Page:Three Years in Europe.djvu/115

Rh possible. From the next year, however, all gambling will be prohibited by the Government here.

From Baden-Baden we went to see the magnificent falls of the Rhine near Schaffhousen in Switzerland. Magnificent falls indeed! A world of waters foams and rushes from crag to crag and through vast masses of rock with indescribable beauty and grandeur, while the spray which rises like a white mist from the falls, forms a beautiful and bright rainbow against the sun, eternally bending over these falls,—"beauty watching over madness."

From the falls we went to Zurich, a fine town situated on a fine lake and thence to Lucerne, an old town situated by the lake of Lucerne, perhaps the prettiest lake in Europe. This charming lake glitters in the midst of high mountains whose snowy tops glisten in the sun. We ascended the Rigi (6,000 ft.) by a Railway train. It is quite a novel thing in its way, the engine is behind the carriage and pushes it on, while besides the two rails on the two sides there is a third rail which is indented so as to prevent the carriage and the engine from sliding down. The view from the top is certainly one of the best that I have ever seen. Beneath us we saw the lakes of Lucerne and Zug, blue as emerald and calm and beautiful—as beautiful they could be—while the towns of Zug and Lucerne situated on their respective lakes glistened in the sun. The steamers or sails floating on the calm blue surface of the lakes looked