The Parsees say that mountains are the heads of the long pins that bind
the world together. Geologists assure us that they are merely wrinkles
on the face of Mother Earth, while we all know that, relatively to
the world's diameter, the highest elevation of our planet is but the
thickness of a hair laid on an ordinary globe.
[Illustration: A CHATEAU NEAR INTERLAKEN.]
But these comparisons do not affect the grandeur of the peaks
themselves, when we behold them face to face, crowned with unmeasured
miles of snow, girded with glaciers as with coats of mail, and towering
up among the clouds as though to storm the very heights of Heaven.
If it be true, as some have claimed, that travel blunts the edge of
enjoyment, and renders one indifferent and _blasé_, it is true only
of those artificial charms which form the attraction of great cities
and the pleasure-haunts of men. These may at last grow wearisome. But
Nature wears a freshness and a glory that can never fade. Continual
worship at her shrine increases our desire for that happiness which
only Nature gives, and adds to our capacity for its appreciation.
[Illustration: INTERLAKEN.]
Switzerland, then, of all countries in the world, is the one of which
the traveler is likely to tire least. The vision of its kingly Alps
must always thrill the heart with exultation. Its noble roads and
unsurpassed hotels make rest or travel on its heights delightful;
while the keen tonic of its mountain air restores the jaded frame, as
ancients dreamed a draught would do from the pure fountain of perpetual
youth.
One of the most attractive gateways to this land of mountains is
Interlaken. All tourists in Switzerland come hither, almost of
necessity. No other point is quite so central for excursions. None
is more easy of approach. As its name indicates, it lies between two
famous lakes which rival one another in respect to beauty. Before it,
also, are the charming vales of Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald, which
lead one into the very heart of the Bernese Oberland. Moreover, from
sixty to eighty thousand people come here every year to render homage
to the peerless sovereign who holds court at Interlaken. There is
no need to name the peak to which I thus allude, for everywhere in
Interlaken we discern the crowning glory of the place—beside which all
others fade—the lovely Jungfrau, queen of Alpine heights. Her grand,
resplendent form fills the entire space between the encircling peaks,
and forms a dazzling centre-piece of ice and snow, nearly fourteen
thousand feet in height. It is a never-ending pleasure to rest upon
the broad piazzas of Interlaken's palatial hotels, and gaze upon this
radiant mount. It sometimes looks like a great white cloud forever
anchored in one place, but oftener sparkles as if covered with a robe
of diamonds; mantled, as it is, with snows of virgin purity from base
to heaven-piercing summit.
[Illustration: JUNGFRAU FROM INTERLAKEN.]
[Illustration: PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS, BERNE.]
Yet were we to examine closely a single section of the Jungfrau,
we should discover that its shoulders are covered with enormous
snow-fields, the origin of stupendous avalanches. For amid all this
beauty there is much here that is harsh and terrible. Appalling
precipices, dangerous crevasses, and well-nigh constant falls of
hundreds of tons of rock and ice, render the wooing of this "Maiden
of the Alps" a difficult undertaking. In fact, the name Jungfrau,
or Maiden, was given to the mountain, because its pure summit seemed
destined to remain forever virgin to the tread of man. Many had sought
to make her conquest, but in vain. At last, however, in 1811 (nearly
thirty years after the subjugation of Mont Blanc), two brothers gained
the crest; and since that time its icy slopes have reflected the forms
of many ambitious and courageous travelers.
No tourist who has been at Interlaken on a pleasant evening can
possibly forget the vision which presents itself as day reluctantly
retires from the Jungfrau at the approach of night.
[Illustration: THE HIGH BRIDGE AT BERNE.]
[Illustration: BETWEEN INTERLAKEN AND THE JUNGFRAU.]