A CONTINENTAL TOUR.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume IV, Issue 173, 6 August 1869, Page 2

A CONTINENTAL TOUR.

A letter descriptive of a tonr through France and Switzerland into Italy has been received by a gentleman in Nelson who lias kindly placed it at our disposal. It is too lengthy to publish in full, but we propose to give a few interesting extracts. We shall join our traveller at Paris of which city he speaks as follows: — Paris by gaslight is beautiful and amusing too. In the principal streets the blaze of gaslight is magnificent ; the people all seem to enjoy themselves in a free and easy manner, sitting in the open air, the women with their heads uncovered even by the pretence of a bonnet, the shopkeepers generally outside their shops except -when customers come in. I thought the scene made London dull and dingy by comparison. Paris in the daylight is also very charming, but there is always a foul smell of sewage notwithstanding that they are all day flushing the streets with water. Some of the customs of the people are rather shocking to a Briton's notions of propriety ; moreover the books and 'pictures exposed in the shop windows indicate a very loose morality, not to say a love of indecency ; often there is a glaring exhibition in this way that would make you blush if you had a lady with you, or without her if you were a modest man. These are some of the "buts," another is the presence of of soldiers strutting about everywhere, reminding you that Paris is kept in order by an enormous garrison. But you can hardly get out of sight of the military anywhere in France ; at every railway station there appears a ferociouß looking gendarme with cocked hat, blue uniform, and sword by his side, stroking his moustache and looking important. What with these and other semi-military functionaries, Paris swarms with uniforms. From Paris to Dijon, nearly 200 miles, through Champagne and Burgundy, was an interesting journey, very pretty in parts, all richly cultivated, the wheat had just been carried, but tho vines were in full bearing and just ripening; these are grown in rows, each vine about 4 feet high, tied to a stick, and not allowed to throw out straggling branches; it was somewhat a formal looking crop, but the rich green of the luxuriant leaves had a fine effect. A great part of Burgundy consists of undulating chalky hills, shut in amongst which you see nothing but vines as far as the view extends. It was dark before I reached Dijon, where I slept that night. Next morning, proceeding towards Neufchatel we found a new feature, fields of Indian corn, and plots of hemp and other things of an herbaceous appearance. There are no field hedges in France, except in Normandy, which gives the country a smooth appearance very different from England; even the roads have no fence, but a row of poplars on each side. We now went through the ancient province of Franche Compte, the modern department of Jura. The mountains of Jura extended like a huge barrier before us, stretching north and south. Our railway took us boldly into the midst, among vineclad hills growing into mountains, crowned with castles and fortresses, through. many a tunnel and rocky cutting, and by many a sharp turn, climbing higher and higher until, from a sultry oppressive heat below, we came into- fresh mountain breezes; often' we got a glimpse into, a valley far do'w/n below, with- towns, villages, andichurcb.spires, or a wide .prospect oyer the plains we were; leaving behind • tbeh;;w_e^ater ■ magnificent "fo!Tests: ; of :^pine with grayish : trunk^M

still ever ascending till we come out on an open plateau, chiefly pasture, with immense herds of cattle and Swiss-looking houses; wheat, oats, and barley, not yet cut or only just beginning to be; limestone rock crop- ' ping out above the grass and dark pines fringing the horizon. Passing a rocky defile, guarded ;by an ancient castle on one height and a modern fort on the other, we attain a height of 2,800 feet, and then begin to descend and enter Switzerland. We come through the Val de Travers in the Jura^ among pines, rocks, towns, and villages of the known Swiss aspect, with Protestant churches and neat-looking people, and after descending 1,400 feet, the Lake of Neufchatel burst upon our view in inexpressible beauty from the confined valley we were in, opening out to its full extent, about 25 miles in length, with the Alps beyond, some of them white with snow, and Mont Blanc itself distinct, although 70 miles away. The lake itself, of an exquisite blue, and reflecting its shores and the sky and clouds as in a mirror — towns and villages with numberless spires and pinnacles are seen on its banks, vine slopes to the water's edge, backed by walnuts and forest trees above, and Jura, wooded with pines to the summit, towering over all. Here a grand thunderstorm descended from the mountains and obliterated the whole scene. When it passed off I was in the level plain south of Lake ISTeufchatel; on the other side, more and more distant was the Jura, whilst nearer at hand were lesser heights, cultivated or wooded, with here and there neat little towns. Passing through an English-looking district for some miles, we descend upon the Lake of Geneva at Lausanne; here the storm comes on again, and continues till night, but we continue our journey along the lake, drawing nearer to the mighty mountains whose outline is barely visible through the rain and growing darkness, but which the lightning now and then reveals in full. Thus we had a close view of Chillon, and after travelling a short distance further, halted for the night at St. Maurice, in the Rhine Valley. Here we must for a time leave our tourist.