BASLE.
The city of Basle stands upon the banks of the Rhine, on the northern
frontier of Switzerland. The waters of the Rhine are gathered from
hundreds of roaring and turbid torrents which come out, some from vast
icy caverns in the glaciers, some from the melting debris of fallen
avalanches, some from gushing fountains which break out suddenly through
crevices in the rocks or yawning chasms, and some from dark and
frightful ravines on the mountain sides, down which they foam and tumble
perpetually, fed by vast fields of melting snow above. The waters of all
these torrents, being gathered at last into one broad, and deep, and
rapid stream, flow to a vast reservoir called the Lake of Constance,
where they repose for a time, or, rather, move slowly and insensibly
forward, enjoying a comparative quiescence which has all the
characteristics and effects of repose. The waters enter this reservoir
wild and turbid. They leave it calm and clear; and then, flowing
rapidly for one hundred miles along the northern frontier of
Switzerland, and receiving successively the waters of many other streams
that have come from hundreds of other torrents and have been purified in
the repose of other lakes extending over the whole northern slope of
Switzerland, they form a broad and rapid river, which flows swiftly
through Basle, and then, turning suddenly to the northward, bids Basle
and Switzerland farewell together.
"And then where does it go?" said Rollo to Mr. George when his uncle had
explained this thus far to him.
"Straight across the continent to the North Sea," said Mr. George.
Thus the whole northern slope of Switzerland is drained by a system of
waters which, when united at Basle, form the River Rhine.
The morning after Mr. George and Rollo arrived at Basle they were
looking out upon the River Rhine from the windows of the hotel.
"What a swift river!" said Rollo.
"Yes," said Mr. George.
"And how blue the water is!" continued Rollo.
"Yes," said Mr. George. "The water of the streams which come from the
Swiss mountains is turbid at first and very gray from the grinding up
of the rocks in the _moraines_ and glaciers and by the avalanches."
"What is a moraine?" asked Rollo.
"I will explain it to you one of these days," said Mr. George, "when you
come to see one."
"And a glacier," said Rollo; "what is that?"
"I will explain that to you, too, some other time," said Mr. George,
"but not now; for the breakfast will come in in a minute or two."
"Well," said Rollo, "I can hear while I am eating my breakfast."
"That may be," replied Mr. George; "but I cannot lecture very well while
I am eating _my_ breakfast."
Rollo laughed. "I did not think of that," said he.
"What queer boats!" continued Rollo, looking out again upon the river.
"And there is a long bridge leading over to the other side. May I go out
and walk over on that bridge after breakfast?"
"Yes," said Mr. George, "you may go any where you please."
"But suppose I should get lost," said Rollo. "What should I do then?"
"I don't know," said Mr. George, "unless you should ask somebody to tell
you the way to the Three Kings."
"But perhaps they would not understand English," said Rollo.
"Then you must say _Trois Rois_,[3a]
which is the French name for the hotel," rejoined Mr. George.
"But perhaps they would not understand French," said Rollo.
"No," replied Mr. George; "I think it probable they would not; for
people talk German generally in this part of Switzerland. In that case
you must ask the way to _Drei Koenige_."[3b]
Here the waiter came in with the breakfast. It consisted of a pot of
coffee, another of boiled milk, an omelette, some excellent cakes, and
some honey. There was a long table extending up and down the room, which
was a very large and handsome apartment, and there were besides several
round tables in corners and in pleasant places near the windows. The
breakfast for Mr. George and Rollo was put upon one of the round tables;
and, in sitting down to it, Rollo took pains to place himself in such a
manner that he could look out the window and see the water while he was
eating.
"What a dreadful river that would be to fall into!" said Rollo. "It runs
so swift and looks so angry!"
"Yes," said Mr. George. "It runs swift because the descent is very
great. Switzerland is very high; and the water, in running from it,
flows very swiftly."
"I did not know that Switzerland was all high," said Rollo. "I knew that
the mountains were high; but the valleys must be low."
"No," said Mr. George; "it is all high. The bottoms of the valleys are
higher than the tops of the mountains in many other countries. In going
into Switzerland, we go up hill nearly all the way; and so, even when we
are at the bottom of the deepest valleys in Switzerland, we are up very
high. There is Chamouni, for example, which is a deep valley near the
foot of Mont Blanc. The bottom of that valley is six or seven times as
high as the top of the Palisades on the North River."
"O, uncle George!" exclaimed Rollo.
"Yes," said Mr. George; "and it is so with all the Swiss valleys; and,
accordingly, the water that comes down through them has a great descent
to make in getting to the sea. Thus there are a great many falls, and
cascades, and rapids; and, even in those places where the rivers run
smoothly, the current is very swift and very strong."
While Mr. George and Rollo were eating their breakfast the attention of
Rollo was occupied partly by the prospect of the river as he saw it
through the open window, and partly by the various groups of travellers
who were constantly coming into the room, or going out, or taking their
breakfasts in little parties at the tables. Some who had finished their
breakfasts were looking at maps and guide books which they had spread
out before them on the tables. The room was very large, and very
beautiful; and, as it was lighted on the back side by a row of wide and
lofty windows which looked out upon the river, it wore a very bright and
cheerful expression. At one end of it were glass doors, which led into
another room very similar to this, as it likewise had windows looking
out upon the river. This room was used as a sort of sitting room and
reading room. There was a table in the centre, with newspapers, some
French, some English, and some German, lying upon it. Rollo determined
to go into this room as soon as he had finished his breakfast to see who
was there and what they were doing.
"Rollo," said Mr. George, after a short pause, "do you wish to travel in
Switzerland intelligently or blindly?"
"What do you mean by that?" asked Rollo.
"Why, do you wish to understand something of the general features of the
country first, so as to know always, as we go travelling on, where you
are, and where you are going, and what you are to expect to see, or
would you rather not trouble yourself at all about this, but take things
as they come along, and enjoy them as you see them, without thinking or
caring what is to come next."
"Which is the best way?" asked Rollo.
"Either is a very good way," replied Mr. George. "There is a pleasure in
understanding and anticipating, and there is also a pleasure in
wondering what is to come next and meeting with surprises. You can take
your choice."
Rollo reflected a moment, and then he said that he thought he should
like best to understand.
"Very well," said Mr. George. "Then I will explain to you the general
features of Switzerland. Switzerland--or at least that portion of it
which is the chief scene of the rambles of tourists and
travellers--consists substantially of a long and deep valley, extending
from east to west through the centre, and bordered by a range of
mountains on each side. The range of mountains on the northern side of
this valley is, of course, towards Germany; the one on the southern
side is towards Italy. On the north side of the northern range of
mountains is a broad slope of land, extending a hundred miles towards
the German frontier. On the southern side of the southern range of
mountains is a steep and narrow slope, extending to the Italian
frontier.
"Thus we may say," continued Mr. George, "that Switzerland consists
substantially of a broad northern slope of land and a narrow southern
slope, with a deep valley between them. Do you understand this?"
"Yes," said Rollo. "If I had some damp sand, and a little wooden shovel,
I think I could make it."
"People do make models of the Swiss valleys and mountains," said Mr.
George. "In fact, they have maps of Switzerland, embossed with all the
mountains in relief; and I wish very much that we had one here to look
at."
"There is one here," said Rollo, his face brightening up very luminously
as he spoke. "I saw it hanging up in the gallery, and I did not know
what it was. It must be that. I'll go and show it to you after
breakfast."
"I am very glad," said Mr. George. "I wished to see one very much. We
will go and see it immediately after breakfast. But now let me tell you
a little more about the country. You must not imagine that the northern
slope, as I called it, is one smooth and uniform surface of descending
land. There are mountains, and valleys, and lakes, and precipices, and
waterfalls, and every other variety of mountain scenery scattered all
over it, making it a most picturesque and romantic region. It is,
however, on the whole, a slope. It begins with comparatively smooth and
level land on the north and it terminates in a range of lofty mountain
crests on the south; and you have to go over this crest somewhere, by
some of the steep and difficult passes that cross it, to get into the
central valley. We are on the margin of this slope now. When we leave
here and strike into the heart of Switzerland we shall be gradually
ascending it. I am going first to a place called Interlachen, which is
in a deep valley far up this slope, just under the ridge of mountains.
Interlachen is surrounded, in fact, by mountains, and a great many
pleasant excursions can be made from it. We shall stop there a few days
and make excursions, and then cross over by some of the mountain passes
into the valley."
"Well," said Rollo, in a tone of great satisfaction. "I shall like that;
I should like to go over a mountain pass. Shall we go in a carriage, or
on horseback."
"That depends upon which of the passes we take," said Mr. George. "Some
of them are carriage roads, some are bridle paths; and you ride over on
mules or horses. Others are too steep and dangerous to ride over in any
way. You have to go on foot, climbing up zigzag paths cut out of the
rock, and over great patches of snow that horses and mules would sink
into."
"Let's go in one of those," said Rollo, straightening himself up.
"Sometimes the path becomes narrower and narrower," continued Mr.
George, "until it is finally lost among the rocks, and you have to
clamber around the point of some rocky cliff a thousand feet in the air,
with scarcely any thing but the jagged roughness of the rocks to cling
to."
"Yes, sir," said Rollo, eagerly. "Yes, sir. Let's go there. That's just
the kind of road I want to go in."
"Well, we'll see," said Mr. George. "The first thing is to go to
Interlachen. That is in the heart of the mountains, and very near the
passes which lead over into the valley. When we get there we will study
the guide book and the maps and determine which way to go."
"And after you get into the valley," said Rollo, "shall you go across
it, and go over the mountains on the other side, into Italy?"
"I don't know," said Mr. George. "Perhaps we shall not have time. I may
think it is best to spend the time in rambling about among the mountains
and glaciers near the head of the valley, where I believe is to be found
the most stupendous scenery in all Switzerland."
The breakfast was now nearly finished, though the process of eating it
had been a good deal impeded by the conversation, so large a share of it
having fallen to Mr. George. Mr. George, however, explained to Rollo
that their first day's journey from Basle would be south, towards Berne,
the capital of the country--a city which was situated near the centre of
the northern slope which Mr. George had described.
"Do we go by a railway?" asked Rollo.
"No," said Mr. George; "by a diligence."
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 3a-3b: Mr. George, in speaking these words, did not pronounce
them as you would suppose from the manner in which they are written. He
pronounced them very much as if they were spelled Tru-ah Ru-ah. In the
same manner, the German words, Drei Koenige, he pronounced as if they
were spelled Dhrai Ker-nig-ger.]