PLAN OF THE HAND-BOOK. ABBREVIATIONS, &c. The points of the Compass are often marked simply by the letters N. S. E. W. (rt.) right, (7.) left, applied to the banks of a river. The right bank is that which lies on the right hand of a person whose back is turned towards the source, or the quarter from which the current descends. Miles.-Distances are always reduced to English miles, except when foreign miles are expressly mentioned. The names of Inns precede the description of every place, (often in a parenthesis,) because the first information needed by a traveller is where to lodge. Instead of designating a town by the vague words "large" or "small," the amount of the population, according to the latest census, is almost invariably stated, as presenting a more exact scale of the importance and size of the place. In order to avoid repetition, the Routes are preceded by a chapter of preliminary information; and, to facilitate reference to it, each division or paragraph is separately numbered. Each Route is numbered with Arabic figures, corresponding with the figures attached to the Route on the Map, which thus serves as an Index to the Book; at the same time that it presents a tolerably exact view of the great high-roads of Europe, and of the course of public conveyances. The Map is to be placed at the end of the Book. The View of the Bernese Alps to face page 1. **The Coats of Arms on the cover are those of the 22 Cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. In preparation, A HAND-BOOK FOR TRAVELLERS IN FRANCE; Post 8vo. A HAND-BOOK FOR TRAVELLERS IN NORTHERN ITALY; A HAND-BOOK FOR TRAVELLERS IN DENMARK, NORWAY, SWEDEN, AND RUSSIA; Post 8vo. SECTION I, SWITZERLAND. ROUTE 1. BASLE TO BIENNE AND BERN BY THE VAL MOUTIERS (MÜNSTER THAL), WITH EXCURSION TO THE WEISSEN- BASLE, or Bâle. (Germ. Basel, Ital. Basilea.)-Inns: Drei Könige (Three Kings), well situated, overlooking the Rhine, which washes its walls a good inn, but expensive; dinner at the table d'hôte, 3 fr. at 1 o'clock-4 fr. at 5 o'clock-in private, 6 fr.;-the Stork (Cigogne), good;-Krone (Crown) ; Kopf (Tête d'Or). Basle, capital of the now subdivided canton called Basle-town, is situated on the Rhine, and the larger portion lies on the 1. bank, which is connected with the rt. by a bridge of wood, partly supported on stone piers. The territory of the town extends for about 4 miles on the rt. side of the river. It has 21,240 inhab., and it enjoys considerable prosperity from the residence of many rich merchants, bankers, and families of ancient descent, and from its position in an angle on the frontiers of France, Germany, and Switzerland, about a mile below the spot where the Rhine first becomes navigable. It has some manufactures, of which the most important are those of ribands and paper. English travellers have hitherto been too much in the habit of considering Basle merely as a halting-place for the night, which they quit as soon as they are furnished with horses; yet its situation on high, sloping banks, overlooking the Rhine, which rushes past in a full broad flood of a clear, light green, bounded by the hills of the Black Forest on the one side, of the Jura on the other-but, above all, its Minster, and its Gallery of the Works of Holbein, deserve some attention. It must be remembered that Basle, though politically a portion of the Swiss Confederation, is yet, historically, a part of Suabia, and that it retains many of the characteristics of an imperial free town more distinctly than many of those which have continued German, and have become incorporated in modern sovereignties. The Cathedral, or Münster, on the high bank on the 1. of the Rhine, above the bridge, distinguished by its two spires, and the deep-red colour of the sandstone of which it is built, is an interesting and picturesque edifice, though not of beautiful architecture. It was begun by the emperor Henry II. in 1010, and consecrated 1019: the choir, the lower part of the E. end, and the crypt beneath, are of this period, and exhibit a style of ornament widely different from what is usually termed Saxon or Norman. The 4 columns, formed of groups of detached pillars, with singular and grotesque capitals; the tomb of the empress Anne, wife of Rudolph of Habsburg, and mother of the line of Austrian princes, whose body was removed to St. Blaize in R 2 Route 1.-Basle-Minster-Holbein. 1770; a stone font, date 1465; are worth notice in this part of the building. So likewise is the portal of St. Gallus, leading into the N. transept, and decorated with statues of Christ and St. Peter, and of the wise and foolish virgins. In the W. front are groups of statues: St. George and the Dragon, and St. Martin and the Beggar, stand forth with great boldness. The church is used now for the Protestant service, and the altar stands between the choir and nave, nearly underneath a rich Gothic gallery or rood-loft (date 1381). On the l. of the altar, against a pillar, is the red marble tombstone of Erasmus, who died here in 1536. A staircase, leading out of the choir, conducts into a small apartmentthe Chapter House, or Conciliums Saal-in which some of the meetings of the Council of Basle, or rather of its committees, were held between 1436 and 1444. It is a low room, with four Gothic windows-distin guished not only in an historical point of view, but also as being quite unaltered since the day of the Council. On the S. side of the choir are situated the very extensive and picturesque Cloisters-a succession of quadrangles and open halls— which, with the space they inclose, still serve, as they have done for centuries, as a burial-place, and are filled with tombs. Within them are the monuments of the 3 Reformers, Ecolampadius,Grynaeus, and Meyer. They were constructed in the 14th century, and extend to the verge of the hill overlooking the river. It is not unlikely they may have been the favourite resort of Erasmus. Behind the Minster is a Terrace, called Die Pfalz, nearly 60 ft. above the river, planted with 10 chesnut trees, and commanding a beautiful view over the Rhine, the town, and the Black Forest hills. Close to it is the Club called Cassino, containing a reading-room, &c. The Minster is situated in a square of considerable size-in one corner of which, in a recess, stands the Public Library, containing 50,000 volumes-among them, the Acts of the Council of Bâle, 3 vols., with chains attached to the binding, many very important MSS., of which there is a good catalogue, and a few of the books of Erasmus; also, a copy of his "Praise of Folly," with marginal illustrations by the pen of Holbein. There are autographs of Luther, Melancthon, Erasmus, and Zuinglius. On the ground-floor is the Gallery of Paintings and Drawings by the younger Holbein-a highly interesting collection of the works of that master, including the Passion of Christ, in 8 compartments; a dead Christ-both formerly in the Minster; Holbein's Wife and Children, with countenances full of grief and misery; portraits of Erasmus, of Froben the printer-excellent; of a Mlle. von Offenburg-twice repeated; two representations of a School, painted by the artist at the age of 14, and hung up as a sign over a schoolmaster's door in the town of Basle. Among the drawings are Holbein's own portrait-a work of the highest excellence; heads of the family Meyer, sketched for the celebrated picture now in the Dresden Gallery; original sketch for the famous picture of the family of Sir Thomas More-the names of the different personages are written on their dresses; 5 sketches for the frescoes which formerly decorated the Rathhaus in Basle, with one or two fragments of the frescoes themselves; sketches in ink for glass windows, for the sheaths of daggers, for the organ in the Minster; the Costumes of Basle, &c. &c. Here. are also preserved some fresco fragments of the original Dance of Death, which once adorned the walls of the Dominican Church in Basle, and a set of coloured drawings of the whole series of figures. The Dance of Death has been attributed without cause to Holbein, since it existed at the time of the Council of Basle, at |