LAKE OF

See also:

• LAKE OF BRIENZ

BRIENZ  , in the Swiss canton of Bern, the first lake into which the river Aar expands . It lies in a deep hollow between the village of Brienz on the east (2580 inhabitants, the chief centre of the Swiss wood-carving industry) and, on the west, Bonigen (1515 inhabitants), close to Interlaken . Its length is about 9 m., its width 12 m., and its maximum depth 856 ft., while its area is I I2 sq. m., and the surface is 1857 ft. above the sea-level . On the south shore are the- Giessbach Falls and the hamlet of Iseltwald . On the north shore are a few small villages . The character of the lake is gloomy and sad as compared with its neighbour, that of Thun . Its chief affluent is the Liitschine (flowing from the valleys of Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen) . The first steamer was placed on the lake in 1839 . (W . A . B .