LAUSANNE, _August 24, 1857_.
I found your letter at Berne on the evening of the 22d, because my
excursions in the Oberland have been prolonged far beyond the limit I
had set. I am uncertain where to address this. You must ere this have
left Geneva. I am going to send it to Venice, where you will probably
stop longest.
You might, I think, have varied your enthusiastic effusions on the
delights of travelling by one or two words of flattering commendation,
by way of consolation for those who are not privileged to accompany you.
I forgive you, however, on account of your inexperience in travelling.
You anticipate being on your way three weeks only; this seems to me to
be almost impossible, and I will give you a month. I beg you, however,
to consider that September 28th is an inauspicious anniversary for me,
because it dates from so far in the past. It was the 28th of September
that I came into the world. It would be signally agreeable to me to
spend that day in your company. A word to the wise is sufficient.
I have enjoyed my little excursion very much indeed. It has rained but
one day. I did not escape a drop of it, to be sure, during the two hours
I was making the descent of the Wengern Alp on a jade that slid over the
rocks, and did not advance a step. I drank some champagne which we had
brought over the Mer de Glace, and which I iced on the very glacier. My
guide assured me that I was the first one to have that brilliant idea. I
am at this moment in the presence of the Gemmi and the Valois range,
which are lacking in the superb outlines of the Jungfrau and her
associates. We might have met at Geneva, I believe, and have made some
excursion together. It is sad to think of this. I shall expect to find
a letter from you in Paris, where I shall be the 28th.
Good-bye. Enjoy yourself, and do not over-fatigue yourself. Think
sometimes of me. If you will give me your exact itinerary, I will write
to you from Paris. It is deuced hard to write here. The pens of this
country are what you see.
I send you a little leaf which grew six thousand feet above the level of
the sea.