I pass over the journey up the Visp Thal and the valley of St. Niklaus, and hasten to Zermatt the home of the Alpine Club, and the basis of operations in the Monte Rosa district. We reached this on the Saturday, just in time to avoid a decent wetting. Our first view of the Matterhorn, the inaccessible, whose sides had during the season tried the limbs of Mr. Whymper and Mr. Tyndall, was not a very successful one. The best time to see him from Zermatt is at sunrise, when his face is gradually lit up by the morning rays. I think I may safely say, that I never saw so many sunrises in a given number of days, as during my sojourn there. The chief excursions round Zermatt are now so well known, that I may refer my readers to Professor Tyndall's Glaciers of the Alps, or Mr. Hinchliffe's Summer Months among the Alps for an account of them. In the few excursions that we made, we were accompanied by a very droll little guide, named Ignace Biner, whose brother was an old acquaintance of Mr. H. He was only conversant with German and French, so imagine my surprise, as I was quietly walking up a hill behind him, to hear a friendly but not familiar voice call out "How's your poor feet, my dear?" and then soon after to see him showing bacon, and adding "Don't you wish you may get it?" I am afraid that the stock of slang expressions which he had probably picked up from some University men like ourselves, was rather increased than otherwise before we had done with him.

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After three days spent in the neighbourhood of Zermatt, we started for Italy by the S. Theodule Pass. B. returned to Stalden, and crossed by the Monte Moro so to get to the Italian Lakes, while I accepted the kind invitation of the H.'s to join their party for the St. Bernard and Geneva, via Chamounix. What with guides and muleteers, and the men attached to the sledge which was to carry the ladies over, we made a formidable party. The day was a very fine one, such as to give beautiful cloud effects, without having a curtain of clouds low enough to impede the view. And the sensation of a first day upon the ice, slight as the work done might be, is one not easily forgotten, especially when the place is so remarkable as is the Theodule glacier. Our way lay across a wide plateau of snow, really snow-covered ice, extending in most directions far as the eye could reach, from the pinnacles of the Mischabel, by the broad backs of Monte Rosa and the Lyskamm, the Twins snowy white as their mother in the fable, by the hump of the Breithorn and the rocky ridge of the Theodulhorn round to the stately "obelisk" of the Matter

horn, and the peaks of the Dent Blanche and the Weisshorn. Behind us lay the valley of St. Niklaus, and beyond its extremity, in ever-varying hues, now of deep purple, now of pale olive green, the long ridge of the Blumlis Alp, the Jungfrau and others of the Oberland chain. Each time we turned, some fresh beauty dawned upon us, till a turn in our road cut out the view, and brought us to the hut on the top of the pass some eleven thousand feet above the sea-level. Our ascent had been very easy. The track being well-defined by some predecessors in the way, we were able to get on in advance of the rest of the party, who had, as we afterwards found, much difficulty with the sledge owing to the softness of the snow. The descent was tiring, the snow being by this time thoroughly softened, so that we went up to our knees in it. But soon we had got over it, and Biner was busily engaged in treating madame's feet, which were fairly wet and stiff, to the luxuries of a warm footbath, which I believe he administered with the greatest deftness.

The Val Tournanche, at the head of which lies the mountain inn of Breuil close at the foot of the Matterhorn, has just the amount of variety that is necessary to make a walk along a valley tolerable. Beginning with the wild scenery of the mountains, you come to a fine rugged defile, from which you emerge into a wider plain, with tokens of the generosity of nature in its fertile fields, while by regular gradations the eye passes from green corn fields to the everlasting snows; the valley then again contracts, and is hemmed in by leafy slopes such as I have seen on the Rhine, or even in some parts of Derbyshire; till on nearing Chatillon the character again changes, and the heavily laden chesnut and walnut trees tell you that you are in one of the richest parts of Italy. The looks of the people, as well as the aspects of nature remind you that you are in another land. ́Bright speaking eyes and intelligent faces, take the place of the haggard misery of the Swiss side; the children are happy laughing children, and not prematurely aged men. Another

thing too appeals to one's old classical memories. A little before reaching Chatillon, some remains of a Roman aqueduct are to be seen on the face of the cliff on the west of the valley, in a place apparently accessible only to the Roman eagles. Many Roman remains are to be found at Aosta which we reached the same night, for which see Murray and the dissertations of the learned.

On the night of the 26th (Friday as we found to our cost, by the "maigre" diet) we were the guests of the hospitable Fathers of St. Bernard. Every one who saw Albert Smith's

Diorama, knows the long plain building by the side of that dreary lake. I will only stop therefore, to recommend any one who may follow in my steps to rise early, take a guide, who may generally be got over-night, and go to the top of the hill that fronts the Hospice (called Point de Drouas in Leuthold, Chenellettaz in Murray) to see the sun rise on Mont Blanc. He will be amply repaid for his trouble, for this is one of the finest views of the monarch of mountains. The rest of the view too is very fine. A cloud of morning mist was hanging over the Val d'Aosta, and the valleys of the Graian Alps, but their summits were marshalled above the mist in grand array. A few hours later we were on our way to Martigny, where we spent most of the Sunday. If you have a day at Martigny, it is worth while to walk to St. Maurice, seeing the gorge of the Trient and the Pissevache on your way-cross the bridge into the Canton Vaud and go a few yards in the direction of Martigny: the view of the Dent du Midi is worth the walk, especially if you see it as I did, with all the richness of autumn's colouring.

On Monday we crossed the Forclaz to the Tête Noire, where Mr. H. and myself left the rest of the party in the charge of the faithful Biner, and taking a guide from the hotel started across the hills for the Col de Balme, hoping thus to combine the beauties of the two approaches to Chamounix. Our guide talked most glibly of the difficulties of the way, and the danger of traversing it without some one who knew the country, in case of mist: but when shortly a regular Scotch mist came on he was utterly at fault, and lost his way and his head at the same time. After some time however we got into the right track, and reached Chamounix at nightfall. Here again I am on old ground, so I will not enter into the splendours of our day at Chamounix, but simply add that Wednesday saw us at Geneva. I left Geneva at four o'clock on Thursday, and at twelve on Friday walked into my rooms, only to hear the music of a learned savant's nose making melody to the god Somnus in my sanctum sanctorum, and to console myself with the thought that a sofa at home in good old England, was a little better than a sleepless night in a French railway carriage, and had its charms after thirty hours of almost uninterrupted travelling.

I fear my story may be more interesting to myself than to my readers. I can only advise them to follow my example, and so create for themselves an interest in the scenes I have attempted somewhat hastily at the shortest notice to describe, and wish them as happy a time as I enjoyed in my Long Vacation Tour.

OUR CHRONICLE.

WE regret that the appearance of The Eagle has been unavoidably postponed this Term, owing in a great measure to the small number of contributions received from members of the College who are not on the Editorial Committee. We must remind our readers that The Eagle was established as a College Magazine, with the avowed intention of discussing subjects of general interest, and of ascertaining the general public opinion of the College; and we most earnestly call upon them not to allow it to become a periodical conducted by a few writers to amuse the leisure moments of the subscribers. At present, though our list of subscribers is larger than it has been at any previous time, the number of contributors has we believe never been so small.

This is not a healthy symptom; we feel sure that we need only appeal to the spirit of the College for a speedy remedy.

With this number of The Eagle we give an engraving of the new Chapel to be erected from the designs of G. G. Scott, Esq. R.A. The following extract from a letter lately issued by the Master, will put our readers in possession of the present prospects of the proposed additions to the College :

"It has for many years past been the anxious wish of the Members of St. John's College to see a Chapel of more suitable character and dimensions than the present one erected for the use of the College. With this view the College has gradually, by successive purchases, acquired possession of the greater portion of the ground lying between the three older courts and Bridge Street; and an agreement has been recently entered into with the Town Council of the Borough of Cambridge, whereby the College is to obtain the right of closing St. John's Lane and appropriating the ground which it occupies, on giving up to the public sufficient ground to widen St. John's Street. The necessary

steps have been taken to obtain an Act of Parliament during the approaching Session for the confirmation of this agreement.

"The College has also obtained the assistance of Mr. George Gilbert Scott, the Architect, who has prepared Drawings for a new Chapel with a transeptal Ante-Chapel on the north side of the present Chapel. This plan involves the erection of a new Master's Lodge, and enables the College to enlarge the Hall by including within it the present Combination Room and the rooms which are above it.

"Mr. Scott has estimated the Cost of the New Chapel alone at £36,000, without taking into account any charge for Stained Glass Windows.

"The Master and Seniors are prepared to expend on the proposed works the sum of Forty thousand pounds from the Corporate Funds of the College; but as this sum will be manifestly inadequate to accomplish all that will be necessary for the completion of Mr. Scott's designs, it has been deemed expedient that a Subscription should be opened, and that the Members and Friends of the College should be invited to promote the work by their contributions. It will probably be thought to be a sufficient reason for this appeal that the character and beauty of the New Chapel must depend, to a great extent, upon the amount which can be made available by voluntary offerings."

The valuable College living of Frating cum Thorington, in the county of Essex, has lately been rendered vacant by the death of the Rev. Richard Duffield, B.D., formerly fellow of this College, who has held it since 1832.

The number of Johnian candidates for this year's Mathematical Tripos was not so large as usual. Of these however six were placed among the Wranglers and six among the Senior Optimes.

We have great pleasure in announcing that Mr. J. B. Haslam has been elected First Bell's Scholar, and Mr. W. F. Smith Second Bell's Scholar, (equal).

The following are the names of those gentlemen who obtained a First Class in the College Christmas Examination: