Book Description

Excerpt from The Alps and the Rhine: A Series of Sketches In the present work I have not designed to make a book of travels, but give a series of sketches of the Alpine portion of Switzerland, and the scenery along the Rhine. In writing of Switzerland, I have omitted almost altogether notices of the character of the people, except of those occupying the valleys of the Alps. Neither have I spoken of the chief cities and towns of the country, except to make a passing remark. I excluded all such matter, because I wished, if possible, to give a definite idea of the scenery of the Alps. Having an unconquerable desire from my boyhood to see the land of Tell and Winkelried, I had read everything I could lay hold of, that would give me clear conceptions of the wonderful scenery it embraces, yet I found that my imagination had never approached the reality. Hoping to do what others had failed in accomplishing, I confess, was the motive in my attempting these sketches. It always seemed strange to me, that such marked, striking features in natural scenery could fail of being caught and described. Such bold outlines, and such distinct figures, it seemed a mere pastime to reproduce before the eye. And even now, of all the distinct things memory recalls, none appear more clear and definite than the scenes of the Alps. But, notwithstanding all this, I need not add that I am as much dissatisfied with my own efforts as with those of others. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.