. Switzerland as described by great writers . the sisters,the daughters,—take upon themselves at least a fair shareof the toil which brings to their household food, and cloth-ing, and shelter. To see the Swiss peasant at his bravest and best, youmust follow him where life exerts upon his faculties thestrongest pressure, where the struggle for existence is nomere polemical phrase, but a grim and terrible reality, thevividness, rigour, and relentlessness of which never changefrom year to year, or from generation to generation. Forthis purpose it is necessary to leave the beaten track of theconve
. Switzerland as described by great writers . the sisters,the daughters,—take upon themselves at least a fair shareof the toil which brings to their household food, and cloth-ing, and shelter. To see the Swiss peasant at his bravest and best, youmust follow him where life exerts upon his faculties thestrongest pressure, where the struggle for existence is nomere polemical phrase, but a grim and terrible reality, thevividness, rigour, and relentlessness of which never changefrom year to year, or from generation to generation. Forthis purpose it is necessary to leave the beaten track of theconventional tourist, and to seek the regions in whichNature is for the most part met with in wild and unchas-tened moods. Highland and lowland are indefinite terms inSwitzerland, where altitudes which would rank as moun-tainous in the adjacent countries of France and Germanvprovoke little or no remark. Thus, to speak of life in Swissvalleys would convey erroneous ideas to the uninitiatedmind, unless the warning were given that many of the most. CO H << CO00 CO THE SWISS PEASANT 307 populated valleys of the country lie at an elevation of four,five, and six thousand feet above the sea level, an elevationat which communal life would be barely conceivable inmore northerly latitudes. And yet—such is the tenacity ofthe national character—however near to the external snowshis lot may be cast, the Swiss peasant accepts his fate with-out a murmur, and from the most unpropitious conditionsand surroundings he wrests life and health by dint of stren-uous toil, dauntless perseverance, and unfailing courage. Hence it is that to Switzerland falls the curious distinc-tion of cultivating grain at the highest known elevation inEurope. This is the valley of the Vorder-Rhein, runningfrom the Oberalp Pass (6,443 ^^^^ ^^g^)? above Andermattto Reicheneau and Chur (1,935 feet). It is around themean little village of Tschamut, 5,460 feet above the sealevel, that this feat in husbandry is perfor
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookpublishernewyo, bookyear1912
