1936 On the Continent

ibex to be seen near the summit of the Harder or the Augustmatthorn. These animals are reared in the Ibex Park near Interlaken and later set free on the mountains.
Thun
    Our best way to explore the lakeside is to travel by train along the lakeside towards Thun. The next village is Merligen, where in September is carried out the ceremony of “Kästeilet” (cheese division). All the cheese produced in the valley during the summer is stored and, at the Kästeilet, divided into equal portions for all the dairymen and cattle owners in the district.
    Next we come to Gunten, where a motor-bus service starts for Sigriswil, another good centre for walkers. After Gunten comes Oberhofen, which lies on a bay. The castle of Oberhofen is a well-known show place and is built on a spit of land jutting out into the lake. One solitary tower rises from the blue waters and is joined to the main building by a covered bridge. After Oberhofen comes Hilterfingen with an old church dating back to 930, and finally Thun, which is on the banks of the Aar about a mile from the lake.
    Thun has a very medieval appearance and is built round a hill on which stand the old Zähringer castle and the church. From the Brändlisberg near the town one canobtain a magnificent view over the lake, with the red roofs of the houses in the foreground. Saturday is market day, and in the morning the country folk come in, many with their goods in carts drawn by dogs, and wearing their picturesque costume; the whole scene, with its colour and movement against the setting of the old Bällizstrasse, transports us back to the Middle Ages. From Thun we can go for a pleasant walk to Heimberg, where Swiss pottery is made.
Berne
    Proceeding up the Aare we come to Berne, which is not only the capital of the canton but of the whole Swiss Federation. Berne was originally a small, unimportant village, but in 1191 Berchtold V von Zähringen commissioned Cuno von Bubenberg to surround the village with walls in order that he might have a stronghold from which to protect himself against his enemies. Von Bubenberg laid out the walls to take in a larger part of land than the village itself, and the inflow of nobles who were in league with von Zähringen soon made of Berne a town of importance. One of the old city gates is now the Zeitglockenturm; on this tower is a remarkable clock; when it strikes the hour a procession of little figures, including the bear—the heraldic device of Berne, which appears in shields and on fountains all over the town—pass in front of the vividly coloured dial. Near by is the Käfigturm or “Cage Tower.” The houses have high gables and many of the streets in the old part are cobbled and flanked by shady arcades. Old fountains play in the streets and the housewives still fill their buckets at them. In the quarter of An der Matte, below the terrace of the minster, the oldest part of Berne, the women can be seen washing their clothes in the street in the stream which flows through the Mühlenplatz. Though this part is now a slum, it is well worth a visit because of its picturesqueness.
    From the minster terrace we get a view of the roofs of the town and the gorge of the river across to the mountains of the Oberland, and the three peaks of Jungfrau, Mönch and Eiger can be discerned quite clearly. Near the Nydeck Bridge is the old bear pit, where the Municipality has kept bears since 1513. Berne will fascinate and delighteverybody who visits it, and the modern buildings, of which the Federal Palace (the seat of government) is the principal one, do not disturb the charm of the town.
    From Berne we will go to visit Fribourg, another very old town which lies in the valley of the Sarine. The tower of the church of St. Nicholas is a prominent landmark in the town, and in the interior of the church are quite a number of interesting things, such as the fifteenth-century choir stalls. The organ is said to be the largest church organ in the world and have a very fine, sweet tone; the recitals given on it during the summer are well worth attending.
Neuchâtel
    Opposite the old town hall stands an ancient lime tree, which legend says has grown from a sprig which was planted on June 22nd, 1476, after the battle of Morat—in which the free Swiss inflicted a severe defeat on the Burgundian troops under Charles the Bold. The sprig was brought to Fribourg by a young soldier who had run all the way from Morat to bring the good news and who collapsed and died as soon