not. Came
to the Reichenbach waterfall, two hundred feet high; halted to rest the
horses. Arrived in the valley of Overland; rain came on; drenched a
little; only four hours' rain, however, in eight days. Came to the lake
of Brientz, then to the town of Brientz; changed. In the evening, four
Swiss peasant girls of Oberhasli came and sang the airs of their
country; two of the voices beautiful--the tunes also: so wild and
original, and at the same time of great sweetness. The singing is over;
but below stairs I hear the notes of a fiddle, which bode no good to my
night's rest; I shall go down and see the dancing.

"September 25.

"The whole town of Brientz were apparently gathered together in the
rooms below; pretty music and excellent waltzing; none but peasants; the
dancing much better than in England; the English can't waltz, never
could, never will. One man with his pipe in his mouth, but danced as
well as the others; some other dances in pairs and in fours, and very
good. I went to bed, but the revelry continued below late and early.
Brientz but a village. Rose early. Embarked on the lake of Brientz,
rowed by the women in a long boat; presently we put to shore, and
another woman jumped in. It seems it is the custom here for the boats to
be _manned_ by _women_: for of five men and three women in our bark, all
the women took an oar, and but one man.

"Got to Interlachen in three hours; pretty lake; not so large as that of
Thoun. Dined at Interlachen. Girl gave me some flowers, and made me a
speech in German, of which I know nothing; I do not know whether the
speech was pretty, but as the woman was, I hope so. Re-embarked on the
lake of Thoun; fell asleep part of the way; sent our horses round;
found people on the shore, blowing up a rock with gunpowder; they blew
it up near our boat, only telling us a minute before;--mere stupidity,
but they might have broken our noddles. Got to Thoun in the evening; the
weather has been tolerable the whole day. But as the wild part of our
tour is finished, it don't matter to us; in all the desirable part, we
have been most lucky in warmth and clearness of atmosphere.

"September 26.

"Being out of the mountains, my journal must be as flat as my journey.
From Thoun to Berne, good road, hedges, villages, industry, property,
and all sorts of tokens of insipid civilisation. From Berne to Fribourg;
different canton; Catholics; passed a field of battle; Swiss beat the
French in on