there was a vast quantity.  We were constantly occupied in returning their salutations, as they seldom fail to speak to passengers.  The country was mostly unenclosed.  I here observed the first extensive beech woods I had yet seen on the Continent, which are occasionally mixed with fir, the most common timber in Switzerland.  We arrived, after sunset, at Arberg, where we found good accommodations after the fatigues of the day.  It takes its name from the river Aar, by which it is surrounded.  At each end of the town is a wooden bridge covered, to preserve the timber from the weather.  The town is a great thoroughfare between Berne, Neufchatel, and the Pays de Vaud; and we observed, in the market-place, several waggons stationed until morning.

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CHAP.  XIII.

We proceeded next day to Morat.  Its lake is about two leagues in length by three quarters of a league in breadth, and is said to be the only lake in Switzerland where that voracious fish, the silurus, is found.  There are many vineyards in this vicinity, but the wine is very indifferent.  It is, however said to produce the best Kirschrvasser, or Cherry brandy in Switzerland.  Morat is celebrated in history for the memorable victory obtained under its walls, by the Swiss, over the formidable army of the last duke of Burgundy in 1476.  The bones of the Burgundians were piled up by way of monument on the field of battle.  The triumph of the Swiss over their invaders was recorded by many inscriptions, of which the following is admired for its simplicity.

    D.O.M. 
    Caroli incliti et fortissimi Burgundiae ducis exercitus
    Muratum obsidiens, ab Helvetiis caesus, hoc sui
    Monumentum reliquit, 1476.

This trophy was destroyed by the French in 1798; as they, perhaps, feared that this memorial of the success of the Swiss, in contending for their liberty, should incite them again to rise against the descendants of those whom they had formerly defeated; and their vanity was probably hurt by the existence of a record, disadvantageous to their countrymen.

We dined at the neat little village of Seedorf, and proceeded in the evening in an open carriage to Berne.  Part of the road is very hilly, and at one time we had an interesting prospect of the island of St. Pierre, and the end of the lake of Neufchatel, at about five or six leagues distance.  About half a league from Berne we passed the Aar (which is here a broad and rapid stream) by a long bridge of wood, covered according to the general custom in Switzerland.

The city of Berne presents a beautiful coup-d’oeil, and is one of the few places I have seen, where the interior does not greatly diminish the impression, occasioned by the distant prospect.  The road was lined by lofty trees, and presented a very cheerful scene.

Berne is deservedly considered as one of the handsomest cities in Europe; it stands on a hill surrounded on two sides by the beautiful stream of the Aar; it is surrounded by higher grounds richly cultivated, and interspersed with woods, whilst the view is terminated by the snowy summits of the Alps.