"vast, rather than fine" though parts
had "the charm of quaintness." The "picturesque tower" was noted, adding
"but the finest thing certainly is the view from the garden-terrace
above." Below it, unrolls miles of the beautiful Neckar valley country,
through which they drove to Ludwigsburg and on to Stuttgart. Beyond,
appeared a distant view of "a noble ruin" crowning a conical eminence.
This was the Castle of Hohenzollern, "the cradle of the House of
Brandenburg" to which a thunderstorm prevented their intended visit.

[Illustration: HEIDELBERG AND CASTLE.]

Returning to a vale of Wurtemberg they saw "a little rivulet" which
began the mighty Danube stream on its way to the Black Sea, and drove up
to the inn at Tuttlingen, of which point Cooper wrote: "This is the
Black Forest,--The wood was chiefly of larches, whence I presume its
name." Warned by their host-postmaster of a long climb of mountain
separating the Rhine and Danube rivers, in a coach and six they left
him for Schaffhausen and the Rhine Falls. The mountain crest gave them a
sweeping view of Lake Constance when its waters looked "dark and wild"
wrote Cooper, adding, "we suddenly plunged down to the banks of the
Rhine and found ourselves once more before an inn-door, in Switzerland."
So in the late summer of this year their second visit was made to the
land of Lake Leman, whose waters are overshadowed by noble mountains;
and its surface broad, tranquil, and blue. Enchanting distance made a
fairy air-castle of a tiny chateau on a little grassy knoll washed by
the lake, but a near view decided the family "to take refuge in a
furnished house, _Mon Repose_," in a retired corner quite near the
shore at Vevay.

[Illustration: VEVAY SHORES OF LAKE LEMAN.]

A boat, with honest John Descloux and his two crooked oars, was soon
secured, and many an hour was spent listening to his lore of Leman, as
they floated their several hours a day over its waters, under fair skies
and foul.

[Illustration: FETE DES VIGNERONS, 1833.]

During this Switzerland vacation Cooper's fancy was strongly attracted
by Vevay's celebration of an old-time festival, _abbaye des Vignerons_,
or great holiday of the vine-dressers. It was "a gay and motley scene,
blending the harvest-home with a dash of the carnival spirit." Shepherds
and shepherdesses in holiday attire and garlands, tripping the measures
of rustic song and dance. Aproned gardeners with rake and spade, their
sweethearts with br