Rollo in Switzerland | Page 9

that the pictures and caricatures in it might perhaps amuse him; but
Rollo, after turning it over a moment, concluded that he should prefer
to amuse himself by looking out the window.
[Illustration: IN THE CAR.]
Rollo saw a great many beautiful views and witnessed a great many
strange and striking scenes as he was whirled onward by the train
across the country from Paris towards Strasbourg. We cannot, however,
stop to describe what he saw, but must hasten on to the Swiss frontier.
The travellers arrived at Strasbourg in the evening. They spent the night
at a hotel; and the next morning they took another railway which led
along the bank of the Rhine, up the river, towards Switzerland. The
country was magnificent. There was the river on one side, and a range
of mountains rising sublimely in the interior on the other. The
mountains were at a distance of several miles from the river; and the
country between was an extremely fertile and luxuriant plain, covered
with villages, castles, parks, pleasure grounds, gardens, and cultivated
fields, which presented every where most enchanting pictures of rural
beauty. This province is called Alsatia.
The terminus of the railway was at the city of Basle, which lies just
within the confines of Switzerland. A short distance before reaching the
gates of Basle, the train stopped at what seemed at first to be a station.
It was, however, only the custom house, where the trunks and passports

were to be examined.
"What are we to do here," asked Rollo.
"I am going to do what I see other people do," replied Mr. George.
"You can do whatever you please."
At this moment a guard, dressed, like all the other railway servants, in a
sort of uniform, opened the door of the car in which Mr. George and
Rollo were sitting, and said in a very respectful manner, in French,--
"The custom house, gentlemen."
Mr. George observed that the passengers were getting out from all the
other cars; so he stepped out too, and Rollo followed him.
When they reached the platform they observed that a company of
porters were employed in carrying all the trunks and baggage from the
cars to the custom house, and that the passengers were going into the
custom house too, though by another door. Mr. George and Rollo went
in with them. They found an office within, and a desk, where one or
two secretaries sat and examined the passports of the travellers as they
successively presented them. As fast as they were examined they were
impressed with a new stamp, which denoted permission for the
travellers to pass the Swiss frontier. The several travellers, as fast as
their passports were examined, found right, and stamped, were allowed
to pass between two soldiers through a door into another hall, where
they found all the trunks and baggage arranged on a sort of counter,
which extended around the centre of the room, so as to enclose a square
place within. The custom-house officers who were to examine the
baggage were within this enclosure, while the travellers who owned the
baggage stood without. These last walked around the counter, looking
at the trunks, boxes, bundles, and carpet bags that covered it, each
selecting his own and opening the several parcels, in order that the
officers within might examine them.
The object of examining the trunks of passengers in this way is, to
ascertain that they have not any goods concealed in them. As a general

thing, persons are not allowed to take goods from one country to
another without paying a tax for them. Such a tax is called technically a
duty, and the avails of it go to support the government of the country
which the goods are carried into. Travellers are allowed to take with
them all that is necessary for their own personal use, as travellers,
without paying any duty; but articles that are intended for sale as
merchandise, or those which, though intended for the traveller's own
use, are not strictly personal, are liable to pay duty. The principle is,
that whatever the traveller requires for his own personal use, in
travelling, is not liable to duty. What he does not so require must pay
duty, no matter whether he intends to use it himself or to sell it.
Many travellers do not understand this properly, and often get into
difficulty by not understanding it, as we shall see in the sequel.
Mr. George and Rollo went into the baggage room together, showing
their passports as they passed through between the soldiers. They then
walked slowly along the room, looking at the baggage, as it was
arranged upon the counter, in search of their own.
"I see my trunk," said Mr. George, looking along at a little