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evidently formed a part o f th e Lake of
Neufchatel, which is also seen from the
road.
The country round Berne is highly cultivated,
varied, and rich; and the city, being
considerably elevated above the' river Aar,
has an imposing aspect. The public walks
and grounds are kept in excellent order,
and every thing here presents an appearance
o f neatness, comfort, and opulence. The
most striking feature in the landscape is
the northern range o f the Swiss Alps, that
separates the canton of Berne from the
Valíais, extending in a north-easterly direction
above the valley o f the Rhone, and
running nearly parallel with the chain of
the southern Alps th a t separate the Valíais
from Italy. These two great chains, which
comprise the loftiest mountains in Europe,
seem to blend confusedly into each other,
as they advance farther eastward, in approaching
the Tyrol. The northern chain
is seen from Berne, along a line of about
sixty miles ; and all its highest summits
are most distinctly conspicuous, the bases
of the mountains being more detached
from each other, than in the southern
chain. Fifteen of these magnificent mountains
are seen at once, with their snowy summits
towering from ten to twelve thousand
feet above the surrounding country, without
any intervening object to obstruct the
view. The sublimity of the view, in the
evening, when all these nolossal masses are
splendent with the rosy tin t of the setting
sun, reserxibling pyramids of ruby, is not
to be described. The walks in the churchyard,
or on the trenches, at Berne, are good
stations for observing the effects of sun-set
on the Swiss Alps ; and the scene.would
richly reward the labour of a long journey
to behold, were there no other object worth
notice in the canton of Berne. The rose-
coloured tin t on the snowy Alps, continued
about fifteen minutes in the clear evenings
in October, remaining the longest on those
mountains which had the greatest elevation,
and were situated on the western end of
the line.
A Bernese family on a visit at Geneva,
with whom we had become acquainted, had
apprised their friends o f our coming ; and
we were scarcely arrived at the inn, before
we received calls, and an invitation to
dinner at the country-house of one o f the
first families in the canton. The house was
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