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they can, also, make up a few beds; a house for the servants, and a little church for theEnglish , all situate in a beautiful garden, on the slope of a hill, on the banks of the Aar,just after it issues from the lake. Nowhere did we meet with greater attention tocleanliness and comfort. M. Knechtenhofer, the host, is the proprietor of the two steam-boats which run to Neuhaus and hack every day during the summer.
The day on which we entered one of them was cloudless and extremely hot, hut on thewater was to be enjoyed a delightful breeze. On the left of the lake is the grotto ofSt. Beatus, the view from the entrance of which is one of great extent and richness.The legend describes the cave as the retreat of a dragon which the saint expelled, andhere he ministered to those who gathered around him. Two distinct compartments dividethe grotto ; the lower, which is very curious, has a carpet of ivy. The rocks, in severalplaces, are hollowed into chamber-like caverns, and the greatest length of the cave is littleless than seven hundred feet. It opens on a natural reservoir, from which the Beaten-bach rises ; and, descending, presents to the gratified eyes of the spectator, a small, hutpicturesque cascade. The scenery throughout the trip was exceedingly pleasing ; on thesouthern side of the lake are some handsome villas, backed by dark mountains ; and onthe northern side, the mountains rise from the edge of the water, which reflects themlike a mirror. The passage occupies about an hour and half. Neuhaus is merely a littleinn, erected at the point where the passengers land ; it presents, however, a bustlingscene from the number of vehicles and drivers, guides and porters, all waiting to conducttravellers to Interlachen and other parts of the Obcrland, to which this place is a sort ofentrance.
A far different spectacle is sometimes presented by this now tranquil mass of waters.As the tourist skims over its surface, admiring, perhaps, the ruins which adorn the banksof the lake, the sky is becoming obscured; and the clouds, gradually descending, unveilthe white summits of the Jungfrau and the Blumlis Alp. Then, stretching themselvesover the chain of mountains which forms the foreground of the landscape, and assumingthe strangest forms, the magnificent pyramidal Niesen appears towering among them.And now a kind of visible bise, which seems to graze the ground, comes from the valleywith an absolutely startling rapidity. It is the snowy dust from the mountain-tops thatrenders it so visible—the immediate precursor of a tremendous storm. The boatmen,well knowing these presages, put forth their utmost energy, and seek a shelter behind therocks. Rain is rapidly descending ; the wind is gaining on the voyagers ; and it announcesits approach by the shrill whistlings of its first blasts, laden with snow.—The threatenedstorm has come, and the little ocean has ever}' aspect of a tempest. We wish those whoencounter it a safe and happy escape.