HISTORIC WATERS.
ZERMATT.
There is in Switzerland a village superior even to Chamonix in grandeur of location, dominated by a mountain more imposing even than Mont Blanc. The town is Zermatt; the mountain is the Matterhorn. As we approach it, we discern only a tiny part of its environment; but could we soar aloft with the eagle, and take a bird's-eye view of it, the little village would appear to have been caught in a colossal trap of rock and ice. There is, in fact, no path to it, save over dangerous passes, or through a narrow cleft in the encircling mountains, down which a river rushes with impetuous fury; while, watching over it, like some divinely-stationed sentinel, rises the awful Matterhorn, the most unique and imposing mountain of the Alps. No view can possibly do it justice; yet, anticipate what you will, it is here impossible to be disappointed. Though every other object of the world should fail, the Matterhorn must stir the heart of the most unimpressive traveler. Not only does its icy wedge pierce the blue air at a height of fifteen thousand feet above the sea, but its gaunt, tusk-like form emerges from the surrounding glaciers with almost perpendicular sides, four thousand feet in height. It is a manifestation of the power of the Deity, beside which all the works of man dwindle to insignificance. I never grew accustomed to this, as to other mountains. No matter when I gazed upon its sharp-cut edges and its ice-bound rocks, I felt, as when I first beheld it, completely overpowered by its magnitude. The history of this colossal pyramid is as tragic as its grim form is awe-inspiring. The mountain is known as the "Fiend of the Alps." Year after year it had been luring to itself, with fearful fascination, scores of brave men who longed to scale its appalling cliffs. Over its icy pedestal,—up its precipitous sides,—yes, even to its naked shoulders, baffled and wistful mountaineers struggled in vain. Upon its perpendicular rocks several men had all but perished; but the warnings were unheeded. At length, after persistent efforts for eleven years, the famous English mountain-climber, Whymper, gained the summit. But in return for the humiliation of this conquest the Matterhorn exacted speedy vengeance.
SAFE FROM MOUNTAIN PERILS.