"The really important difference of opinion on the subject of perception be tween Brown and Sir William Hamilton is far other than this. It is that Sir William Hamilton believes us to have a direct intuition, not solely of the reality of matter, but also of its primary qualities-extension, solidity, figure, &c.which, according to him, we know as in the material object, and not as modifica. tions of ourselves; while Brown believed that matter is suggested to us only as an unknown something, all whose attributes, as known or conceived by us, are resolvable into the affections of our senses. In Brown's opinion we are cognisant of a non-ego in the perceptive act, only in the indefinite form of something external; all else we are able to know of it, is only that it produces certain affections in us; which is also our author's opinion as regards the secondary qualities. The difference, therefore, between Brown and Sir William Hamilton is not

of the kind which Sir William Hamilton considers it to be, but consists mainly in this, that Brown really held what Sir William Hamilton held only verbally, the doctrine of the relativity of all our knowledge. I shall attempt further on to show that on the point on which they really differed, Brown was right and Sir William Hamilton totally wrong."-P. 176.

We have selected to be totally wrong with Sir William Hamilton rather than exchange our real world of matter and motion, of substance and force, for permanent possibilities of sensation, attached to nothing at all-for mere thoughts of sensations;-a dreary and bewildering idealism. There can be no distinct idea of mind if we give up all distinct idea of matter.

As the heading of a fashionable French journal, there is an engraving intended to represent the pursuits and pastimes of the haut monde. Judging from that high authority, it appears that the Parisian élégant must perfect himself in more serious arts than those of flirtation and dress. He is expected to be a master of the smallsword, and a dead shot with the pistol. The gloves on his table, and the boule-dogue at his feet, convey an impression that, under some English master, he has been studying la boxe. The cards lying about, and the servitor entering with a salver, on which there appears something suspiciously like cogniac and seltzer, tell of deadly nights, while the spurs and rifles suggest the more manly pursuits of deerhunting and the chase. On the one side he looks out of an operabox, with a fair face beside him;

-ABD-UR-RAHMAN.

and on the other, he is seen on a yacht driving through turbulent seas. But, still more markedly, he appears standing waving his hat, "alone in the midst of the heavens,' on an impossible high Alpine peak. The Frenchmen I met on the high Swiss mountains were all photographers, but it is gratifying to find that the fashionable world of Paris has admitted the Alps among the pursuits of gentlemen. Notwithstanding, however, that immense condescension, Switzerland is one of the least, as well as one of the best, known countries of Europe. There is an 'Alpine Journal;' the Swiss have their

Jahrbuch der Alpen Club;' and the Italians, by whom it seems the Matterhorn has been safely conquered, their 'Giornale delle Alpi.' It is visited by all and sundry, and is exceedingly well known to a small section of Englishmen who

have slept in hundreds of its châlets, crossed all its glaciers, ascended its high peaks, and have described their stirring adventures in a great number of lively narratives; yet many even intelligent English visitors seemed to me somewhat at a loss what to do with themselves after seeing Chamouni and the Righi, Interlachen and the Lake of Geneva. The Alpine Club have had so little to show in the way of positive results, that it required some such accident as that on the Matterhorn to redeem its labours from neglect, and draw general attention to the great field for healthy and exciting exercise which it has opened up by affording inducement for the establishment of hotels in lofty positions, by training up a superior class of guides, and by determining the best means of conquering or evading the dangers of the Alps. If the air of snowy mountains be found of immense use in a large class of diseases, and that of a class constantly on the increase with the increase of our civilisation, the Alpine Clubbists will, without entertaining any such aim, have conferred a great benefit upon their fellows, and justified the opinion of those who hold that the mere spirit of enterprise is always fruitful of important results. Meanwhile, I have been surprised to notice how little is known by the general public about what this Club has done, and what can be accomplished in Switzerland. Recent letters about that country in the newspapers, even as special correspondence in the 'Times,' have displayed not a little of this ignorance. At the British Association some one inquired of Mr Whymper, the survivor of the Matterhorn accident, whether excursions in the high Alps were not sometimes dangerous. I several times came across young men who had never seen a glacier before, who proposed, without guides, to cross the Straleck and the Tschingel glacier, fancying these were ordi

What I specially wish to call attention to, is the fact that now the high Alps, the regions of snow and ice, can be explored, so as to give a sufficient idea of them, even by those who are quite unfit for the exploits of mountaineers. By a judicious use of ponies, high hotels, cabanes, and caves, acquaintance can be made with the wildest scenery of snowy Switzerland, with positively less expenditure of physical energy than is laid out by innumerable pedestrians in tramping through hot valleys, and crossing such beaten tracks as the Furca and the Wengern Alp. Mont Blanc itself-the ascent of which, some years ago, made Albert Smith's fortune-is within the reach of any one who is a tolerable walker, and chooses to spend from two to three hundred francs. By taking three days to this labour, from the inn on the Col di Voza, it is not necessary to go over more ground in one day than what is calculated, in favourable weather, as six hours' walking. From the cabane on the Aiguille di Gouté the distance to the summit is only four hours, and the traveller who feels himself unfit for further exertion can sleep a second night in the cabane, which he will probably do more comfortably than he did the first night, being more accustomed to the rarefied air, and finding even the atmosphere on the top of the Aiguille a relief from that on the top of Mont Blanc, just as Humboldt's

travellers, on descending the Andes, found themselves oppressed by heat at places where on the ascent they had shivered. It is only five hours from the Riffel hotel to the top of the Cima di Jazi, and about three and a half back again. The way lies chiefly over glacier and néré, amid some of the wildest scenes presented by the Monte Rosa group; after rounding a crust of snow we stand above precipices thousands of feet in depth, and behold Lago Maggiore as if it lay beneath our feet, while the fertile plains of Lombardy stretch in the dim distance.

On entering Switzerland in July, I required steps to enable me to mount a horse, on which to ascend the Righi; and even at Mürren had no more idea of standing on the huge ice-wall above than of pedestrianising among the mountains of the moon. I remember being highly tickled with a young guide at Zweilütschinen, who, after circling round me for some time, like a moth round a taper, but deeply engaged in examining my boots, at last, not without hesitation, took me aside and told me privately that if I chose to engage him, he would take me a little passage of only fifteen hours over snow and ice-a passage never crossed by any one else, and known to himself alone. Not having walked fifteen miles, much less fifteen hours, in a day for more than a couple of years, this offer was more amusing than tempting; but the effects of Alpine air were soon so beneficial as afterwards to make me regret I had not taken down the guide's name and address. Every means I had tried to regain health seemed only to land me in a lower depth, and it was an instinct, more than intelligent reasons, which led me towards the Alps, without which remedy I believe I should have died, and where I found at least some measure of that health and strength for which I had been so long seeking in vain.

66

Before I left

Even more rapid and wonderful effects have been produced in other instances by Alpine air. Mr Dodson, M.P., says, in one of his papers: Neither the breeze of the Atlantic, nor the clear air of the desert, nor the bracing atmosphere of Scotch hills or English downs, can vie for one instant with the inspiriting, life-giving breath of the glacier. I speak from experience. I had been a good deal out of health, and not a little out of spirits, for two years. I had tried hard work; I had tried relaxation from all work; I had tried hygiene, orthodox medicine, and heretical cures. Nothing would do. In the autumn of 1859 I was persuaded to try Switzerland. England it was pain and grief to crawl up a Malvern hill before I had been six weeks in Switzerland I made the ascent of Mont Blanc, and enjoyed it thoroughly." So also Professor Tyndall mentions that in 1860 his state of health was such that the mere writing of a letter or reading of a newspaper caused him the most alarming giddiness, and even when directing a note he had been sometimes compelled to pause, lest the effort required to complete the address should cause some fearful catastrophe in his brain. Yet, after a week in Wales, and a few days in Switzerland, he was able to go through eighteen hours of the most trying giddy rock, glacier, and snow work-making the terrific passage from Lauterbrunnen to the Eggischhorn hotel over the Lauwinen Thor or Gate of Avalanches; and after a few more similar excursions he returned to England with a stock of health which five months' constant work did not sensibly affect.

The instinct which led me to the Alps soon justified itself; and I felt strong enough to engage the services of a guide, taking care not to select one of those famous men who are ashamed of their employer if he stickles at eighteen hours'

walking, or does not go up a snowy peak at least once a-week. Peter Bohren of Grindelwald, however, a most famous guide of this class, and a good-tempered amusing man, is now open to engagements with unambitious pedestrians. Alpine Clubbists are sometimes blamed for tempting guides by means of money to endanger their lives; but I should think any of the famous mountaineers of Switzerland and Savoy might retire on their laurels, and make even a better thing of it by conducting quiet parties than by continuing to lead in high ascents. The truth is, that the guide who excels in dangerous mountain-work has a passion for that kind of life, and feels it as a species of degradation to accept inferior employment during the season for ascents. On passing from the Grimsel to the Furca I picked up, or rather was picked up by, Andreas Marti, of Guttanen, who turned out a first-rate second-class guide, not without some experience of difficult mountaineering, but patient, useful, and willing to adapt himself to any pace. At first, I engaged him only for that day; but when, on crossing the Rhone glacier, he held me over a deep moulin in order to see a glacier waterfall, and in such a way that he might have dropped me into it with perfect ease to himself, I thought it expedient to examine his book, and see what were the testimonials to his efficiency and character. These were quite satisfactory, and our day's engagement lengthened out into one which lasted for weeks. The good guides in Switzerland are now well acquainted with most of the districts of country usually visited by travellers, and they have to pass a rather hard examination on that department of geography, so there is no object in changing them as one advances. Having got a suitable guide, it is best, and often cheaper, to keep him on. In this way, too, a friendly familiarity may be developed,

which is very pleasant, especially for the solitary pedestrian, and often very useful, both at inns and châlets. Marti and I got so friendly that he was almost as much a companion as a guide, and I felt that I could fully rely upon him in any untoward circumstances which might arise. Indeed I experienced his care when laid up, of all dismal places in the world, at the big dark Italian albergo on the top of the St Gotthard Pass, where the landlady besought me not to die, because it would be so unpleasant for her. The accommodation there is rather peculiar, for it is excessively cold, and you must either have the pungent wood-smoke in your eyes, or else open the windows. When I asked for breakfast, the landlady offered me soup and cheese-and an Italian breakfast of that kind is not unpleasant when the soup is good, and a little fruit is superadded. My experience of the night before, however, had informed me that the potage was simply hot water, with a piece of brown bread floating about in it, so I mildly petitioned for coffee and eggs. Coffee? yes," she said, looking at me with that calm determination acquired only by middle-aged females with large families, and in desperate circumstances; " but ove? How could there be ove? Ah! if the Signor had only come six weeks sooner, then there was a gallo. Why, the galline did nothing but lay eggs all day. But he was such a bold fellow; she had often spoken to him about his temerity; he would go in among the horses' feet and had got killed. To be sure there was a gallettino, but the very hens drove him away from his food

how could he lay eggs?" All this, and much more, was poured out in the most voluble, distinctly-pronounced Italian, and so as to put me entirely in the wrong. I must do the old lady, however, the justice to say that when I was ill she was exceedingly kind, and charged me at the rate of three-fourths less

The St Gotthard is a famous place for breeding large dogs, much more so than the St Bernard hospice, and I examined the stock there. More of the Terre Neuve or Newfoundland breed was visible in them than any other, and they were all black-and-white. For puppies under six weeks or two months old, of which there was a large stock, the owner wanted a hundred francs each, which was an exorbitant price; and for two-year-olds, not very remarkable animals, he asked five hundred. The only splendid animal among the lot was a very large ferocious four-year-old-a perfect lion, with a big brain. Under examination he kept up a protesting under-growl like rolling thunder; and the people said he was so valuable in finding out travellers lost in the snow that they could not think of selling him. Marti dryly observed after we left, that it was just as well we had not been able to get the dog, for if we had we should have had to go where it pleased and not where we chose. From the St Gotthard it is not at all laborious to ascend Monte Fibia, about nine thousand feet high; and, the latter half of the ascent being over rock and glacier, this mountain affords a very good pons asinorum for the high Alps. The view was a good deal obscured when I reached the summit; but Monte Fibia is the centre of the St Gotthard group, and that group may be regarded as the centre of the Alps-a fact to which Goethe called attention. Through the Rhine, the Rhone, the Reuss, and the Ticino, snows melt from it into the North Sea, the Mediterranean, and the Adriatic, so that, orologically, it affords the most central position in Western Europe, besides presenting many interesting views. The Canton Ticino is not run upon by tourists, except those who are crossing by the St Gotthard road into Italy, and affords many

VOL. XCIX.-NO. DCIII.

struck among the Leopontine Alps with the Val Bedretto, which affords signal manifestations of the destructive power of avalanches, and by the fine grassy slopes of the Passo di San Giacomo. At the splendid waterfall of the Tosa, in Piedmont, an inn has recently been opened, and it is well worth while descending the Formazza valley a little way to mark the change from Alpine to Italian vegetation. The return to Switzerland over the Gries glacier is not at all difficult, though that glacier has gained an unenviable reputation from the mysterious disappearance upon it, in 1849, of Dr Wohlfahrt and the MM. Leonard. They were without a guide; but the portion of the glacier to be crossed is so short and easy, that by far the most probable explanation of their fate is the popular supposition that they were murdered. No trace whatever of them was found, and the theory that they were lost in a snow-storm is unlikely. This was the only regular pass among the Alps on which I met not a single traveller; and at the inn over the Tosa Falls there were only a couple of Italians, and an Italian corporal's guard. One of the travellers possessed a house on the field of Magenta; and the chief thing which appeared to have struck him in connection with that famous battle, was the amount of brandy which the French troops consumed. With the regiment quartered on his grounds, he said it was cogniac, sempre cogniac all day, from the colonel to the drummer-boy; and, inspired by the example of these heroes, he ventured himself on a small nip, of the effects of which he did not fail bitterly to complain next morning. The Tosa Falls descend in three sheets about 500 feet over a surface of about 1000; and a striking peculiarity about them is, that you could step off the path and lie down on the torrent's smoothness, within a few

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