“O’er the savage sea,
    The glassy ocean of the mountain ice,
    We skim its rugged breakers, which put on
    The aspect of a tumbling tempest’s foam,
    Frozen in a moment.”
    MANFRED.
]

[Footnote 115: 

                “Like these blasted pines,
    Wrecks of a single winter, barkless, branchless.”
    IBID.
]

“September 24.

“Set off at seven; up at five.  Passed the black glacier, the mountain Wetterhorn on the right; crossed the Scheideck mountain; came to the Rose glacier, said to be the largest and finest in Switzerland, I think the Bossons glacier at Chamouni as fine; Hobhouse does not.  Came to the Reichenbach waterfall, two hundred feet high; halted to rest the horses.  Arrived in the valley of Overland; rain came on; drenched a little; only four hours’ rain, however, in eight days.  Came to the lake of Brientz, then to the town of Brientz; changed.  In the evening, four Swiss peasant girls of Oberhasli came and sang the airs of their country; two of the voices beautiful—­the tunes also:  so wild and original, and at the same time of great sweetness.  The singing is over; but below stairs I hear the notes of a fiddle, which bode no good to my night’s rest; I shall go down and see the dancing.

“September 25.

“The whole town of Brientz were apparently gathered together in the rooms below; pretty music and excellent waltzing; none but peasants; the dancing much better than in England; the English can’t waltz, never could, never will.  One man with his pipe in his mouth, but danced as well as the others; some other dances in pairs and in fours, and very good.  I went to bed, but the revelry continued below late and early.  Brientz but a village.  Rose early.  Embarked on the lake of Brientz, rowed by the women in a long boat; presently we put to shore, and another woman jumped in.  It seems it is the custom here for the boats to be manned by women:  for of five men and three women in our bark, all the women took an oar, and but one man.

“Got to Interlachen in three hours; pretty lake; not so large as that of Thoun.  Dined at Interlachen.  Girl gave me some flowers, and made me a speech in German, of which I know nothing; I do not know whether the speech was pretty, but as the woman was, I hope so.  Re-embarked on the lake of Thoun; fell asleep part of the way; sent our horses round; found people on the shore, blowing up a rock with gunpowder; they blew it up near our boat, only telling us a minute before;—­mere stupidity, but they might have broken our noddles.  Got to Thoun in the evening; the weather has been tolerable the whole day.  But as the wild part of our tour is finished, it don’t matter to us; in all the desirable part, we have been most lucky in warmth and clearness of atmosphere.

“September 26.

“Being out of the mountains, my journal must be as flat as my journey.  From Thoun to Berne, good road, hedges, villages, industry, property, and all sorts of tokens of insipid civilisation.  From Berne to Fribourg; different canton; Catholics; passed a field of battle; Swiss beat the French in one of the late wars against the French republic.  Bought a dog.  The greater part of this tour has been on horseback, on foot, and on mule.