Having satisfied myself of the suitability of Château d'Oex, with its outlying villages of Rougemont and Rossinières, as a camping place for the Interned, I now passed on to Leysin via Montreux and the Rhone Valley, and mounting up by its electric railway, reached the beautiful plateau of meadow lands, on which so many hotels and châlets have been built expressly for the treatment of consumptives. A medical staff of distinguished specialists is maintained there in association with the hotels, the organization as a whole being that of a combined huge hospital. In peace time it is crowded with patients from all quarters of the globe, but at the time of my visit very few civilians remained, and the doctors were busily engaged in adapting its resources to the use of its new military clientèle. The doctors had donned their uniforms as officers of the Swiss Army, and the place was rapidly assuming the aspect of a small garrison town. Many of the hotels were already occupied by French and Belgian soldiers, of whom, sad to say, there were already 1,200 in hospital. Swiss soldiers were also in evidence, and I here became aware for the first time of the fact that the Swiss as a people are far from being immune to tuberculosis. Arrangements were already being made for the accommodation of 200 British officers and men, Colonel Hauser having calculated that about that number of consumptives would be likely to arrive with the first party of British. No one could pass through Leysin without being impressed, as I was, by the beauty of the surroundings, the detailed perfection of its organization, and the purposeful construction of its hotels and châlets built so as to receive every ray of sunshine. Nothing struck me so much as the optimistic spirit which appeared to prevail amongst all classes of the sick alike; every one seemed easily moved to joy and laughter, ready to amuse and be amused, and I left with the feeling that of all people none were so brave as the patients of Leysin. Where this spirit prevailed, our men could not help but thrive, and any anxiety I may have had on their account was completely dispelled by my first visit to this sanatorium. CHAPTER IV RED CROSS ORGANIZATIONS IN SWITZERLAND —THE BRITISH LEGATION RED CROSS ORGANIZATION On the outbreak of war, the attention of various Swiss charitable societies was at once concentrated on work connected with the provision of comforts, clothing, and necessaries for the large body of Swiss citizens who were withdrawn from civil employment to take their place in the Army. Amongst the best known of these societies were:— "La Croix Rouge," "La Société Suisse le Bien du Soldat," "Les Unions Chrétiennes des Jeunes Gens de la Suisse," "La Ligue Pro-Captivis," "La Société Suisse des Aumôniers," "La Société du Mogen David Rouge."