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houses serve as pavement for the street above it, called Rue Grande Fontaine.

The Canton Freyburg is singularly divided between the German and French languages, and the line of separation, extending from the S.E. corner to the N.W., passes through the town of Freyburg-so that in the upper town French is spoken, and in the lower German. This distinction, however, is wearing out.

The walls and gates of the town are singularly perfect specimens of ancient fortification, and contribute, along with the general air of antiquity, to carry back the spectator to a remote state of society. One tower, near the Préfecture (thrown across the street, and now converted into a prison), has acquired the name of La Mauvaise Tour, because it contains the rack. Though the torture had been disused in the canton for many years, it was not legally abolished until 1830!

The singularly romantic character of the winding gorge of the Saarine, on whose margin Freyburg is planted, has been before alluded to. Close to the old bridge of Berne, another gorge, deep sunk between rocks of sandstone, called Gorge de Gotteron, opens into the Saarine. It is a singularly wild spot, and the wire bridge, with its web-like filaments, is well seen from it.

About three miles lower down the valley of the Saarine, is the Grotto of St. Magdalene, a hermitage and chappel cut out of the sandstone rock, by a native of Gruyères, named Dupré, between 1670 and 1680. Its wonders have been exaggerated by the guide-books, and it is scarce worth a visit.

Morat is about 10 miles from Freyburg (Route 43). Coaches run to and fro in correspondence with the steamer navigating the lake to Neuchâtel. There is a good road from Freyburg to Vevay by Bulle (Route 41, p. 112).

The shortest way to Lausanne is by Romont, but the road is so bad that it is rarely followed, Instead of it, the circuitous route by Payerne, in Canton Vaud, is usually taken: it is hilly and not very interesting.

4 Payerne-Germ. Peterlingen(Inns: Bär, is newer, but not better than the Hotel de Ville). There are two churches in this walled townthe one, now turned into a warehouse, is in the round style, and very ancient. Bertha, Queen of Burgundy, the founder of it, and of the adjoining convent (suppressed since the Reformation, and now a school) was buried in it. The curiosity of the place is Queen Bertha's Saddle, kept in the church, from which it appears that, in her days, it was the fashion for ladies to ride en cavalier; but Bertha spun as she rode, having a distaff planted on the pummel.

The road ascends the valley of the Broye, past Lucens and its castle, to

4 Moudon-Germ. Milden-(Inn: Cerf; dirty and dear). This town was the Roman Minidunum, hence its modern name.

At the village of Carouge a road turus off on the 1. to Vevay.

The stage to Lausanne, about 13 miles, consists of nearly 7 of long and incessant ascent, and 5 of descent. Extra horses are required for the first. From the summit and S. slope of the Jorat (for that is the name of the hill) a beautiful view expands over the Leman Lake, and in clear weather the snows of Mont Blanc and the high Alps border the horizon.

It is a drive of 3 hours from Moudon to

4 LAUSANNE (Route 56).

A distant view of the Alps is obtained on the 1. The Saarine is crossed at

23 Allenluften, and a little farther on the road enters Canton Frey burg. This part of it exhibits a more industrious and thriving aspect than the rest: it is Protestant.

2 Moral-Germ. Murten-(Inns: Couronne; Croix Blanche)-a thriving town of 1650 inhabitants, situated on the E. shore of the lake of Morat, on the high road from Berne, Basle, and Soleure, to Lausanne. Its narrow and somewhat dismal streets are overlooked by an old Castle; and it is still partly surrounded by feudal fortifications-the same which, for 10 days, withstood the artillery of Charles the Bold.

"There is a spot should not be pass'd in

vain

Morat! the proud, the patriot field! Where

man

May gaze on ghastly trophies of the slain, Nor blush for those who conquer'd on that plain.

Here Burgundy bequeathed his tombless host,

A bony heap through ages to remain ;
Themselves their monument."

Byron.

The battle of 1476, which has rendered the name of this otherwise insignificant town famous all over the world, was fought under its walls. The Swiss were drawn up along the heights a little to the S.W., and nothing could resist their impetuous charge. The loss of the Burgundians was immense: 15,000 dead bodies were left on the field, and thousands perished in the lake. The bodies of the slain were collected by the Swiss in an Ossuary, which, after standing 300 years, was destroyed in 1798 by the soldiers of the Burgundian Legion in the Revolutionary French army, anxious to efface this record of their ancestors' disgrace and defeat. The ringleaders were the band of the 75th half-brigade.

Byron, who visited the spot in 1816, says " A few bones still remain, notwithstanding the pains

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taken by the Burgundians for ages (all who passed that way removing a bone to their own country), and the less justifiable larcenies of the Swiss postilions, who carried them off to sell for knife-handles-a purpose for which the whiteness, imbibed by the bleaching of years, had rendered them in great request. Of those relics I ventured to bring away as much as may have made a quarter of a hero, for which the sole excuse is, that, if I had not, the next passer-by might have perverted them to worse uses than the careful preservation which I intended for them."-Byron.

Since Byron visited the spot the scattered remains have been collected and buried, and an obelisk has been set up over them (in 1822), by the canton, at the road-side, about a quarter of a mile S. of Morat, on the site of the bone-house. The inscription belonging to it, and one or two cannon, made of iron hoops, used in the battle, are still preserved in the Town-house of Morat.

The best view of the battle-field and lake is from the hill of Münchwyler, near an enormous lime-tree, 36ft. in circumference, and 90ft. high, still in full vigour and luxuriant foliage; it is probably at least 600 years old, since, according to tradition, the Swiss held a council of war before the battle, under its shade. According to Ebel, the tree is 36 feet in diameter, and the American, Cooper, in consequence, took a long walk up the hill, under a hot sun, to see it. "There we went, dragging our weary limbs after us, to discover that for ought to have read

diamètre' we circonférence.'

I wish the erratum had been in his book instead of mine."

The lake of Morat is about 5 miles long and 3 broad: it is separated by a narrow flat tract of land from the lake of Neuchâtel, but empties itself into it through the river Broye.

The steamer from Neuchâtel proceeds, 3 times a week, to Morat, up the Broye, returning the same days.

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About 5 miles beyond Morat is

1 Avenches-Germ. Wiflisburg -(Inns: Couronne; Hotel de Ville) an ancient walled town of 1050 inhabitants, situated in the S.W. angle of the area once occupied by Aventicum, the Roman capital of Helvetia. It appears to have existed before the time of Cæsar: it attained the height of its prosperity, and a population of 60,000 souls, in the reign of Vespasian and Titus; and it was destroyed, first by the Allemanni, and afterwards by Attila. The ancient walls may be traced for nearly 4 miles, in some places 14ft. thick and 15ft. high. The modern town fills but one-tenth of the space they enclosed-the rest is meadow-land or corn-field. About a mile before reaching Avenches the road from Morat is carried through a breach in these ancient fortifications. On the 1. is seen a tower, which, though ruined, is the most perfect of the Roman edifices here. They owe their total destruction to their massy masonry having been for ages regarded as a quarry, out of which the neighbouring houses and villages have been built. Close to the modern

town, on the 1. of the road, a solitary Corinthian column, 37ft. high, is still standing, and has, for a long time, served the storks as a pedestal to build their nests on.

"By a lone wall a lonelier column rears

A gray and grief-worn aspect of old days: "Tis the last remnant of the wreck of years,

And looks as with the wild-bewilder'd

Tacitus has recorded the history of a young Aventian priestess, named Julia Alpinula, who, when her father, the chief man of the city, had been condemned to death for aiding and abetting an insurrection against the Romans (A.D. 69), betook herself to the camp of the Roman General, and, throwing herself at his feet, besought him to spare her father's life. He proved inexorable to her tears; her youth and innocence were alike unavailing; the sentence was fulfilled, and she died of a broken heart.

1500 years after this event the epitaph of Julia was found among these ruins:-it run thus:- Julia Alpinula: Hic jaceo. Infelicis patris infelix proles. Deæ Aventiæ Sacerdos. Exorare patris necem non potui: Male mori in fatis illi erat. Vixi annos xxiii. (I, Julia Alpinula, lie hereunfortunate child of an unfortunate parent, priestess of the Goddess Aventia. I failed in averting by my prayers, the death of my father: the Fates had decreed that he should die ignominiously. I lived to the age of 23.)" Byron says

"I know of no human composition so affecting as this, nor a history of deeper interest. These are the names and actions which ought not to perish, and to which we turn with a true and healthy tenderness, from the wretched and glittering detail of a confused mass of conquests and battles, with which the

mind is roused for a time to a false and feverish sympathy, from whence it recurs at length with all the nausea consequent on such intoxication.”. Byron.

This inscription has been bought by an Englishman and removed from the spot.

The feudal Castle was built by a Count Wivilo, in the 7th century, whence the German name of Avenches.

At Domdidier, 2 miles from Avenches, a road strikes off on the right to Freyburg, described, along with its remarkable bridge, in Route 42.

2 Payerne. Here we fall into the Route 42. From Freyburg to 8 LAUSANNE. (Route 56.)

ROUTE 44.

BERNE TO NEUCHÂTEL.

9 stunden = 291 English miles. Diligences go daily in 6 hours. There is another way by Morat, and thence in the steamer to Neuchâtel; but it only goes 3 times aweek, and the days and hours must be ascertained before setting out. The following road passes by Seedorf, a village named from a pretty little lake, to

33 Aarberg-(Inn: Krone ;) town of a single street, on a promontory on the Aar, which, when high, sometimes flows entirely around it. Here the roads from Basle, Soleure, Neuchâtel, and Lausanne meet. Travellers desirous of visiting Rousseau's island, on the lake of Bienne (Route 45). may proceed from this by Walperschwyl and Teuffelen to Gerolfingen, on the margin of the lake, about 4 miles from Aarberg. The road to Neuchâtel is carried through Siselen and

2 Anet, or Ins, a village on an eminence, from which the Alps are well seen in clear weather, with the lake of Morat and Neuchâtel near at hand. The lake of Bienne lies

about 3 miles to the N. of this place. Skirting the hill of Jolimont we cross the river Thiel, or Zihl, through which the waters of the lake of Neuchâtel are discharged into that of Bienne. It forms the boundary line of Cantons Berne and Neuchâtel. The Castle, close to the bridge, is now a prison; a road runs from this to Erlach (Cerlier), a town of 1000 inhabitants, on a spur of the Jolimont, which projects into the lake like a wall or causeway, nearly as far as Rousseau's Island. The castle of Erlach was the cradle of the noble family of that name: among its members was Rudolph, the hero of Laupen.

Near St. Blaize the road, recently macadamized and improved, reaches the margin of the lake of Neuchâtel, and continues along it at the foot of the Chaumont, as far as

23 NEUCHÂTEL, German Neuenburg (Inns: Faucon, good;-H. des Alpes, at the water-side, recently built).

Neuchâtel, the chief town of the canton, is built upon the steep slope of the Jura mountains, and along a narrow shelf of level ground between the hills and the lake, partly gained by embankments from the water. Within a few years several new streets have been built on the land thus acquired. It has nearly 6000 inhabitants. Except as the threshold of Switzerland, it has little to interest the passing traveller: it has but little trade, and not much activity except on market days. Its objects of curiosity are few and unimportant, and the scenery of its lake, though agreeable, is tame, compared with that of other Swiss lakes. On the other hand, to one newly arrived in the country, the first, and under all circumstances glorious, view of the Alps from the heights of the Jura above the town, must appear magnificent; and should the sky be clear, and the traveller's temper even, the objects around will assume a different aspect, and Neuchâtel, with its picturesque old castle, its

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numerous white country houses, its vine-clad hills, and its blue expanse of lake, will be pronounced beautiful.

The Old Castle on the height, now occupied by the Prussian Governor, was originally the residence of the French princes of Neuchâtel of the house of Chalons (Longueville), who were, at least nominally, the sovereigns of this little state: literally a principality, with republican institutions, yet retaining many feudal tenures. The subjects, indeed, of the Prince of Neuchâtel, maintained jealously their privileges and liberties, allowing him but very limited authority over them. When the house of Chalons became extinct in 1707, the King of Prussia was chosen as the nearest descendant by the female line, to be sovereign, or stadtholder. The rule of the house of Brandenburg was interrupted by Napoleon, who made Marshal Berthier Prince of Neuchâtel, but has been resumed since 1815. The king has the right of appointing a governor, the mayor and 45 members out of the 75 who compose the Grand Council. Of these the governor alone is permitted to be a foreigner: 70,000 francs are paid out of the taxes annually to the King. Though long an ally of the Swiss cantons, Neuchâtel was not formally incorporated as a member of the Confederation until 1814.

The Church, adjoining the castle, is a Gothic building of the 12th century; but the E. end, in the round style, is older. Within it is a curious monument of the French princes of Neuchâtel, decorated with their ef figies. Farel, the reformer, was buried on the terrace, in front of the building, but the situation of his grave is unknown. There is a pleasing view from this terrace.

The Hotel de Ville, in the lower town, is a large modern edifice, faced with a Grecian portico. In it the meetings of the Grand Council of the canton are held.

The Gymnasium, a handsome new

building near the lake, erected by the town, as a kind of public school, contains a very interesting Museum of Natural History, including good collections in zoology, conchology, and geology. The specimens of rocks and fossils, illustrating the structure of the Jura mountains, are very complete and instructive. This institution owes much to the zeal and talents of Professor Agassiz, a native of Neuchâtel, whose interesting discoveries in the history of fossil fishes have thrown more light on that branch of the study than any one since Cuvier had done.

The charitable institutions of this town, for which it is indebted to its own citizens, are on a very splendid scale. In 1786 one David Pury left his whole fortune of 4,000,000 of livres (166,0007.), to endow an hospital and poor-house, and for other purposes connected with the improvement of his native town. He had quitted it a poor lad, without money or friends, had gradually, by industry and talent for business, increased his means, becoming, in turn, jeweller, owner of mines, banker, and, finally, millionaire, at Lisbon, where he died.

The Hospital Pourtales is a similar monument of the benevolence and public spirit of a townsman. It is open to people of all religions and countries alike.

Those who would enjoy one of the finest distant views of the Alps, with the lakes of Neuchâtel, Morat, and Bienne in the foreground, and the long range of the Jura on the N. should ascend to the summit of the Chaumont, the hill immediately above Neuchâtel. It is but an hour's walk, and a carriage-road was about to be made thither in 1837. It is 5580 feet above the sea level. The view comprehends the whole array of Alps, from the Titlis to Mont Blanc, and is said to be finer even than that from the Weissenstein. It must, however, be borne in mind, that the atmosphere is seldom perfectly clear;