Switzerland is a land of mountains and hills and valleys and beautiful
lakes and streams. Every year many people go from all parts of the
world to see the beautiful Swiss mountains and valleys.
Sometimes large masses of snow and ice, mixed with earth, fall or slide
down the sides of the mountains with a loud crash. As they slide, they
tear away rocks and trees, and bury houses and villages beneath them.
These masses of snow and ice are called avalanches.
[Illustration: An Avalanche.]
Snow falls all the year round on the tops of the mountains in
Switzerland. As the snow falls, it packs down hard and changes into
ice. At last it becomes a great mass of ice, and slides very slowly
down the sides of the mountains into the valleys. These masses of ice
are called glaciers. They move so slowly that you cannot tell they are
moving by looking at them. But by driving a stake down, you can see,
after a long time, that the ice has moved a little way.
A great many of the people in Switzerland live by keeping cattle and
sheep and goats. Their houses are in the valleys. But in spring, when
the snow begins to melt and the grass begins to grow, the men drive
their flocks up the mountain sides to feed. There they stay till the
end of summer. The men take with them a supply of food, and they sleep
in huts on the mountain side.
There is a kind of goat in Switzerland called the chamois. It lives
high up in the mountains. It is very hard to hunt the chamois, for it
can go into places where a man cannot follow it. It can leap very
nimbly from one rock to another. It can go up and down a rough
mountain side.
[Illustration: Chamois.]
In the summer the chamois feeds on herbs and flowers. In winter it
eats the shoots and buds of pine trees. It is very fond of salt.
There is a kind of stone in the mountains that is partly made of salt.
The chamois licks these stones to get the salt.
The chamois feed together in herds of fifteen or twenty. One of them
is always on the watch to give notice if anybody comes to hunt them.
When it sees any one coming, it stamps on the ground with its fore feet
and makes a sharp cry. Then all start off. They leap from crag to
crag till they are far out of danger.
The skin of the chamois is very soft. It is made into a fine, soft
leather. This leather is called shammy leather. Have you ever seen a
piece of shammy leather? The flesh of the chamois is very good to eat.
The people in Switzerland use a great deal of milk and butter and
cheese for their food. They also have potatoes and bread and fruit.
They eat very little meat.
The Swiss houses are made of wood. Stones are often put on the roofs.
The stones keep the shingles from being torn off by the wind. The
Swiss are very neat and clean. On every window sill there are
flowerpots, for the Swiss are very fond of flowers.
[Illustration: A Swiss House.]
In every village in Switzerland there is a school. The Swiss have very
good schools. The boys and girls must go to school when they are six
years old. They learn all that we learn in our schools. There are
also schools where the boys are taught trades. The boys and girls go
to school only eight months in the year. So they have four months'
vacation.
After school, the boys help to take care of the sheep and goats and
cattle. The girls help about the housework. All find plenty to do.
But the Swiss boys and girls have some time for play as well as for
work and school. They often have holidays. One of their greatest
holidays is the day that the men come home from the mountains with
their flocks. The boys and girls go out to meet them. They sing
songs. The bells ring, and flags wave. Everybody is merry and happy.
The children in Switzerland have a great many pretty toys. Some of
their toys are made to play music. The Swiss make all kinds of music
boxes.
In Switzerland, instead of a king, they have a president, as we have.
And in past times they had brave men who fought to make their country
free. One of their great men was William Tell. The Swiss love his
name as strongly as we love the name of George Washington.
[Illustration: Swiss Dog Cart.]