Transcription:
Lausanne Hotel Gibbon Lausanne ,le Aug. 15, 1893 Dear.Louie-This is a hot but lovely calm Indian Summerish morning in
a beautiful old town. I arrived late last night and am off this morning for Zermatt where I hope to be cooled and stirred
beneath the shadows of the grand .Alps. I have just been taking a short walk to a garden and terrace overlooking the town
and commanding a grand view over the lovely Laueanne Geneva lake to the farms and vineyards and mountains in the hazy distance.
Zermatt It is now about 9:30 o'clock. I had an exceedingly interesting ride up the valley of the Rhone after skirting the
lovely Lake Geneva for 30 or 40 miles. The Rhone is a wilk roaring stream thick with glacial mud ground from the flanks of
the Junzfrau , Mount Rosa, Matterhorn and many other monarchs of the Alps. Here at a height of 5250 ft. above the sea the
valley ends in glaciers coming in from all directions, and the views are wonderful even to me The Matterhorn in particular
is one of the wildest strangest looking peaks I ever saw, a hugh savage pyramid a triumphant momument of nature's glacial
sculpture piercing the heavens in lonely serene majesty. 1 am again in the heart of the Alps, but on account of haze have
not yet seen Mt. Blanc, but will soon, as I intend going to Chamounix tomorrow or next day. I had not the slightest difficulty
coming up the valley today in solving the problem that puzzled Tyndall Why does the Rhone valley bend so suddenly at Martigny?
It was caused by the enormous floods of ice which united with the main trunk from Mr. Blanc and peaks adjacent--Indeed I had
solved the problem before leaving California simply by looking at the map of Switzerland. I arrived here about 5 o'clock and
took a good long walk up towards the glaciers. They looked small as compared with those of Alaska, mere shriveled receding
remnants, but glorious they were in their prime, and glorious is the work they have done. Such a wilderness of gigantic peaks
such a labyrinth of profound canons (canyons) and valleys, and such immense beds of gravel and soil spread over the plains
of Belgium even to the seashore a hundred miles or more. The larch as well as spruce is a common tree here. In my walk this
evening I found the common garden crocus wild in meadows in great abundance, and many other pretty flowers a few of which
I send you. I had a cold caught in a railroad car but am getting rid of it in this mountain air, How glad I would be for a
word from home saying All Well . Heaven bless you all. Hello Midge, hello Wanda. Here are some pretty flowers from Grindelwald,
they grew near a big glacier. Love to Grandma, Maggie,Dave, and all the family- Ever yours John Muir