Chapter XIII. Conclusion.

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It is not possible to describe in such a volume as this more than a small part of the excursions which Mr. George and Rollo made or the adventures which they met with in the course of their tour in Switzerland. They remained in the country of the Alps more than a fortnight; and they enjoyed, as Rollo said, every moment of the time. There was no end to the cascades and waterfalls, the ice and snow-clad summits, the glaciers, the romantic zigzag paths up the mountain sides, the picturesque hamlets and cottages, and the groups of peasants toiling in the fields or tending flocks and herds in the higher pasturages. Rollo's heart was filled all the time that he remained among these scenes with never-ceasing wonder and delight. The inns pleased him, too, as much perhaps as any thing else; for the climbing of mountains and the long excursions on foot gave him a most excellent appetite; and at the inns they always found such nice breakfasts, dinners, and suppers every day that Rollo was never tired of praising them.

Rollo found the cost, too, of travelling in Switzerland much less than he had expected. He did not expend nearly all the allowance which his father had granted him. When he came to settle up his accounts, after he had got back to Paris, he found that he had saved about seventy-five francs, which made nearly fifteen dollars; and this sum he accordingly added to his capital—for that was the name by which he was accustomed to designate the stock of funds which he had gradually accumulated and reserved.

Just before Mr. George and Rollo left Switzerland, on their return to Paris, they received a letter from Mr. Holiday, who was still in Paris, in consequence of which they concluded to make a short tour on the Rhine on their way to France. The adventures which they met with on this tour will form the subject of another volume of this series.

[1] Carlos was a Spanish boy, who was residing at this time at the same hotel with Mr. George. The manner in which Rollo became acquainted with him is related in Rollo in Paris. Carlos did not understand English, nor Rollo Spanish; but when they were together they usually kept talking all the time, each in his own way.

[2] A courier is a travelling servant and guide.

[3] Mr. George, in speaking these words, did not pronounce them as you would suppose from the manner in which they are written. He pronounced them very much as if they were spelled Tru-ah Ru-ah. In the same manner, the German words, Drei KÖnige, he pronounced as if they were spelled Dhrai Ker-nig-ger.

[4] See Rollo in Paris for an account of these dens for bears in the Garden of Plants.

[5] The zenith is the point in the heavens that is directly over our heads.

[6] Pronounced Yoongfrow.

[7] Pronounced shamwawh.

[8] See the map at the commencement of the first chapter.

[9] They are pronounced as if spelled Gooten arbend.

[10] Flowers dry faster and better between sheets of blotting paper than between those of common printing paper, such as is used for books; for the surface of this latter is covered with a sort of sizing used in the manufacture of it, and which prevents the moisture of the plant from entering into the paper.

[11] See map.

[12] It may seem strange that streams of ice, hundreds of feet thick and solid to the bottom, can flow; but such is the fact, as will appear more fully in the next chapter.

[13] See frontispiece.

[14] Any loose rock of large size detached from its native ledge or mountain is called a bowlder.

[15] Pronounced shallay.

[16] The Swiss always stand up in rowing, and push the oar. Thus they look the way they are going.





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