A FORTNIGHT'S BOTANIZING IN THE BERNESE OBERLAND. How beautiful the Alps looked, with the hues of evening upon them, as we drove from the railway-station at Thun to the Bellevue Hotel! and how refreshing a sight was the blue water of the deep Aar, over which we passed! I had had the rare luck of finding some cousins of mine bent on a botanizing excursion, and I easily persuaded them that Switzerland was not too exciting a journey for their intelligent children; and thus we formed one party. We had no time to look about, the first evening of our arrival; for ere we had taken the meal of tea and eggs, which we so much needed, darkness had fallen on the lovely landscape; but we were astir early in the morning, and ere I had] completed my toilette, Janet and Sarah begged admission, anxious for me to forward a scheme which they had planned. "Those two great brown mountains near us are the Niesen and the Stockborn," they said; "the white Alps are much further off. The femme de chambre says the people here are very friendly, so we may safely run about alone. Please help us to persuade papa and mamma to let us run across to the Stockhorn by ourselves." Mr. Grey assured his adventurous children that, near as the mountain appeared, it was probably two or even three miles distant; too far for little girls to wander alone; but, he said, if they would wait patiently till after breakfast, we would all go there together, and commence our collection of Swiss plants. Bell of Scotland," and they are of a delicate lilac; the stems, though scarcely less frail, grow to a greater height. On, on we went, till Mrs. Grey stopped breathless suddenly, convinced that she could not reach the mountain on foot that day. We paused to look at the landscape behind. We must have walked two miles, yet we neither seemed nearer to the Stockhorn, nor further from the Dome Church at Thun, than when we had just passed the Aar. It was our first experience of the apparent proximity of objects which the very clear atmosphere gives; and while the mother and children sat down on some stones to rest, my cousin and I again pressed forward in the vain hope of reaching the mountain, still seven miles distant. We did succeed in reaching a thick and extensive wood, and we agreed to rest there in the shade, and seek treasures for our vasculum, before attempting the ascent of the mountain. We had seen in the distant view, that the foot of the Stockhorn was clothed with trees, and we had no doubt at all that those trees and this wood were identical. "You may go and explore a little, while I rest," I said. "When you return with a report of the road, I will decide whether I have still strength to climb." Meanwhile, I did a little quiet botanizing. The broad leaves of the lily-of-the-valley were there in abundance; the berries plentiful, where the fragrant flowers had been, and already We paused in the town, to fit ourselves with assuming a red tinge. Another plant of similar Swiss shoes tying high over the instep, and thus habit grew in large plots; two broad leaves affording great support to the foot while leaving springing from about the centre of the stem, it sufficient play; then crossing the bridge over and surmounted by a spike of small scentless the Aar, we entered on a sandy plain, used by star-shaped flowers; the corolla cut into six the troops for military exercises. The children segments, and the six stamens, together with the were delighted with the beauty of the Salvia linear venation of the leaves, proving its growing on the roadsides, its blooms as large relationship to our old favourite. I found afterand its colour as intense as in our favourite blue wards that the plant was called Convallaria Salvia of the greenhouse, though of lower bifolia. Another plant, with leaves of similar stature; and we were well pleased with so hand- venation and irregular flowers, grew singly some a specimen to begin our Hortus siccus, under the beech trees. There were many The common Centaury was there too, thriving blossoms on the spike, two upper white petals the best where here and there a few low bushes forming a kind of hood, and concealing the were clustered together; its numerous rose-germen, upon which the parts of fructification coloured stars, with the fine golden stamens, were situated. It was of stately growth; but looking the picture of cheerful contentment. the peculiarity of the germen proved it to belong Among the scanty herbage grew a dwarf-variety to the orchideous group, and I had decided it to of the Campanula glomerata: it was almost be the Epipactus grandiflora, before Mr. Grey stemless, and the cluster of large upright bells returned." seemed to rise from the root. Beyond, where the ground was less hard and parched, the elegant Campanula rapunculus shook its mute bells in every breeze: this was our first introduction to it; but afterwards we recognized it in every grove-border we examined in the Oberland. It has larger flowers than the "Blue I ever saw," was his greeting. "Valley! I thought we were upon the foot of a mountain." He laughed. "The mountain is still miles off, and you have walked far enough. The valley is attain able. Try it." He led me down a steep and difficult descent, and across a gurgling brook: the trees no longer overshadowed the herbage, and the display of flowers was continuous. I gathered a handful of the spikes of the Pyrola rotundifolia, its white wax-like bells reminding me of those of the lily-of-the-valley, while the cluster of round glossy leaves near the root made it easy of recognition. A few belated blooms of the purple Scilla bifolia were there, contrasting well with the white Pyrola; and there were butterfly orchises, fragrant as in our English fields, and the crimson marsh Lousewort, and, most attractive of all, feathery tufts of the highly scented Dianthus plumosa. The blossoms of this elegant wild pink are of a delicate lilac, the petals torn and jagged like those of the ragged-robin. The Dianthus armeria, or wild clove, we found on the rocky banks between the brook and the wood, and while climbing in pursuit of it we regained the shelter of the trees. Here we roamed awhile, cutting spikes of the variegated Epipactus latifolia, clusters of the Pulmonaria officinalis, with its spotted leaves, so familiar as a denizen of old-fashioned gardens and shrubberies. In the highest part of the wood, under the beech trees we found a lesser Pyrola: both the leaves and the petals were pointed in this species, and the latter were tinged with green. It was the Pyrola secunda, an inhabitant of our Scotch woods, as well as of these lovely Swiss ones. Near it grew abundance of the herb Paris, or true-love, its quartette of leaves surmounted by a large ominous-looking berry, like a black cherry. Emerging from the wood, we passed through some brush wood, amongst which the stately spikes of the crimson Epilobium angustifolium, and those of the blue Aconitum napellus, or Monkshood, were towering; branches of these completed our collection, and we returned horne well pleased with our first day's harvest. The morrow was as glorious as that first day had been, but we were no longer sanguine about distances, or over-confident of our walking powers; so we were glad to avail ourselves of the aid of the steam-boat, and were soon steam. ing along the lovely Lake of Thun. We greatly enjoyed the views on every side, the hills with their chateaux and villages, their woods and meadows, all mirrored in the calm waters of the lake, while the tinkling of the goat-bells gave life to the quiet scene. On reaching the other end of the lake, we were sorry to have to exchange the boat for a rickety carriage; but the beauty of Interlacken, with its picturesque houses, and mills, and waterfalls, made us forget our regrets; and as we entered the valley of Lauterbrunnen we had no thought but of exulting admiration. It is fitly termed the valley of many streams," for waterfalls gush from the rocks on either hand every few hundred yards. The road was half-formed of bridges under which brawling waters dashed to join the rapid stream which bounded along, over rock and boulder, fed by the glaciers of mountains, and hurrying in mad haste along the centre of the valley, to pour its waters into the lake. On either side, the hills rose high and precipitous, the exposed surface of the rocks showing clearly-defined strata, some level and regular as a pile of books upon a table, and some tossed into every variety of confused angle. Masses of rock rose by the wayside, adorned with all manner of flowers, and the Voiturier seemed to think us the most tiresome party he had ever had to deal with, so often did we require him to check the mad career of his horses, that we might descend from the carriage and collect the flowers. Here was the Saxifraga aizoides, with its yellow starlike blossoms all spotted with crimson; and a tall cream coloured Sedum, with powdery serrated overlapping leaves, and large handsome clusters of flowers. The cruciform blossoms of the innocent Lepidium alpinum bloomed on those isolated rocks, and the two Aspleniums, Ruta muraria and Trichomanes, were there too. When we came in sight of the veil of foam characterising the wonderful Staubach, we dismissed our carriage, and established ourselves, with our basket of refreshments, in a little wood under the rocks from which the cascade falls. It was scarcely noon, so the sun had not left that side of the valley, but still looked upon the sheet of foam, painting it with rainbow colours. Near the waterfall, and within reach of its spray, a quantity of the Impatiens noli me tangere, or Touch-me-not, was growing. The pairs of yellow flowers, with their long spurs and crimson dots, are shaped much like those of their near relations the single balsams of cottage windows: but in the wild species the flowerstalk is long and slender, and the stem repeatedly branched, so that it has none of the stiffness of the cultivated plant. The name "Touch-me-not" is given because of the ease with which the ripe seed-pods explode, if touched ever so lightly; a peculiarity of habit which afforded great amusement to the children. The plant is of a very perishable nature, and of all the specimens which we gathered that day only the one which Mrs. Grey placed within the pages of her sketchbook was fit for the herbarium: all the rest not only turned black, but withered up out of all shape. Rambling about amid brushwood and pasture we found the handsome labiate flowers of the Melittis melissophyllum, cream-coloured and blotched with rose; and a beautiful yellow species of Monkshood, more irregular and graceful in its manner of growth than its stately brother; but, at the same time, more poisonous. A gun was fired in the distance by some chainois hunter, and the echoes rang from rock to rock, repeated and again repeated more and more faintly, until we could have imagined it a running fire from a retreating body of insurgents. A lad with a long horn played the "Ranz des Vaches" for our edification, and the prolonged note sounded very plaintive in its echoes. English tourists cannot fail to be reminded by liar: two of the sepals, or calyx leaves, are it of the inexhaustible fun and wit of poor coloured, and resemble wings; so that, at first Albert Smith: "A simple thing, but it pleases!" sight, you take it for a papilionaceous flower. In As we returned along the lake, the beauty of the evergreen species these wings are orange, the landscape was enhanced by the rays of the while the three petals are white. The pecusetting sun, shedding a golden glory on the liarity is less remarkable in our wild polygala, lake and its western banks, while the eastern because both the wings and petals are purple. were plunged into deeper shade. A few minutes Beyond the wood grew the mountain cudweed more and that glory had faded; the Bridegroom in abundance, its male and female flowers on Sun had run his course, and was sinking to different plants; the former beautifully tinged rest, leaving a rosy blush upon the white-robed with pink, with which the deep blue heads of mountains, where his last kiss had rested. the Phyteuma glomerata formed a lovely contrast. The third day was dedicated to the Niesen. No longer deceived by the clear atmosphere we prepared for a distant excursion, and travelled to the mountain's foot in a carriage. The road thither passed by the side of a kind of delta, formed by the embouchure of the river Kander. From the carriage I noted a very peculiar looking flower, and eagerly called a halt. At first sight it was like a white scabious, tinted with pink; but on closer examination I found that it was an umbelliferous plant, the numerous florets on stalks so short that they were imperceptible from above, and the large sepals of the involucre coloured with pink, and protruding beyond the cluster of florets; so that it seemed like a composite flower with white centre and blush-coloured circumference. This was the rare Astrantia major, a great treasure, and I was very triumphant over my discovery. We commenced the ascent of the mountain very bravely, asking no aid but that of our alpenstocks for the first part of the journey. The ground was very swampy in places, and the white Pinguicula alpina, the Pedicularis palustris, the Primula farinosa, the wood Equisetum, and the frail blossoms of the trailing cranberry adorned the emerald patches round the springs. The upward road became steep, but was still wooded; and, as from time to time we halted to take breath, the views became more and more charming. A little translucent pool seemed to nourish mosses beneath its waters, as well as on its margin; but when Mr. Grey took some of the submerged moss in his hand, it slipped through his fingers, as if it were a handful of minute fishes. He then had recourse to a little tin which he carried in his vasculum: the weed caught in this, and then, spread on paper, proved to be one of those exquisite fresh-water algæ, which look like strings of tiny beads, or, under the microscope, of hairy balls; its hue was olive-green shading to purple, and its scientific name takes up more room than the plant itself would do, Batrochospermum moniliforme. Another such plant we secured in a similar situation: it looked like a pale-green film; but when spread exhibited threads and branches formed of most delicate articulations; this was the Draparnaldia glomerata. Higher still we came upon a stunted wood, where the dwarf willow (Salix reticulata) covered the ground, mingling its branches with the miniature evergreen Polygala chamoebuxus, the summits of which were adorned with abundance of bloom. The flowers of this plant are pecu Mrs. Grey and the children took up their post on some heaps of branches lying near, unable for further climbing, and my cousin and I continued the ascent. Here and there we came on plots of low verdure, where exquisite Alpine plants of minute size were blooming. Mr. Grey cut a sod out, covered with the pink blooms of the moss campion, and he added to that lovely specimens of our familiar friend the Gentiana acaulis, and the.equally brilliant Gentiana verna. There, trembling in the mountainbreeze, were the frail clusters of the lilac primula, and those of the sister-plant, the yellow Auricula. I was glad now to leave the collecting to him, as I needed all my own powers to continue the ascent over the steep, stony mountainside, and I should often have fallen but for his aid. But the view from the summit repaid all the labour of the ascent. To the back the giant Alps stood in a semicircle, peak towering above peak; while before us lay the richly-varied bill and dale of the Oberland, the Lakes of Thun and Brienz, reposing in the lap of dark woods, and mirroring many a picturesque hamlet and mansion. The only addition which we made to our group of plants in returning was the Spiraa salicifolia, which we found growing freely, in little groves at the mountain's foot, every bush covered with the corymbs of roseaceous blooms, and presenting a very gay appearance. We had endured so much fatigue in our expedition to the Niesen, that we resolved to keep in the immediate neighbourhood of Thun on the Saturday, limiting our ambition to a visit to a beautiful waterfall called the "Cholera chute," which we were assured was but half a mile distant, yet so difficult of approach that few tourists could ever attain a sight of it. Passing through the hotel pleasure-grounds, culling as we went the wild pinks fringing the border of the forest, we entered a wood forming part of the grounds of a neighbouring chateau. Here we found quantities of the Astragalus glabra, or wild liquorice, and the children soon showed their preference for the sweet-flavoured stems rather than the clusters of cream-coloured papilionaceous flowers. Further on, the path lay through rich meadows, and gradually led us to the margin of a brawling stream, there ceasing altogether. This we understood to be the point at which the enterprize of most tourists gave way, and indeed further efforts seemed puzzling enough. The roar of water testified the proximity of the Chûte, but rocks of immense height shut in the stream on the near side, and the boulders, against | but a slight shower startled us, and fearing more which the waters dashed and foamed, were too rain we took shelter under the awning of the far apart to serve well as stepping-stones. Still boat. All being bright and clear again, we we resolved to try, and by dint of some daring rambled up and down, enjoying the beauty of springs we reached the other side, and scram- the scene, listening to the plash of the water, bled 40 yards nearer to the Chûte. But, alas! and seeking wild-flowers. The Geranium sanhere the rocks forbad further progress, only now guineum was growing luxuriantly from crevices they allowed a passage on the other side. We in the rocks, displaying its round crimson blos must cross again; and I was the more ready to som in profusion; the golden stars of the Alpine do so, seeing rare plants growing on the oppo- hawkweed mingled among these, and above site rocks. But this time I was not lucky: a them flourished the much-coveted Alpine rose, slippery stone played me false, and I found my- Rhododendron hirsutum, which, being generally self in two feet of water! My feet being now found at greater elevations, is worn in hat or beyond further danger, I walked backwards and coat by tourists, as a testimonial of good climbforwards at pleasure, securing abundance of the | ing. rosemary-leaved willow-herb, with its delicate pink blooms, and beautiful plants of orange saxifrage, and enjoying to the full the rare sight of the splendid waterfall. The good natured femme-de-chambre brought me white lily leaves steeped in brandy, to apply to my bruised ankle; but I quieted the solicitude of my cousins by the assurance that the repose of the Sunday would entirely cure it. When Mr. Grey and the children returned from a stroll on the Sunday evening, they were eager to relate a story they had picked up from some French-speaking peasants. The substance of it was, that a certain St. Beatus, armed with a divine cominission to evange- | lize the people, had taken up his abode, once upon a time, in a cave among the rocks, to the left of the lake. Finding that a dragon was already in possession of this cave, the Saint wrote him a civil, but somewhat peremptory letter, requiring him to quit the neighbourhood, and the obliging dragon at once acquiesced. The saint was fed by miracle: a fountain of water bubbled up in the cave on purpose for him, and he sailed hither and thither on the lake in a boat formed of his own mantle. "Do let us go to the cave to-morrow!" exclaimed the children; "a boat will take us to the Nez, and the cave is very near; it will be a nice easy excursion for cousin's lame ankle." I assured them that my ankle would be quite fit for regular service by the morrow; but as we might just as well seek flowers amongst the rocks and woods of the promontory called the Nez as elsewhere, it was resolved to humour the children's fancy, and go there the next day. But, alas! the morning brought a thick fog, rain followed, and the lake looked dark and ruffled the children cried outright; but when at noon the weather cleared, they again became cheerful. Judging from experience of English weather we thought the change promising, and sent to engage the boat. Some time was expended in preparations, but all was ready at last, and the rowers pulled along the lake. Wind and stream were both against us, and the latter was very strong, owing to the rain having swollen the mountain torrents. Thus it happened that four hours were expended on what generally occupies only two, and it was o'clock when we landed on the Nez. We spread our provisions on a rock and proceeded to dine; "But where is the cave?" asked the children; and we all took up the query-" Where is the cave?" We plunged deeper into the wood to seek it, taking paths the steep nature of which showed that we were progressing toward thehighground. We found two rare and lovely plants—the Cyclamen, with its variegated leaves, and the orchideous wonder, the Lady's Slipper (Ciripedium calceolus). Still seeking at once the cave and the flowers, we came upon thriving plants of Alchemilla alpina, its silver-lined leaves quite eclipsing in beauty the panicles of insignificant greenish flowers. There were abundance of hepatica leaves, but the pink and blue flowers had faded long ago, almost as early as they had disappeared from our gardens. Still we found no cave. 66 At last we decided upon a plan which we Mr. Grey grew uneasy-"How far is it now, 'Only half-an-hour," was our guide's reply. Still pursuing our route as rapidly as possible, we became aware that the light was waning, and a peal of distant thunder brought us to a sudden halt. The boy still said the cave was halfan-hour's walk off; so we agreed to give up the pursuit, and return with all speed to the boat, hoping so to escape a wetting. We ran along the stony path, ever urged forward by Mr. Grey, who brought up the rear, with the cry, 5"Run, run, for the rain is coming!" And it did come, in an even, down, tremendous pour; but we had almost reached the boat, and we re 1 |