WHAT THE SWISS THINK OF THE SCENERY.

Timaru Herald, Volume LVII, Issue 6059, 19 September 1894, Page 4

WHAT THE SWISS THINK OF THE SCENERY.

Thousands go every year to Hwifz?rli>nd for refreshment or inspiration. Tbey bring old muscles ii>to play, breathe a freshet' air, and some not only olimb peaks and ginoiore but •ketch or paint them There is, indeed, to the dwellers m a region of level fields and green erase a peouliar sense of recreation m merely licking at uplifted masses of ice and soow, pure m their whiteness, or tinted with the oolours of the setting sun. espeoially when cut eff from earth by a bne of cloud and showing m the heavens like a new Jerusalem. But what is the effect of all this glory upon those who have witnessed it from generation to generation ? There is, I imagine, bardly a Swiss wbo would not exchange Montßlano for an equal portion of the last patent manure and if bis but happen to command tbe loveliest prospect m his land, does not set a dungheap m tbe foreground of bis view, and keep his windows shut so tight that (when asleep, at least) be breathes an air as sour and olnaeas any m a Sboreditch garret. Where is tbe long drawn influence of Alpine atmosphere and inspiring soenery on tbe n. tive possessor of these charms P He is a pattern of thriftiness, brave as a lioo, snd certain 'y at strong as a horse, since he end bis ancetors have been ueed to o.rry heavy bu'deus up and down hill time out of mind • but what mountaineer ever troubled himself about tbe view from the Mattsrhorn till ho w„ paid to ascend it? People may ta r •f. he homesickness of the Swiss, but n. uation bas provided more hirelings eager to sell tbeir services away from their own land as waiters an ."mercenary soldiers. The proverb sayr, "No money, no bwist." It is the marked " change " wbioh their surroundings provide to dwellers on th. ft.ts that gives its recreative power to such a country as Switzerland, and kindles the brains and bodies of visitors with new life. The barrennees and inacoes.ibi'i.y of the peak draw the stranger to gaze and olimb, but drive away the native m (search uf a flitter and fatter soil. While at home, moreover ( I think of residenoe m the heart of the picturesque), he displays no refined effeot of its inspiration, but spends the long d.rk evenings of winter m making tobaccostoppers and nut-oraokers, or carving little chamois after tbe same pattern, the rummer being devoted to the production of milk aud oheeß*, exoept when he is engaged iv tbe lodgment or guidanoe of enraptured visitors. Tbey r«-j ioe m a month's perception of the recreating influences wbioh surround bim, but the result of ihtir continuous and fooal impression upon himself oontradicts the pr verb that ' you ounnot have too muoh of a good thing."— Cornhill Magazine