1851-08-24_Letter-A_Alvord-to-MyDearMyrtilla

-fect upon my health has been excellent. I kept up my baths night & morning, drinking of cold water & exercised much more than at Elgersburg. Indeed my weariness some nights would be excessive, & every bone in my body aching—but the hardest bed seemed refreshing & my sleep was sweet. In the morning I would push on again with increased strength. —You would like to have seen me with my staff & guide as I started across the Thuringian mountains—or again as along the lovely lakes of Constance or of Zurich I wandered quite alone—my bag on the end of my umbrella over my shoulder—The Alps towering above me & the bright mountain air around. One sabbath I spent very pleasantly at a little ^Swiss^ village called B_ [illegible]—betweenZurich & Horgen my temple of worship the vine clad hills which look out upon smiling villages & over that beautiful sheet of water ^as^ upon a rustic seat I opened my Bible & read "I am the true vine & my Father is the husbandman" & then looked ^upon^ the pruned yet loaded vines around me & thought & prayed that myself & all Christians might be such. I have never enjoyed myself better. Then you might see me the following week toiling with my Alpine pike up the Rigi for three hours where I slept 5700 feet above the level of the sea the dense clouds beating at my window, or the next morning as I stood gazing with a hundred others, watching the roseate hues of the sun ^sunrise^ as they seemed to set on fire the snowtopped mountains ^crags^ 5000 feet above us—& then plunged down the mountain side & across the Lake of the 5 Cantons—past Lucerne. Following us you would see me the next day climbing the "Wengern Alp, Switzerland|Wengern Alp]] ^on foot^

& from the Myrengen valley on the other side gazing at the falls of Reichenbach then ^almost tired to death^ taking [poise] over the greater & lesser [illegible] for 2 [illegible] days. Your courage perhaps would fail you on some of those dizzy heights — or along those zigzag paths cut in the mountain side — per -haps you would not like to climb up so far upon the slippery glaziers as I did, & ^crawling^ through their chilly crevices ^you would have shuddered^ — but I can assure you that upon a sultry August day it is very comfortable to be up there & the bracing air makes even an invalid feel strong.You would hardly believe me if I should tell you that I could one day fall asleep while the thun-der of avalanches was all around me—so weary was I with excitement & toil— & you would probably have waked up as I did when one larger than the rest came ^tumbling^ with a crash over a pre-cipice at least 1000 feet high—You ^grow nervous as you think of^ my danger but you need not, for so enormous is the scenery here that what seems to be very near you, will often be miles away & no traveller stops only in a place when it is perfectly safe—so we went on (for I had plen-ty of company even that of ladies) past the base of the Wetterhorn [stamp] overhanging Jungfrau the Eiger—the Grimsel & many other peaks whose tops are in the clouds—into the valley of Lauterbrunnen where I saw the Staubach falls 800 or 900 feet in height—& still on through the most romantic scenery to Interlaken where we [illegible] our guide & horses—"Well" you will say "it was enough to still you"—I thought myself the effort a little desperate & felt I confess ^somewhat^ a-fraid of the consequences but through a kind Providence the experiment has been very much blessed. I came on to Bern, Basil, Heidelberg Frankfurt—Down the Rhine—to Aix La Chappelle Brussels & here & as yet I have experienced no [unclear] but feel better than at any time before since (I left home).

Don't think I am quite well, but I know you will rejoice to learn of any improvement. My head aches some. I am at the Hotel Windsor a beautiful location opposite the Garden of the Thuleries & have already seen some strange things which as you observe I have no room to describe. Next week we go to London where I shall write you again & tell you more of Paris. Take good care of yourself, bathe with cold ^wet^ towels every morning & take a walk in the open air immediately after it to prevent the chill & I think you will find it the best medicine you can take. Don't forget the walk before even you are hardly dressed. Love Charity & [illegible] for our dear ones. I shall see them soon I hope.

Your affectionate husband, J.W. Alvord.