadow land. The valley of Lauterbrunn, beneath whose precipices the traveller has previously crept with some little awe, presents from this height the aspect of a mere trench; the Staubbach is reduced to

a thin thread; and its upper fall, and previous winding, before it makes its final leap, are exposed to view.

The path crosses the meadows advancing towards the Jungfrau, which now rises in front of the spectator, with its vast expanse of snow and glacier, in all its magnificence. Not only its summit, but all the mass of the mountain above the level of the spectator, is white with perpetual snow of virgin purity, which breaks off abruptly at the edge of a black precipice, forming one side of a ravine separating the Jungfrau from the Wengern Alp. It appears to be within gun-shot of the spectator-so colossal are its proportions, that the effect of distance is lost.

About half an hour's walk below the summit a rustic but very tolerable Inn, H. de la Jungfrau, containing 14 beds to accommodate strangers who choose to await the sunrise at this elevation, has been built on the brow of the ravine, 5350 feet above the sea-level, directly facing the Jungfrau. From this point the mountain is best seen, as well as the avalanches descending from it. The precipice before alluded to, which forms the base of the mountain, is channelled with furrows or grooves, down which the avalanches descend. They are most numerous a little after noon, when the sun exercises the greatest influence on the glacier in loosening masses of it, and causing them to break off.

The attention is first arrested by a distant roar, not unlike thunder, and in half a minute, a gush of white powder, resembling a small cataract, is perceived issuing out of one of the upper grooves or gullies; it then sinks into a lower fissure, and is lost only to reappear at a lower stage some hundred feet below; soon after another roar, and a fresh gush from a lower gully, till the mass of ice, reaching the lowest step is precipitated into the gulf below. By watching attentively the sloping white side of the Jungfrau, the separation of the frag

ment of ice from the mass of the glacier which produces this thunder, may be seen at the moment when disengaged and before the sound reaches the ear. Sometimes it merely slides down over the surface, at others it turns over in a cake; but in an instant after it disappears, is shattered to atoms, and, in passing through the different gullies, is ground to powder so fine, that, as it issues from the lowest, it looks like a handful of meal; and particles, reduced by friction to the consistence of dust, rise in a cloud of vapour. Independent of the sound, which is an awful interruption of the silence usually prevailing on the high Alps, there is nothing grand or striking in these falling masses; and, indeed, it is difficult, at first, to believe that these echoing thunders arise from so slight a cause in appearance. The spectator must bear in mind that at each discharge whole tons of ice are hurled down the mountain, and that the apparently insignificant white dust is made up of blocks capable of sweeping away whole forests, did any occur in its course, and of overwhelming houses and villages. During the early part of summer three or four such discharges may be seen in an hour; in cold weather they are less numerous; in the autumn scarcely any occur. The avalanches finally descend into the valley of Trumlaten, the deep and uninhabited ravine dividing the Jungfrau from the Wengern Alp; and, on melting, send forth a stream which falls into the Lutschine, a little above Lauterbrunnen. A part of Lord Byron's "Manfred " was either written or mentally composed on the Wengern Alp, in full view of the Jungfrau, and (he says in his Journal) within hearing of its avalanches.

"Ascended the Wengern mountain; left the horses, took off my coat, and went to the summit. On one side our view comprised the Jungfrau, with all her glaciers; then the Dent d'Argent, shining like truth; then

the Little Giant, and the Great Giant; and last, not least, the Wetterhorn. The height of the Jungfrau is 11,000 feet above the valley. Heard the avalanches falling every five minutes nearly.

"The clouds rose from the opposite valley, curling up perpendicular precipices, like the foam of the ocean of hell during a spring tide—it was white and sulphury, and immeasurably deep in appearance. The side we ascended was not of so precipitous a nature; but, on arriving at the summit, we looked down upon the other side upon a boiling sea of cloud, dashing against the crags on which we stood these crags on one side quite perpendicular. In passing the masses of snow, I made a snowball and pelted Hobhouse with it.". Swiss Journal.

Rise curling far beneath me, white and sulphury,

Like foam from the roused ocean of deep hell!" Manfred.

About 2 miles beyond the inn the summit of the pass is attained, 6280 feet above the sea-level. Near it there is a chalet, built also to serve as an inn, but now closed (1841). The view from the top is very fine, including, besides the Jungfrau, the Monch, the two Eighers, and the Wetterhorn. The Jungfrau, or Virgin, received its name either from the unsullied purity of the snow, or because (till lately) its crest had never been reached or trodden by human foot. She has now lost her claim to the title on the latter score, the highest peak having been attained in 1812, by two brothers, named Meyer, from Aarau; in 1828, by six peasants, from Grindelwald; and, in August, 1841,