1st Aug 1856
My dear Frankland
Your note1 lies before me, and I almost fear you will damn my impudence when you hear the extent to which I propose to modify it. I have the strongest reason for visiting some of the glaciers of the alps. I did think of going to Monte Rosa2 but that is too far and too expensive. But the glacier of the Rhone, and of the Aar3 I must see, and make a few observations upon them. The scenery there is magnificent some of the finest in Switzerland. The Furka pass4 is most noble, and the Grimsel,5 where I should have to take up my quarters for a few days – perhaps three – stands at the head of the magnificent Hasli Thal,6 with the falls of Handeck7 an hour or two distant. Having accomplished the survey of the glaciers, I should be able to go forward to the Tyrol.8 But here you have omitted the wild and splendid scenery of the Gross Glockner9 and this I think we should by all means see. Indeed here also I want to make a few observations on the glaciers. Thence I would go whither you might be pleased to command. Francis assures me that Schaffhausen Bregenz and Feldkirsch10 are comparatively uninteresting. Now then I make the following proposal. Hooker & Huxley, two excellent fellows, who know you by renown, will be at Bale11 on the 13th of August. Is it not possible for us to join them there go forward to Interlaken,12 and thence to the Grimsel. You will be glorified in the splendid region and while I am cracking my shins & imperilling my neck in the glacier you might make the acquaintances of the splendors round. We then go forward to the Tyrol. Write to me at once and say whether this is not feasible. I must as I said before go to Paris to order the necessary instruments for my next course. Could we not go by Dieppe? It is only a pound 2nd class to Paris. I hope you have made up your mind to travel third class whenever that is possible. Now say yes my dear Tris13 to what I have proposed. Say that you will start with me to Paris on the 9th leave me a day there for my instruments and get along to Bale in time to meet Hooker & Huxley. If you strongly oppose this then I will place one or two general facts in your hands, and conform to any plan in which you can incorporate them.
1st fact: give me two or three days upon the glaciers of the Rhone & Aar.
2nd fact. Give me an opportunity of observing the glaciers of the Gross Glockner.
This I believe is all.
You have devoted 7 mortal days to reach Zurich. Far less than this would carry us to Interlaken.
If you have any proposal to make respecting my meeting you at Chur (Coire)14 or elsewhere I am ready to fall in with it. But the simplest and sweetest plan would be for us to start to Paris on the 9th. Do dear Tris, sweet Tris, my own Tris, say yes and cut the matter short.
Ever yours | John Tyndall
The Boden See is all comparative rot!15
JRL Frankland, 245
RI MS JT/1/12/3975
Your note: note missing..
Monta Rosa: The western side of Monta Rosa, the highest mountain (15, 203 ft) in Switzerland, contains the Gorner glacier which descends to Zermatt. Tyndall did not climb the actual mountain until August 1858.
the glacier of the Rhone and of the Aar: Glaciers some 5 miles from Grimsel that descend from Mt Galenstock (11,765 ft) and feed the rivers Rhône and Aar. They are approached from the alpine passes of Grimsel and Furka.
Furka pass: The highest mountain pass (7,969 ft) in Switzerland; it connects the villages of Gletsch and Realp in the Upper Rhône valley.
Grimsel: The site of the Hospice for travellers undertaking the Furka Pass.
Hasli Thal: The Hasli Valley, from the Old High German, hasal, meaning ‘hazel’. The valley stretches from Meiringen to Innerkirchen in the Bernese Oberland.
The falls of Handeck: The site of a spectacular waterfall at Guttannen where the waters of the Aar and Ärlenbach meet.
the Tyrol: Before the First World War this referred to the Alpine, wine-growing region of Austria. The South Tyrol was ceded to Italy in 1919.
Gross Glockner: an Alpine peak of 12,461 ft. which is now reached easily by the Grossglockner High Alpine Highway.
Schaffhausen Bergersz and Feldkirsch: Schaffhausen is a city in North Switzerland in the Canton of the same name. Here both Swiss German and Alemannic German dialect were spoken; Bregenz is a town on the eastern shore of Lake Constance; Feldkirsch or Feldkirch is a medieval Austrian city on the borders of Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
Bale: the French spelling of Basle or Basel, the Swiss city situated on the borders between France, Germany and Switzerland.
Interlaken: a town in the Canton of Berne situated on a tongue of land between the lakes Thun and Brienz through which the River Aar flows.
Tris: Tyndall’s nickname for Frankland, from Trismegestus, a legendary alchemist.
Chur (Coire): reputedly the oldest town in Switzerland, lies on the River Rhine; it is the capital of the Canton of Graubünden
The Boden See is all comparative rot!: The Bodensee is the German name for Lake Constance. Frankland may have mentioned a prospective visit in a missing letter and presumably Tyndall had been told (by Francis?) that is was not worth visiting.
Please cite as “Tyndall1266,” in Ɛpsilon: The John Tyndall Collection accessed on