ption of Mont Blanc, Rigi is, perhaps,
the best known of any peak in the Alps, though it is by no means the
highest, its summit being but 5,905 feet above the level of the sea.
Although scarcely more than a third of the height of some other
mountains in the Alps, it seems much higher because of its isolated
position. Standing as it does between lakes Lucerne, Zug, and Lowertz,
it commands a series of fine views in every direction, and he who looks
from the summit of Rigi, if he does no other traveling in Switzerland,
can gain a fair idea of the Swiss mountain scenery. Many of the most
noted peaks are in sight, and from the Rigi can be seen the three lakes
beneath, the villages which here and there dot the shores, and, further
on, the mighty Alps, with their glaciers and eternal snows.

Many years ago a hotel was built on the summit of the Rigi for the
benefit of the tourists who daily flocked to this remarkable peak to
enjoy the benefit of its wonderful scenery. The mountain is densely
wooded save where the trees have been cut away to clear the land for
pastures. The ease of its ascent by the six or eight mule paths which
had been made, the gradual and almost regular slope, and the throngs of
travelers who resorted to it, made it a favorable place for an
experiment, and to Rigi went the engineers in order to ascertain the
practicability of such a road. The credit of the designs is due to a
German engineer named Regenbach, who, about the year 1861, designed the
idea of a mountain road, and drew up plans not only for the bed but also
for the engine and cars. The scheme dragged. Capitalists were slow to
invest their money in what they deemed a wild and impracticable
undertaking, and even the owners of the land on the Rigi were reluctant
for such an experiment to be tried. But Regenbach persevered, and toward
the close of the decade the inhabitants of Vitznau, at the base of the
Rigi, were astonished to see gangs of laborers begin the work of making
a clearing through the forests on the mountain slope. They inquired what
it meant, and were told that a road up the Rigi was to be made. The
Vitznauers were delighted, for they had no roads, and there was not a
wheeled vehicle in the town, nor a highway by which it could be brought
thither. The idea of a railroad in their desolate mountain region, and,
above all, a railroad up the Rigi, never entered their heads, and a
report which some time after obtained currency in the town, t