SWITZERLAND.

 

moving sea. All nations of the earth seem
We

have heard of sunrise in the Alps and con-

to have met on top of this mountain.

clude to remain; but we must to bed early,
for the sun rises here at the early hour of
three and we shall not have too much time
'y rest. Wesee a notice on the wall telling

‘sitors not to dress in a blanket when they
9 out to see the sun rise, under a penalty

* two francs. But morning comes too
soon. We are awakened by the noise of a
large horn; it seems villainous to rouse us
so early, but if we want to see the sun we
must be up. We turn out and see people
in all kinds of fancy costumes—some of
them with their hair all covered with feath-
ers, some of them daring the two franc fine
and going out with blankets wrapped around
It is dark

when we go out, but soon we notice, looking

them, like our own Indians.

to the east, a streak of light, and now we
notice a band of gold in the far distance
and soon the highest peaks in succession
become tinged with the rosy hue. Soon
we begin to see the forests, lakes, villages
emerging from the mists, and now the sun
rises in its majesty and floods the whole
scene with his golden light. We have seen
the sun rise and, shivering and shaking, we
go back to the hotel and once more return
to our beds to finish our morning’s sleep.
After breakfast we get our alpenstocks and
What fun

go down the mountain on foot.

it is!

305

 

 

Next day finds us at Berne, a picturesque
town on the Aar. Look at the curious
The boat is attach-

ed by a rope and ring to a strong cable

ferry across the river.

thrown across the stream; as the ring slides
along the boat is easily rowed across with-
out fear of its being carried down stream.
Wherever you look you see figures of bears,
Here

is the clock tower; as the clock strikes you

from which the town takes its name.

see the whole troupes of bears come out and
march in procession. This is the bear-pit,
where a number of bears are kept as pets at
public expense. They look pleasant now
as they climb up the poles and take the
buns we offer them, but if we were to go too
near them I am afraid some of us would go
the same way as the buns.

This

is a cheerful town, with nice shops and gar-

We must end our trip at Geneva.
dens. We notice the Rhone, its blue waters
rushing out of the lake on its way to the
sea. The mountains are on the other end
of the lakes; the shores here are low. Do
you see those boats sailing and lying at
anchor at the end of the bay? Those be-
long to the pupils of the Bellrive school.
The boys, in season, have riding-school,
play-ground and gymnasium, and we are
sure they enjoy it all. Yonder, too, is the
lovely village of Clarens, where so many

As far

as one can judge it consists in walking

people come to try the grape cure.

about all day with large bunches of grapes