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THE COUNTY OF NEUCHATEL.

bient air, are scattered on the banks of this divine moun-tain ; for not a spot, accessible to human footsteps, issuffered to lie uncultivated or uninhabited. All the vil-lages on the road from Yverdun to the capital of Neu- chatel are peculiarly striking, for the beauty of their si-tuation, the neatness of their buildings, the cleanlinessof their streets, and the politeness of the inhabitants.Added to these, the road is perfectly good, and wideenough to admit three carriages abreast.

The capital of this country, which is also called Neu- chatel , is situated in the centre of vineyards, embroi-dered plains, flowery meads, and aspiring woods, whichblend their shining foliage with the last remains ofantique towers that rise from the centre of the town;and which fancifully conceal from the eye, in differentdirections, a cascade that falls almost from the sum-mit of the Jura , step by step, and descends near theterrace, said to have been formed by Queen Bertha,wife of Rodolph the Second, King of Burgundy. Fromthis terrace, the surrounding views are uncommonlygrand, assuming new romantic shapes, bordered by dis-tant sloping banks, at the foot of rude and awful points,which penetrate the clouds; in other parts, the alternateshade of the vine is blended with the deeper tints of thebeach, the oak, and venerable fir. To crown the whole ofthis immense amphitheatre, Mount Blanc sparkles in thefirmament of ethereal blue, while the brilliant Rosa ap-