mountains filled my heart with enthusiastic awe!--so long, so eagerly, had I desired to contemplate that scene of wonders, that I was unable to trace when first the wish was awakened in my bosom--it seemed from childhood to have made a part of my existence--I longed to bid adieu to the gaily-peopled landscapes of Zuric, and wander amidst those regions of mysterious sublimity, the solitudes of nature, where her eternal laws seem at all seasons to forbid more than the temporary visits of man, and where, sometimes, the dangerous passes to her frozen summits are inflexibly barred against mortal footsteps. The pleasure arising from the varying forms of smiling beauty with which we were surrounded, became a cold sensation, while expectation hung upon those vast gigantic shapes, that half-seen chaos which excited the stronger feelings of wonder mingled with admiration. But I was obliged, with whatever regret, to relinquish for the present a ncarer view of those tremendous objects, since private affairs left me only sufficient leisure to visit the cataract of the Rhine before I returned to Basil.

When we reached the summit of the hill which leads to the fall of the Rhine, we alighted from the carriage, and walked down the steep bank, whence I saw the river rolling turbulently over its bed of rocks, and heard the noise of the torrent, towards which we were descending, increasing as we drew near. My heart swelling with expectation-our path, as if formed to give the scene its full effect, concealed for some time the river from our view; till we reached a wooden balcony, projecting on the edge of the water, and whence, just sheltered from the torrent, it bursts in all its overwhelming wonders on the astonished sight. That stupendous cataract, rushing with wild impetuosity over those broken, unequal rocks, which, lifting up their sharp points amidst its sea of foam, disturb its headlong course, multiply its falls, and make the afflicted waters roar-that cadence of tumultuous sound, which had never till now struck upon my ear-those long feathery surges, giving the element a new aspect--that spray rising into clouds of vapour, and reflecting the prismatic colours, while it disperses itself over the hills---never, never can I forget the

sensations of that moment! when with a sort of annihilation of self, with every past impression erased from my memory, I felt as if my heart were bursting with emotions too strong to be sustained.---Oh, majestic torrent! which hast conveyed a new image of nature to my soul, the moments I have passed in contemplating thy sublimity will form an epocha in my short span!--thy course is coeval with time, and thou wilt rush down thy rocky walls when this bosom, which throbs with admiration at thy greatness, shall beat no longer!

• What an effort does it require to leave, after a transient glimpse, a scene on which, while we meditate, we can take no account of time! its narrow limits seem too confined for the expanded spirit; such objects appear to belong to immortality; they call the musing mind from all its little cares and vanities, to higher destinies and regions, more congenial than this world to the feelings they excite. I had been often summoned by my fellow-travellers to depart, had often repeated "but one moment more," and many "moments more" had elapsed, before I could resolve to tear myself from the balcony.'

From thence Miss Williams proceeded to Lucerne. The approach to this place,' she observes, is beautifully picturesque. About half a league from the town we crossed the Emmen, near the spot where it mingles its streams with the Reuss, which pours its swelling and limpid waters of a grassy hue from the lake. Lucerne is divided by this river, and the lake, into unequal portions, but the communication is rendered easy and agreeable by means of four bridges; one of which, of ordinary construction, serves for the passage of carriages, while the other three are calculated only for foot passengers. These bridges, one of which is six or seven hundred feet in length, and another from three to four hundred feet, present delightful views over the lake to the mountains, and serve as walks to the inhabitants, who are sheltered from the sun and rain, by a roof supported at every ten steps by pillars of wood: between those pillars pannels are fixed, painted on both sides, which represent in some places the most celebrated events of their national history, and in others scripture-subjects, and

fanciful figures of poetry and romance, such as winged dragons, griffins, devils, and centaurs.

'We embarked our horses, and departing from Lucerne at an early hour of a fine cloudless morning, began our voyage down the lake to Altorf. The hills rising from the shores near the town, which are but of little elevation, are covered for the most part with country-houses and gardens; and here the inhabitants, instead of warring with nature by strait lines and trimmed trees, had aided her loveliness by their taste in disposition and forbearance in ornament.

The shores of the lake have witnessed most of the great actions that have been performed in Switzerland. At Grutlen, a village at the foot of the Seelisburg, on the opposite side of the lake, was held the confederacy where the generous design was planned by the three heroes for the deliverance of their country. The chapel of William Tell, as we advanced, presents itself on the right, perched among the rocks, in commemoration of his escape from the bailiff Geisler, by leaping from the boat in the midst of a tempest raised by subterraneous winds, which often render this navigation dangerous.

'No place could surely be found more correspondent to a great and generous purpose, more worthy of an heroical and sublime action, than the august and solemn scenery around us. The lake which we had traversed nearly from west to east, turns direct from the point opposite Brunen to the south, and is said to be in this part six or seven hundred feet deep. This branch is called the lake of Uri. Near its entrance insulated pointed rocks of singular form and construction rise boldly from the water. Having passed those precipices, we entered into a gulph, of which the boundaries were awfully terrific. On each side of the profound abyss, the dark lowering rocks rose sometimes abrupt, and barren, sometimes presenting tufts of pine and beech between its shaggy masses, and occasionally beyond these savage limits of the lake, the eye caught a glimpse of mountains in the lofty perspective, clothed midway with forests, and rising into peaks of alternate pasturage and crags.

"Beneath their inaccessible ramparts, whose enormous height gives an appearance of narrowness to the lake, we sailed, gazing with that kind of rapt astonishment which fears to disturb, or be disturbed by the mutual communication of thought. The approach of night spread new forms of shadowy greatness over the scene. We had loitered many hours on our passage, forgetting that the last part of our voyage was the most perilous. But the unruffled stillness of the water, the delicious serenity of the evening, and the long reflected rays of the moon from the whitened summits of the opposite mountains, of which we sometimes caught a glimpse, dissipated every idea of danger. The only sounds that broke the awful silence were the gentle motion of the oars of our wearied boatmen, and the tolling of the distant bell from Altorf, borne down the lake, and

"Swinging slow with sullen roar."

Milton.

We had passed through all the soft gradations of twilight, and had enjoyed the brownest horrors of evening in all their deepening gloom, before the moon had scaled the lofty summits which concealed her from our view. At length she burst upon us in her fullest radiancy, illumining the dusky sides of the cragged rocks, and the dark foliage of the piny woods; burnishing with her silver rays the smooth and limpid waters; shooting her shadowy beams along the lake to the distant perspective of the mountains we had left behind; and lighting up the whole majestic scenery with glorious and chastened lustre.

"We reached almost with regret Fluellen, the port whither we were bound, and mounting our horses proceeded to Altorf, which lies at the distance of two miles.

'After leaving Altorf, we journeyed along a valley of three leagues, through which the Reuss flows with the ordinary rapidity of a Swiss river.

The rocks, clothed at intervals with trees of various sorts rose high and steep on each side of the valley, which wore a fertile and smiling appearance till we came to the village of Stag; above which the Alps first lift their majestic heads. 2 K

VOL. IV.

Here we began to ascend that mass of mountains, which is rather the base than the mountain itself of St. Gothard. The road suddenly becomes so steep, that it required at first some address to keep a seat on horseback. The river, which glided gently through the valley on its expanded bed, being now hemmed in by rocks, begins to struggle for its passage at a profound depth. The pine-clad hills rose on each side to our farthest ken, down which torrent streams were rushing, and crossed our way to mingle themselves with the Reuss, which continually presented new scenes of wonder. The mountains seemed to close upon us as we advanced, sometimes but just space enough was left to admit the passage of the river foaming through the rocks, which seemed obstinately to oppose its passage. The road lay for a considerable length on the left side of the precipices, from which we beheld the struggles of the waters, and the tremendous succession of cascades which they formed. An abrupt precipice, forbidding the continuance of the road on this side, a bridge of hardy construction led to the opposite mountain, which is ascended, till meeting with a similar obstruction, we crossed the stream again to the left.

'On one of these bridges, we halted to gaze upon the scene around us, and the yawning gulph below. The depth is so tremendous, that the first emotion in looking over the bridge is that of terror, lest the side should fall away and plunge you into the dark abyss; and it requires some reflection to calm the painful turbulence of surprize, and leave the mind the full indulgence of the sensations of solemn enthusiastic delight, which swell the heart, while we contemplate such stupendous objects.

"The road up to the village of Wassen is highly romantic: here the industry of men has tamed some of those wild torrents, of which such numbers run idly to waste; and sawing mills and other machinery owe their impulse to those swiftly descending volumes. In this village we halted to repose from our fatigues, and began to feel some of the mountain breezes which contrasted very agreeably with the concentrated heat that had subdued us in the valley beneath. It was Sunday, the day was fine, and the village was crowded with the mountaineers who had come in to keep the festival, and practise, as they do every week in