Note 44 — (First Pilgrimage.) (continued 4)

In many people they produce slight vertigo—in more, they act freely on the bowels. They were discovered in the 12th century, by two chasseurs from the neighbouring monastery, who were seeking birds’ nests in the ravine of the Tamina. For a long time they could only descend to these baths by means of ropes; but at length human ingenuity formed zig-zags along the rocks. As if every thing relating to these waters should partake of the wonderful, it may be mentioned that they begin to flow in May, when the Summer is approaching—are at their acmé when the skies are fervid and the land parched with thirst, yielding 1500 pints of water every minute—and cease entirely in September, when the rains begin to fall, and the mountain streams to pour freely along every declivity!