Pilatus, MOUNT

Pilatus, MOUNT (Lat. Mons Pileatus, 'the hooded peak,' from its top being frequently enveloped in cloud; the legends connecting Pilate (q.v.) with the place have presumably grown out of the altered name), an isolated mountain at the western end of the Lake of Lucerne, rising opposite the Rigi. The lower half is clothed with wood and meadow, where in summer over 4000 head of cattle are pastured; the upper portion is a mass of bare and jagged peaks, rising in the Tomlishorn to 6998 feet. Below the summit lies Lake Pilatus (see preceding article). On two of the peaks there are hotels; and since 1889 there has been a tooth-and-rack railway from Alpnach to the top, whence there is a splendid view of the Bernese Alps. In 1891 a steel tower was undertaken, to be 300 feet in diameter at its base and 840 feet high, and so pierce any enveloping cloud.