ENEVA, the city of clocks, capital- | be seated on deck, they hasten to appropri by rule, squared off like the accounts of a ledger, where, the character is affectedly grave and habits are monotonous, even this city affords, twice a day in the warm season, a spectacle which excites some animation and appears to scatter a little confusion. This spectacle is the arrival and departure of the steamboats. A crowd of the curious range themselves on that part of the Grand Quay alongside of which the boat is moored; while from the Place du Rhône or the Pont du Bergues, travelers arrive at a step somewhat accelerated by the strokes of the last bell. They spring across the little bridge of planks which connects the boat with the quay; they place their baggage in the center near the pipe; then if they wish to for soon they will be very scarce. If they are young, and have come to Switzerland for the first time, if they are curious to see, they stand about or go and place themselves upon the prow of the boat, to inhale the pure breezes of the lake, and to enjoy the pleasure of seeing themselves glide over the blue and limpid waters, like a bird in powerful and rapid flight. But already the moorings are loosed, a few turns of the wheel and the Aigle or the Leman distances the shore, it leaps the barricade, and anon is launched for the full sweep of this vast inland sea,* We would like to know what appellation this writer would give to the great lakes of North America, if he calls Lake Geneva a vast inland sea. which here separates the Jura from the modities, but he knows nothing about his Alps. The most eager gaze is not able fully to take in the beauty of the scene. It is toward the side of Savoy, of the large gap in the mountains of the valley of Bonneville, that you are mostly attracted. There, immediately before you, rises the beautiful isolated pyramid of the Môle, and beyond, Mont Blanc itself, glittering with all the immaculate splendor of its eternal snows. Do not address yourself to a Genevan if you wish to learn the names of the principal peaks, for example the situation of Buet, which is so very prominent seen from here, and which, perchance, you intend to climb in a few days. The Genevan will tell you the latest aspects of the Bourse at Paris, the price of the public funds, and the value of industrial com SWISS MAID AND MATRON. mountains. Beyond the Saleve everything to him is confounded under the general name of the Alps, and everything in the horizon that is covered with snow is Mont Blanc. He is indifferent to a spectacle which he has continually before his eyes. Perhaps he will show in the range of the Jura the rounded summit of the Dole, the ascent of which he may have made once in his life. But at least he will tell you the names of the proprietors of those charming country-seats which dot both banks of this enchanting lake. While observing and discussing all, the boat advances. There already is Coppet. where lived a woman of genius who held a pen, exiled by a man who held a scepter and a sword. But the ideas have not time to fix themselves upon Madame de Staël and the political coterie which she inspired with her views. We will not pause to dwell upon her once commanding position, but, en passant, remark that her works are fast disappearing from the mind, just as this shore disappears from the gaze of the passer-by. Besides, at each moment some new object comes to attract the attention. Here is a passing boat laden with wood and surmounted by two white sails disposed in a picturesque style; there is the bell which sounds to warn the next post of the approach of the steamer ; now the boat stops, the small craft approach, a cord is thrown to the boatmen; all is agitation, hurry, and apprehension. Then comes the tumult of debarkation, and the curiosity shown toward the newly arrived, especially if any among them are young or good-looking. Then the wheels recommence their movement, and the waves which they create rock for some distance the little boats which have not yet had time to retire. less conspicuous. Then, such is human consistency, that indifference commences gaining upon you, and the steamboatthis most charming mode of transportation through space, without jar, without fatigue, without being discommoded as in a carriage, free in your movements, at liberty to walk or to sit, this ideal of locomotion, of which humanity has not been put in possession until our day-appears, by the regularity of its movements, to deeply depress the spirits, and induce apathy and ennui. It is then that dull ennui turns from the sky and the landscape toward your fellowtravelers, and endeavors to amuse itself by studying gestures and language and unceremonious bearing contrast strongly with the pleasant manners of those young Italian noblemen, exiled from their country by a jealous despotism. There goes a Frenchman, mak their nationalities in their general appear- ing conversation with everybody, while ance, and their character in their physiognomy. All Europe frequently has representatives on the steamboat of Lake Geneva. Here are grouped some German students, uncomfortable neighbors, whose rude the Englishman, snugly trimmed for the voyage, holds himself as stiff and upright upon the deck as a ship mast, or marches back and forth like an officer on the watch. He does not address a word to any one, SCENE ON BOARD A GENEVA STEAMBOAT. PEASANTS OF THE MOUNTAINS. least of all to his own countrymen; but he holds his umbrella with a nervous hand, consults his card assiduously, or imperturbably reads his "Hand-Book for Switzerland." Lady strangers, come to contemplate the wonders of Switzerland, gather in the stern or descend to the saloon, and give themselves up to a charming prattle in reciprocally detailing the minutiae of their toilet. The young ladies exchange albums; and a few, forgetful of the lake and its shores, read some new romance. The prettiest enjoy the pleasure of being looked at without having the appearance of seeing anything; and others, who are not pretty, set themselves up in the character of duennas, and survey, with an inquisitorial eye, both the admirers and the admired. However, the confusion on deck from time to time recalls the passengers thither for a moment. Now it is occasioned by the landing at the port of Ouchy, below Lausanne. Further on is Vevay, the pretty little Vaudois city that bathes its feet in the lake; still further on is Clarens, a name made poetic by the genius of Rousseau, and which recalls the sweet Julie d'Etanges. Already we had left behind on the right the rocks of Meillerie, from the heights of which Saint Preux was about to precipitate himself in despair. The waters of the lake here attain their greatest depth, which exceeds nine hundred feet. The sublime character of this extremity of Lake Leman, encircled by mountains that become precipitous on the Savoyan shore, awakens anon the admiration of the tourist. We forget this mundane Babel, and turn again to na ture. The Château Chillon and its mournful legends carry you back to poetry more than to history, a proof of the masterly power of genius. The "Prisoner," of | Byron, is much better known than the history of Bonnivara. Soon, however, history, poetry, and nature disappear before a more urgent preoccupation: that of finding your trunk and not losing your baggage, for we have come to the termination of our voyage; the enchantment of navigation, which, perhaps, we have not fully appreciated, has ceased, and we fall again into the material troubles which form the inevitable ground-work of what is called a pleasure trip. It is necessary to be in all haste, and dispute with the crowd, all equally in a hurry, a place in one of the omnibuses from Villeneuve to Saint Maurice, and to assure yourself that your baggage is well fastened to the carriage, and that it will not be deposited en route to Aiglo or Bex. creep rather than walk, that make inarticulate sounds in their throats in place of words, whose laugh is a grimace, and whose smile freezes you, that stop you as mendicants, and whose contact with you causes an involuntary horror, as if you were seized by a phantom in the nightmare? Yet they appear inoffensive, and whatever may be the hideous complication that in them attains to perfect ugliness, an ugliness so monstrous that it would disgrace a beast, yet I know not whether it is their early degradation or a kindly decay that extinguishes upon their features even the appearance of malice and all of the passions. What are these objects of fear or of derision? They are idiots! (cretins.) Unfortunate race! It would seem that Divine vengeance was wreaking itself on them, that they are the cursed offspring of some one of the Titans, who tried to scale heaven by piling up mountains, and were discomfited by the thunders of Jupiter. A CRETIN. valley of the Rhone, more inclosed by high mountains, presents, in spite of its rich vegetation, more somber perspectives, and has a mournful aspect. The snows do not shine so radiantly as those of Mont Blanc, which appear like a glittering carpet spread out for angels to climb upon to the furthest verge of earth, and rise from thence to heaven. Here they are scattering and hung upon the broken edges of cloud-capped summits, or else they appear in the distant horizon to form mysterious and inaccessible retreats. If the shades of evening have commenced falling in the valleys, a seeret terror glides into the imagination of the unaccustomed traveler at this threshold of unknown solitudes, leading to the summit of the Alps, to regions ever vexed with tempests, to a world which is always being menaced with glaciers and avalanches. On the contrary, however, the fathers of these poor idiots were a simple people and pious Christians, who came to find pasturage for their herds in these secluded valleys, who passed their lives in prayer, and through lack of bread lived upon milk; who, through lack of wine, cooled their thirst with the clear water of the rivulets. But this water, against which no instinct could guard them, A VICTIM OF THE GOITER. To the mournfulness of nature may be added that which is inspired at the sight of the inhabitants. What are these deformed dwarfs with a doltish look, a stupid form, abortive efforts at humanity, that tends to produce that most terrible of all maladies, the goiter, which becomes hereditary and acquires the fullest development; and under the influence of the same regime continued, the intellectual faculties |