Rollo in Switzerland

Twelve-year-old Rollo leaves Paris for a three-week tour of the Alps with his young uncle, Mr. George, in the third of Jacob Abbott’s ten Rollo’s Tour in Europe books. Getting away takes a whole day of chasing stamps for a passport, then comes the customs search at the frontier, Basle, a diligence on to Berne and Thun, and a lake steamer up the valley of the Aar to Interlachen. Lauterbrunnen, the climb over the Wengern Alp, the descent into Grindelwald, and the glaciers follow. Mr. George’s method is to hand over the guide book and the money and let Rollo make his own mistakes, so that near the end the boy runs the trip himself as courier from Meyringen to Lucerne. Abbott keeps it practical throughout: francs, baggage inspection, inn breakfasts, hired guides and mountain horses.