PEEPS AT MANY LANDS SWITZERLAND by JOHN FINNEMORE CONTENTS Chapter I. THE PLAYGROUND OF EUROPE Chapter II. A SUMMER ON AN ALP Chapter III. A SWISS PEASANT HOME Chapter IV ALONG LAKE LEMAN Chapter V. THE LAKE OF THE FOUR CANTONS Chapter VI. THE STORY OF WILLIAM TELL Chapter VII. THREE FAMOUS BATTLES Chapter VIII. THE LITTLE HERO OF LUCERNE Chapter IX THE MEN OF SOLEURE : ARNOLD OF WINKELRIED Chapter X. THE AVALANCHE—I Chapter XI. THE AVALANCHE—II Chapter XII. A DRIVE OVER A SWISS PASS IN WINTER Chapter XIII. A CLIMB UP A SWISS MOUNTAIN—I Chapter XIV. A CLIMB UP A SWISS MOUNTAIN—II Chapter XV. A CLIMB UP A SWISS MOUNTAIN—III Chapter XVI. PEAKS AND PASSES Chapter XVII. SWISS SPORTS—I Chapter XVIII. SWISS SPORTS—II Chapter XIX. THE CHAMOIS Chapter XX. STORIES OF CHAMOIS-HUNTING Chapter XXI. THE FÖHN Chapter I. THE PLAYGROUND OF EUROPE SWITZERLAND has been called by a famous writer "the playground of Europe." This is because people from all nations love to go to that little land in the centre of the Continent to spend their holidays, and to enjoy themselves in different ways. In a playground there are those who like to look on, and there are those who love to play hard and follow up every game with all their skill and strength. It is just the same in Switzerland. Some merely look from the distance at the white heads of the great mountains to be found there; others love to climb to the tops of the snowy peaks, braving discomfort, danger, and sometimes death, in order to reach those far-off summits. It is the presence of the great mountain-chain of the Alps which gives Switzerland its greatest charm. Many of the immense heights rise above the line of perpetual snow, and winter reigns on their crowns while summer is hot in the valleys below. Among these great hills is to be found some of the noblest scenery in the world : huge craggy cliffs overhanging lovely vales, where lakes, as blue as the sky, are fed by a thousand streams which leap down the hill-sides. The snow-covered heights are majestic in their splendour, and never more so than when the day is dying, and every peak glows rosy pink in the light of the sunset. It is this wonderful beauty of their land which forms the wealth of the Swiss. They are thrifty, hardworking people, and make the utmost of what lies to their hands. Their workmen are skilful and industrious ; their farmers till every inch of the soil which can be tilled, and win crops of hay from places where one would think none but a goat could climb. But for all that, they would be much worse off were it not for the stream of gold which flows steadily from the pocket of the foreigner. A great part of the land consists of barren rock and snow-covered mountain, yielding nothing to farmer or herdsman. But the tourist comes from afar to look upon or climb among those lofty slopes, and hotels have sprung up in every corner of the land to afford him shelter and comfort. And in the owning and managing of these hotels much work is found for many people—and very profitable work, too. It has been said that the Swiss host is a man who has "seasons to sell." This is quite true, and many a Swiss hotel-keeper can give you a choice of seasons on a summer's day. He has one hotel in the valley. Here it is full summer. The grapes are ripening on the trellises ; the heat is so fierce that shade is a necessity, and the village sleeps at midday in a sunny stillness, for it is too hot to move about. A few thousand feet up he has another hotel, perhaps set near a broad sweep of Alpine meadow, where flowers are blooming in vast sheets of rich colour, and the air is sweet and fresh, and sharp at morning and evening. The season is spring, and summer has been left in the valley. Higher again stands a small hotel to accommodate climbers and those who wish for a nearer view of the ice-world of the upper Alps. Here a short journey carries one into a winter-land of frost and snow, of glaciers with