George; "that is the state of the case, exactly."

"Then I think we had better go by the boat," said Rollo; "for I would
rather see the mountains."

"So would I," rejoined Mr. George. "Besides, there will be plenty of
occasions on which we shall be obliged to go by land; therefore we had
better go by water when we can, in order to have a variety. And, if we
are going in the steamer, we must go back to the hotel; for it is almost
time for the steamer to sail."

So Mr. George led the way, and Rollo followed, down the path by which
they had come up. As they thus walked down they continued the
conversation which they had commenced in the pavilion.

"What shall we come to when we get to the end of the lake?" asked Rollo.
"Does the lake reach to the end of the valley?"

"No," said Mr. George. "The valley is about fifty miles long, I suppose,
and this lake is only about fifteen miles long; but there is another in
the same valley a little farther on. The valley is the valley of the
Aar. That is the name of the stream which flows through it. It is one of
the most remarkable valleys in Switzerland. I have been studying it in
the guide book and on the map. It is about fifty miles long, and it
winds in a serpentine manner between two lofty ranges of mountains, so
steep and high that it is not possible to make any road over them."

"None at all?" asked Rollo.

"No," replied Mr. George. "They cannot make any road--nothing but bridle
paths. The mountains, too, that border the valley along the sides close
across at the head of it; so that if you go up the valley at all you
cannot get out of it without climbing over the mountains; unless,
indeed, you are willing to come back the same way that you went."

"I would rather climb over the mountains," said Rollo.

"So would I," said Mr. George. "The beginning of this valley," continued
Mr. George "is in the very heart of the most mountainous part of
Switzerland, and the River Aar commences there in prodigious cascades
and waterfalls, which come down over the cliffs and precipices or gush
out from enormous crevices and chasms, and make quite a river at the
very beginning."

"Can we go there and see them?" said Rollo.

"Yes," replied Mr. George; "I mean to go and see them. The place is
called Meyringen. The cascades and waterfalls at Meyringen are
wonderful. One of them, the guide book says, makes dreadful work in
times of flood. It comes out from a great chasm in the rocks in the