From Zurich we took horses, and rode along one side of that singularly pretty lake to Richterschwyll, and from thence, the next morning, to Einsiedeln, the famous Benedictine monastery, containing the black image of ‘Notre Dame des Ermites.’ We met pilgrims in plenty. The convent is very large, and the situation in a deep valley between mountains which are there very high, and backed by true alps, is very romantic. The church within is very large, and you would not have expected in these distant parts to have heard a mass performed with instruments of all kinds, and monks singing solos. The music was concealed behind the altar, which has a fine effect, but the performance, the organ excepted, was indifferent.