the gorge rushes
the foaming Reuss, tearing madly against the rocks, which try in vain to
arrest its course. All the way from Geschenen to Andermatt the ascent is
very steep--the road in some places being almost suspended over the
Reuss. Of course, our progress was slow, as, in addition to the
steepness of the road, we had to pass by (and sometimes through) huge
snow drifts from twelve to twenty feet high. When we crossed the famous
Devil's bridge it was covered with mist, produced by the spray from the
neighbouring cataracts. The _old_ Devil's bridge, a few feet below the
new one, has been disused for many years, and is now covered with moss
and lichens. After leaving these the road passes through a long tunnel
(covered with icicles in the early spring) into the valley of Unseren,
which No. 2 said was fertile in summer--but how different when we saw
it! The pastures were covered with snow and ice, and so altered was the
scene, that the younger bachelor (No. 1) thought he was beholding a huge
lake snowed over.

Andermatt looked very pretty with its ancient Romanesque church and
funny little white-washed chalets, and how glad we were to get there!
famished with hunger, and fearfully cold, notwithstanding all our
wrapping up! We drove to a smart-looking hotel, where we were received
pleasantly.

After dinner the younger bachelor, who is of rather a foolhardy
temperament, and is, or rather was, very green, was seized with a desire
to immortalise himself by climbing a mountain unattended, by sleeping
out in the snow, or doing something perfectly ridiculous. So, promising
his friend he would be back again in a couple of hours (a compact which
he never intended to keep, by the way), he marched out of the hotel
already thinking himself a kind of hero. Coming back again in about
three hours and a half, he related that he had gone past Hospenthal to
some place on the old St. Gothard road, where he was suddenly stopped by
the path being so covered with snow that farther progress was absolutely
impossible. So, humbled and disappointed, he came quickly home to find
his friend in a terrible state of mind at his lengthened absence. In the
evening we had some music--for both bachelors are musical--the older
having a baritone voice, and the younger playing the piano. How cold
that night was! and how welcome was the great eider-down pillow, which
is generally such a nuisance in continental hotels.

The next morning, after a hearty b