THE GIESSBACH.
The Giessbach consists of seven falls, the highest being one thousand one hundred and forty-seven feet above the lake. The water comes from a lake in the summit of the mountain, and tumbles from rock to rock till it finds its level in the lake below. All the seven are visible at once, and the sight is one of the most delightful in all Switzerland. Opposite the falls, on the other side of the enormous chasm, is a magnificent hotel, as a matter of course, where you are charged very reasonably—not more than twice what the same accommodations would cost you in a first-class hotel anywhere else. For this reasonableness you try to feel very thankful. One has to see the Giessbach, anyhow; and, as there is but one place to stop, the proprietor’s facilities for swindling are unlimited. A mere double charge may be classed as reasonable, there; especially as the sight is worth almost any expenditure.
It was nearly dark when we reached the Geissbach shore, so that we had but an imperfect view of the lovely falls, as we climbed up the steep path leading to the terrace, three hundred and nine feet above the lake. But even in the half twilight they were wondrously beautiful, as they dashed from rock to rock, hundreds of feet apart.
OUR PARTY AT THE GIESSBACH.
As it grew darker, the green foliage on each side threw out the silvery cascades, dancing from one to the other, in bold relief. Gradually darkness completely enveloped them, and we could see nothing but the dark, gloomy mass of mountains down whose side for a thousand feet the water fell, from one pool to another.